Relive the last day of the 2025 Monte-Carlo Rally with live commentary

Relive the final day of the Rallye Monte-Carlo, the first round of the 2025 WRC season, with live commentary on AUTOhebdo.

Published 26/01/2025 à 12:00

Dorian Grangier

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Relive the last day of the 2025 Monte-Carlo Rally with live commentary

© Toyota Gazoo Racing

The World Rally Championship kicks off its 2025 season with the traditional Rally Monte-Carlo. On the competitors' side, 10 Rally1 will be at the start of this 93rd edition. Reigning champion of the WRC and last winner of the event, Thierry Neuville will put his crown on the line this season. Facing him, the Belgian will have some great players, including his teammate Hyundai, Ott Tänak, or Kalle Rovanperä, back on a full programme after a year part-time.

As for the victory in this 2025 Monte-Carlo Rally, Sébastien Ogier necessarily appears as a serious candidate, he who already has nine successes in this rally including eight in WRC. The Frenchman Adrien fourmaux, Hyundai's new recruit, will be keen to make a good impression for his first appearance in his new colours.

Sunday January 26 – 51,88 km
06h45 – ES16: Avançon / Notre-Dame-du-Laus – 13,97 km: Sébastien Ogier
08h44 – SS17: Digne-les-Bains / Chaudon-Norante – 19,01 km: Adrien fourmaux
12h15 – SS18: La Bollène-Vésubie / Peïra-Cava – 17,92 km: Sébastien Ogier

> Follow the evolution of the ranking live via the official WRC Live Timing
Route, timetables, entrants… The complete guide to the 2025 Monte-Carlo Rally

WRC – Rally Monte-Carlo
Relive the last day live with commentary

13h22 – 👋 Thank you all for following us over these four days of racing, see you on February 13th for the second round of the season, the Rally Sweden! Good afternoon to you!

Ten out of ten for Sébastien Ogier, winner of his 10th Monte-Carlo Rally!

13h20 – 🏁 In the championship, Sébastien Ogier is therefore the first leader with 33 points ahead of Elfyn Evans (27 points) and Adrien Fourmaux (20 points). Among the Constructors, Toyota scored 60 points, Hyundai 36 points and M-Sport 11 points.

13:17 p.m. – SS18 : 🏆🇫🇷 SÉBASTIEN OGIER WINS THE MONTE-CARLO RALLY FOR THE 10TH TIME IN HIS CAREER! The Frenchman was once again exceptional on home soil and sets a new record for victories in the event alpine ! The Toyota driver even won the Power Stage ahead of Elfyn Evans and scored a total of 33 points out of a possible 35! 

General classification of the Monte-Carlo Rally

Power Stage – Ranking

13:15 p.m. – SS18 : 🔎 With this great time, Elfyn Evans should also take the five points of the Super Sunday, since he passed Kalle Rovanperä by 1″1 on this Sunday classification. Sébastien Ogier is nevertheless ahead at the halfway point.

13:13 p.m. – SS18 : ⏱️ Elfyn Evans had a big scare in the last few hundred metres, but he crossed the line with the best time of the Power Stage in 12'58″8! The Welshman should finish 2nd!

13:09 p.m. – SS18 : ⏱️🇫🇷 Adrien Fourmaux sets the best time of the Power Stage in 13'02″3! But behind, Elfyn Evans and Sébastien Ogier are in the same times as him! The Northerner should finish in 3rd place, but a superb rally for the new Hyundai driver on this Monte-Carlo! "I'm really happy with this week, we did a very good job. Getting a first podium in the first race... Today, we could have won with this choice of tires, but there was too much snow."

13:05 p.m. – SS18 : And Ott Tänak loses his 4th place to Kalle Rovanperä! The Estonian had started with two snow tires and two studded tires, but his strategy did not work. He concludes this Power Stage with the 2nd provisional time, 7″8 behind Kalle Rovanperä.

13:01 p.m. – SS18 : ⏱️ Kalle Rovanperä sets the provisional best time of this Power Stage in 13'04″2! The choice of tires crossed with slicks and studded was the right one. Now all eyes are on Ott Tänak: will the Estonian hold on to his 4th place overall?

12:57 p.m. – SS18 : ⏱️🇧🇪 Thierry Neuville sets the reference time in Rally1 on this Power Stage in 13'14″3. Let's wait for Kalle Rovanperä to arrive to find out if his tyre choice was the right one... in any case, the Belgian will finish 6th overall, a difficult start for the defence of his world title. "We followed the weather information we had, and also the team's instructions. We had to try something different. If I started with the same tire choices as the others, I was going to lose anyway."

