"Please stop!" Sébastien Ogier not a fan of smoke bombs on the Monte Carlo Rally

An essential accessory for any ultra in football stadiums, the smoke bomb dares to move away from the round ball on certain occasions. Having become an icon of the mountain stages of the Tour de France, it has also been exported to the Rally Monte Carlo. It is now customary to see the roadsides ablaze as cars pass by, with the cracking of smoke bombs, the firing of fireworks and the use of pyrotechnic devices of all kinds.

The beauty of the images offered by an incandescent audience delights TV broadcasters and photographers, but sometimes less so pilots, who lose visibility when faced with the spectacle of lights offered to them. Sébastien Ogier was the most categorical after the arrival of the third special, where he lost around thirty seconds after putting his Toyota Yaris across the road. "I'm not a fan at all. I think the audience feels like I'm cool, but guys, stop it." claims the eight-time world champion. "It's super dangerous, we're always in the fog and we can't see anything. Sooner or later, I hope we'll manage to ban this because it's not a good idea at all. Please, stop with the smoke bombs!"

Leading the pack after day 1 💪#WRC | #RallyMonteCarlo ???????? pic.twitter.com/L7s2AsFgAi

— FIA World Rally Championship (@OfficialWRC) January 23, 2025

Pilots divided over smoke bombs

The Gapençais is racing at home, with a crowd behind him, but he would like the fans' outpourings of joy to be a little more controlled so that the competition is not disrupted by external factors. "There are a lot of people on the side of the road with fireworks, which can be unsettling. It's hard to see the road, but the fans seem to enjoy it." shade Ott Tänak. Leader of the general classification at the end of the first stage, Thierry Neuville He enjoyed the atmosphere, but admitted that visibility was limited. "We are so happy to see this atmosphere, it was very beautiful to see from afar, even if we have little time to see it. Once I got closer, I lost a few seconds because of this smoke and the lack of visibility." explained the world champion to Canal+.

The subject of smoke bombs is likely to be debated in the coming months. It is placed on the border between the protection of drivers and the integrity of the sporting competition on the one hand, and on the other the necessary need for the WRC to boost its popularity rating with fans. Holding them back in their support could be counterproductive as the category seeks new life, after losing momentum in recent years partly due to overly restrictive regulations.

The World Rally Championship could also lose Hyundai, whose future is in suspense, even if the FIA ​​does not despair of attracting other manufacturers. Far from these considerations, Grégoire Munster (M-Sport Ford) took full advantage of the atmosphere for his second Monte-Carlo in WRC. “Driving these cars is already incredible, but with an atmosphere like this on top of that, you can’t dream of anything better!” marveled the Belgian-Luxembourger. At least the atmosphere fully convinced one of the drivers.

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