12:55 p.m. – SS18 : 🔎 We know Adrien Fourmaux's choice of tires... and it will be two studded and two soft, as expected. Thierry Neuville, for his part, started with four studded tires, but lost a lot of time in the dry part: the Belgian is 14 seconds behind Kalle Rovanperä halfway through the special!

12:53 p.m. – SS18 : Josh McErlean finishes this Power Stage… 13″9 behind Yohan Rossel’s time. The Irishman nevertheless finishes his first rally in Rally1 with M-Sport in 7th place overall.

12:51 p.m. – SS18 : 💬 Yohan Rossel at the finish : "For my family, I think there were a lot of emotions. Before the start, I wonder if it's possible at the end, but during the special, it was completely crazy. Thanks to all my team, it's not the driver who wins this weekend, it's the co-driver, the team, the strategy and the choice of tires."

12:49 p.m. – SS18 : 🏆🇫🇷 Victory for Yohan Rossel in WRC2! Third consecutive victory for the Frenchman on the Rallye Monte-Carlo! And an all-French podium this year in WRC100! The Citroën driver even sets the best time of the Power Stage in 2'13″26.

12:45 p.m. – SS18 : 🇫🇷 Eric Camilli crosses the finish line 1″6 behind Léo Rossel… but keeps his 2nd place on this Rallye Monte-Carlo in WRC2! Léo Rossel therefore finishes 3rd for his first rally in WRC2.

12:41 p.m. – SS18 : ⏱️🇫🇷 First rally in WRC2 and first podium for Léo Rossel! The French champion was very solid throughout the weekend and even finished with the best provisional time of the Power Stage in 13'40"0. Now, it's Eric Camilli's turn to play: who will finish 2nd in this Rallye Monte-Carlo in WRC2?

12:37 p.m. – SS18 : ⏱️ For his first WRC rally with the Toyota Yaris Rally2, Oliver Solberg sets the provisional best time of the Power Stage in his categoryThe Swede will finish 6th in the category in Monte-Carlo where he was not registered to score WRC2 points.

12:35 p.m. – SS18 : 🔎 We remind you of the Rally1 drivers' tyre choices at the start this Sunday morning. Most drivers should opt for a cross-over tyre setup, with two slicks and two studded tyres. But drivers like Elfyn Evans or Thierry Neuville, who took four studded tyres this morning, could be tempted to only use studded tyres on this Power Stage.

12:33 p.m. – SS18 : ⏱️ Gus Greensmith beat Nikolay Gryazin's time by a wide margin in 13'51″6, which is 18″4 better than the Russian.

12:29 p.m. – SS18 : ⏱️ Nikolay Gryazin was the first to finish the Power Stage with a time of 14'10″0.

12h25 - ES18 : ⚠️ Nikolay Gryazin starts the icy section… and it’s quite substantial and extremely slippery! It’s hard to imagine drivers with four super-soft tires on this special! Adrien Fourmaux’s gamble might not work here…

12:23 p.m. – SS18 : ❄️ Brief weather report offered by the WRC : 1°C at the Col de Turini, 2°C at the end of the Power Stage. The stage would be "100% wet", with no pollution on the ground. The icy part starts 800 meters before the summit, with ice and snow at the summit. Then there will be more ice and snow until about 800 meters before the finish.

12h18 - ES18 : 🔎 Please note that, unlike Yohan Rossel, Nikolay Gryazin is not in the running for the WRC2 victory as he is not eligible for WRC2 points this weekend, just like Gus Greensmith and Oliver Solberg. These three drivers have not included the Monte-Carlo in their list of seven rallies where they will be eligible for points this season.

12h15 - ES18 : 🟢 Nikolay Gryazin, 2nd in the Rally2 category standings, is the first to start this Power Stage!

12h13 - Just before the start of this Power Stage, we give you the general classification of this Monte-Carlo Rally. Now, let's get to the show!

12h11 – 🔎 We remind you that even if the points system has been modified for the 2025 WRC season, the Power Stage scale remains the same as in recent years. The fastest driver on this last special receives 5 points, then 4, 3, 2 and 1 point are offered to the other drivers in the Top 5 on this Power Stage.

New points scale in 2025: how does it work?

12h08 – 📸 This is what the summit of the Col du Turini looked like less than an hour ago. The snow has completely melted and the road, still wet, is drying out. On the other hand, in the last three kilometers, there will still be snowy and potentially icy areas sheltered from the sun.

12h05 – 📺 On his way to the starting line, Sébastien Ogier is trying his best to “file down” his rubber, especially his studded tires!

12h02 – 🔎 Here is the starting order for this Power Stage with, as usual, the honor going to the WRC2 protagonists to lead the way! 

1) Nikolay Gryazin (Skoda)
2) Gus Greensmith (Skoda)
3) Oliver Solberg (Toyota)
4) Leo Rossel (Citroën)
5) Eric Camilli (Hyundai)
6) Yohan Rossel (Citroën)

7) Josh McErlean (M-Sport Ford) – 12:39 p.m.
8) Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) – 12:43
9) Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota) – 12:47 p.m.
10) Ott Tänak (Hyundai) – 12:51 p.m.
11) Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai) – 12:55 p.m.
12) Elfyn Evans (Toyota) – 12:59 p.m.
13) Sébastien Ogier (Toyota) – 13:03 p.m.

12h00 – 👋 We are back to experience the Power Stage of this still very undecided Monte-Carlo Rally! If Sébastien Ogier still leads with an 18″2 advantage over Elfyn Evans, Adrien Fourmaux will be his main threat since the Northerner, who made up half of his deficit in SS17, is now only 22″2 behind the Gapençais and will start on super-soft tires.

9h55 – 🕒 The start of the Power Stage (La Bollène-Vésubie / Peïra-Cava – 17,92 km) will be at 12:15 p.m.

9h53 – Here is the virtual championship standings at the moment, before the Power Stage. Before the last special this Sunday, it is Kalle Rovanperä who is leading the Super Sunday with a 4″0 lead over Adrien Fourmaux and who would score, if it stays like this, the 5 points offered on Sunday.

9h30 - Here is the general classification of this Rallye Monte-Carlo before the Power Stage! Adrien Fourmaux is back on the heels of Elfyn Evans for 2nd place, while Yohan Rossel still leads the Rally2 category ahead of Nikolay Gryazin with a 30″3 lead.

9:18 p.m. – SS17 : 🏁🇫🇷 A lot of time lost also for Sébastien Ogier! The Frenchman, also equipped with two studded tires, loses 23″9 on Adrien Fourmaux! His victory is still far from assured, especially since the Turini will be dry and the Hyundai driver will have the best tires! Ogier leads with an 18″2 advantage over Evans and 22″2 over Fourmaux!

ES17 – Ranking

9:15 p.m. – SS17 : 17″8 behind Elfyn Evans on Adrien Fourmaux! The Frenchman is therefore 4″0 behind the Welshman for 2nd place! What if?

9:12 p.m. – SS17 : ⏱️🇫🇷 Incredible time from Adrien Fourmaux! The Frenchman clocks 12'05"5 – 4"5 faster than Kalle Rovanperä – and takes back 3rd place overall, 23 seconds ahead of Ott Tänak! "We took risks by being aggressive on the first stage. We'll see what Elfyn [Evans] does. That's my goal."

9:09 p.m. – SS17 : Ott Tänak crosses the line with a significant delay of 23″3 on Kalle Rovanperä! The Estonian will certainly lose his 3rd place to Adrien Fourmaux! Kalle Rovanperä is back to 3″1 of Ott Tänak in the general classification.

9:08 p.m. – SS17 : 🇫🇷 Adrien Fourmaux confirms that his choice is the right one: the Frenchman is on par with Kalle Rovanperä and he is well ahead of Ott Tänak, who is riding with two snow tires! The Northerner will take back his place on the podium!

9:06 p.m. – SS17 : ⏱️ With his super-soft tires, Kalle Rovanperä improved significantly with a time of 12'10″0, that's 16″6 better than Thierry Neuville! And watch out: Adrien Fourmaux is on the same tires as the Finn! Ott Tänak is already 15 seconds behind halfway through the special!

9h04 - ES17 : 🔎 Let us recall that this Digne-les-Bains / Chaudon-Norante special had already been contested on Thursday, during SS1. Sébastien Ogier had set the best time in 11'30″4.

9:03 p.m. – SS17 : ⏱️ Under a sparkling sun, Thierry Neuville logically beats Josh McErlean with a time of 12'26″6.

9:00 p.m. – SS17 : ⏱️ Josh McErlean was therefore the first to arrive and set a first reference time of 12'55″9.

8h59 - ES17 : With two studded tires, Thierry Neuville is currently behind the times set by Grégoire Munster in the first intermediates before his accident. On the other hand, Kalle Rovanperä is much faster than the Belgian with his four super-softs! This could be a good indication for Adrien Fourmaux on this penultimate special.

8:57 p.m. – SS17 : Josh McErlean drives past Gregoire Munster's wrecked car. The road is not blocked by the Belgian's Ford Puma.

8h55 – ES17 : This is already the third Rally1 to have an accident and crash this Sunday morning, after Takamoto Katsuta and Sami Pajari in SS16!

8h52 - ES17 : 💥 Accident for Grégoire Munster! The Belgian understeered in a right turn, carrying too much speed, and hit the embankment on the left before spinning. The crew is OK but at a standstill.

8h50 - ES17 : In terms of track conditions, no ice or black ice visible on Grégoire Munster's onboard camera, but a road that is still slippery and will get dirtier as it passes.

8h47 - ES17 : 🔎 We recall the tire choices of the Rally1 drivers for this last loop of this Monte-Carlo Rally.

8h44 - ES17 : 🟢 The sun rises and Grégoire Munster takes the start of the 17th and penultimate special stage of this Rallye Monte-Carlo!

8h27 – ⚠️ A new slight delay for SS17 between Digne-les-Bains and Chaudon-Norante, which will finally start at 8:44 a.m.

8h25 – 🇬🇧 Even though he lost big seconds on SS16, Adrien Fourmaux remains confident and hopeful in his choice of tires (four super-softs, two studded tires). The Frenchman could regain the advantage in the Power Stage, contested on the Col du Turini, where the snow and ice are melting. Will this be enough to make up the gap on Ott Tänak and regain a place on the podium?

8h18 – ❌💬 Sami Pajari’s first reaction after his abandonment: "It was game over for us. The road was extremely slippery, practically black ice just before the bridge. There was nothing we could do. We just watched where the car was going to slide."

8h00 – 🔎 Here is the Super Sunday standings after the first special of the day. This season, five points are awarded to the fastest driver on Sunday (compared to seven in 2024).

7h40 – 🕒 The start of ES17 (Digne-les-Bains / Chaudon-Norante – 19,01 km) is scheduled for 8:38 a.m.

7h38 - After the first Rally2s, here is the general classification of the Rallye Monte-Carlo at the end of this 16th special. Yohan Rossel takes back the lead in WRC2 ahead of Nikolay Gryazin who, as a reminder, will not score any points this weekend. With the retirements of Takamoto Katsuta and Sami Pajari, Grégoire Munster is now only 18 seconds away from the Top 10!

7h23 – ES16:  🏁🇫🇷 Sébastien Ogier gives his rivals a new lesson and takes the scratch on this SS16 in 10'50″0! The Frenchman made the right choice of tires on this special and increases his lead to 24″3 ahead of Elfyn Evans! With the retirements of Takamoto Katsuta and Sami Pajari, Thierry Neuville climbs to 6th place overall.

ES16 – Ranking

7h20 - ES16:Best time for Elfyn Evans in 10'54"0, that's 9"0 faster than Kalle Rovanperä! He takes a 17 second lead over Ott Tänak in the general classification!

7h16 - ES16: 🇬🇧 Adrien Fourmaux loses big on this special: with his two super-soft tires, the Frenchman finishes 8″5 behind Kalle Rovanperä and loses his 3rd place overall by 4″5 behind Ott Tänak! But the Northerner is betting on the long term. "The goal was to reach the finish and I'm really happy to lose only 7s. I hope my choice will pay off at the end of the rally."

7h15 - ES16: Elfyn Evans is 6″8 faster than Ott Tänak at the 4th intermediate! The Welshman is on the attack!

7h14 - ES16:Ott Tänak takes the 2nd provisional time at 1″5 behind Kalle Rovanperä. The Estonian should take the 3rd place overall since Adrien Fourmaux is still in difficulty.

7h12 - ES16: With two super-soft tires and two studded tires, Adrien Fourmaux is currently the slowest driver, 7″2 behind at the 3rd intermediate…

7h11 - ES16:Forced to slow down at the level of Sami Pajari's stranded Toyota, Kalle Rovanperä still finished with the best time in 11'03″0, 0″7 better than Thierry Neuville.

7h09 - ES16: On the first intermediates, Ott Tänak is faster than Adrien Fourmaux and the Estonian would take the advantage over the Frenchman in the general classification.

7h06 - ES16: ❄️ On Kalle Rovanperä's onboard camera, we can see that there is indeed black ice on the special stage with very slippery and muddy parts.

7h03 - ES16: ⚠️ Sami Pajari is also stopped at kilometer 10! The Finn fell into a stream after hitting a bridge! The crew is OK.

7h02 - ES16:Thierry Neuville managed to get his tires working in the second part of the special and set the best time in 11'03″7. “Maybe not too bad a tyre choice. We’ll have to see over the whole loop. I was just too cautious at the end, but you don’t know where the ice is. The grip was good over the last three kilometres, but I didn’t try to go fast.”

6h59 - ES16: Josh McErlean finished this very tricky special stage 26″7 behind his teammate.

6h58 - ES16: 💥 Takamoto Katsuta goes off track after 1,8 km in the special! The Japanese slid into a tree! The crew is OK but the Toyota is stuck.

6h57 - ES16: With his studded tires, Thierry Neuville struggles to find grip on this mainly wet asphalt. Among the four leaders, it is perhaps Ott Tänak who made the best choice by taking two super-soft, two snow and two studded tires.

6h55 - ES16:Grégoire Munster set the first reference time in 11'04″7 on this 16th special. The Belgian already regrets his choice of tires. « I went without studded tires. I hope the others took some, it's crazy. Four studded tires, it's the perfect choice."

6h52 - ES16: 🔎 Here are the tyre choices for this Sunday, with very different choices depending on the drivers. Thierry Neuville will start with four studded tyres! Sébastien Ogier has also opted for two supersofts and four studded tyres, Adrien Fourmaux for four supersofts and two studded tyres.

6h48 - ES16: On the first kilometers covered by Grégoire Munster, the road is obviously very slippery. The Belgian started with four snow tires, just like Josh McErlean.

6h45 - ES16: 🢢 After a few minutes of waiting, Grégoire Munster takes the start of SS16 and this last day of racing on the Monte-Carlo!

6h39 – 🌧️ Rain fell overnight on the road to SS16 and the Avançon / Notre-Dame-du-Laus stage is totally wet, a real challenge to start the day. SS17 will also be very wet.

6:37 p.m. – ⚠️ The 16th special stage is delayed by a few minutes, without us having any further information at the moment.

6h36 – 🔎 Here is the starting order for this last day of racing on the Rallye Monte-Carlo.

1) Gregory Munster (M-Sport Ford)
2) Josh McErlean (M-Sport Ford)
3) Thierry Neuville (Hyundai)
4) Sami Pajari (Toyota)
5) Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota)
6) Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota)
7) Ott Tanak (Hyundai)
8) Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai)
9) Elfyn Evans (Toyota)
10) Sébastien Ogier (Toyota)
11) Nikolay Gryazin (Skoda)
12) Yohan Rossel (Citroën)

6h34 – 🔢 It is also recalled that a new points scale is being introduced on this Monte-Carlo Rally for the 2025 WRC season. Compared to 2024, the Super Sunday system – which awards points to the fastest drivers on a single Sunday – has been retained, but the distribution of points has been reduced. Everything you need to know about this new scale is in our guide below.

New points scale in 2025: how does it work?

6h31 – 🔎 Here is the route map for this fourth and final day of racing on the Rallye Monte-Carlo! Three special stages organized between Gap and the Col du Turini and many kilometers in liaison to reach Monaco.

6h28 – 💶 Information that reached us yesterday evening: the stewards of the Rallye Monte-Carlo have fined the Hyundai team €10 following damage to the left rear wheel of Thierry Neuville's car, which occurred on SS000 on Friday. The Belgian had gone off track in a hairpin and broken his suspension, but had managed to reach the service park despite everything. The world champion avoided disqualification because the wheel was still attached, but was fined because it was not rotating properly.

6h26 – 🇬🇧 With a 20-second lead and three stages to go before the finish in Monaco, Sébastien Ogier is in a good position to claim his tenth victory on the Rallye Monte-Carlo. Be careful though because behind him, the battle is raging for 2nd position and the podium places.

6h24 – 🔎 So here is the general classification before the start of this last day of racing! 

6h22 – ⏪ If you missed yesterday, don't panic: here is the summary of Saturday with Sébastien Ogier holding on to the lead of the Rallye Monte-Carlo and Ott Tänak coming back on the heels of Elfyn Evans and Adrien Fourmaux for the podium!

Monte-Carlo 2025: Tänak charges onto the podium, Ogier solid leader

6h20 – 👋 Hello everyone ! Welcome to this live commentary to follow together the last day of the Rallye Monte-Carlo, first round of the 2025 WRC season! The start of SS16 (Avançon / Notre-Dame-du-Laus – 13,97 km) will be given in a few minutes, at 6:39!

WRC Rallye Monte-Carlo Live commentary

© Toyota Gazoo Racing

ALSO READ > Rallye Monte-Carlo 2025 – Sunday’s schedule and timetable

Dorian Grangier

A young journalist nostalgic for the motorsport of yesteryear. Raised on the exploits of Sébastien Loeb and Fernando Alonso.

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