The 2022 Monte-Carlo Rally began with two night specials, not the least of which, with the passage through the legendary Col du Turini this Thursday, January 20. This Mecca of world rallying certainly brought back good memories for the two WRC giants, Sébastien Ogier (Toyota) and Sébastien Loeb (Ford), who dominated the competition.

The eight-time world champion signed the first two fastest times for a hybrid car in the discipline. It was especially in SS1 that the Gapençais, associated for the first time with Benjamin Veillas, crushed his opponents, leaving the Hyundais of Ott Tänak and Thierry Neuville by around twenty seconds.

Only Sébastien Loeb, who is also associated with a new co-driver (Isabelle Galmiche), had the strength to keep up with the infernal pace of his compatriot. At 47 years old, and barely a week after taking second place in the Dakar in Saudi Arabia, the veteran on the grid still has the gniac!

In SS1, the Alsatian had kindly explained to Isabelle Galmiche that she had not had the right rate of speech for the notes, sometimes too fast, sometimes too late compared to the progress of the Ford Puma. A small timing problem which was corrected an hour later in the Col du Turini.

" We have fun ! It was very hard on the tires this ES, I overheated the rubber before halfway through the special. But I think we did a great special. During the previous one, I was careful on the icy passages. Isabelle didn't struggle with the grades, that's good! »

M-Sport Ford is smiling as it heads into the Monaco service park. The English team places youngsters Adrien Fourmaux-Alexandre Coria and Gus Greensmith-Jonas Andersson in fourth and fifth place overall, between the favorites for the title, Elfyn Evans-Scott Martin (Toyota) and Thierry Neuville-Martin Wydaeghe (Hyundai) .

The official Hyundais are in a bad position. The South Korean brand chose mixed tire combinations (super soft and soft) and did not play much at the start of the 2022 WRC season. However, both Thierry Neuville and Ott Tänak made faces at the second stop point. “I have no confidence in the car,” justified Thierry Neuville. “There is a long list of mechanical problems to resolve,” revealed his Estonian teammate.

In WRC2, it is once again a Frenchman who leads the way. Niçois Éric Camilli won both special stages, and took advantage of an accident by Nikolay Gryazin (Skoda, 2nd in SS1) to gain a margin overall.

The Monte-Carlo Rally will resume on Friday January 21 from 9:14 a.m. and can be followed in live text on AUTOhebdo.fr.

Craig Breen is the first M-Sport Ford driver down the pass. The Irishman passes 16″ behind Sébastien Ogier. “I thought I had a good memory because it had been 2015 since I had ridden on the Turini, but it wasn’t easy. »

Ott Tänak (Hyundai) finished 18″7 behind Sébastien Ogier. The Estonian is at 41″1 overall. “We had some small engine problems this morning and we had others this evening, like the hydraulics. There is a long list of issues to fix. »

The stages follow one another and are similar for Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota). The Finn drops a good twenty seconds at the top of the Turini…

After 15'14″4 of intensive driving, Sébastien Ogier arrives at the bottom of the hill. “I felt a little better. It's difficult to know where we stand, but I'm satisfied to have completed these stages without any problem. »

At the top of the pass, Thierry Neuville gives up 3″6.

Elfyn Evans and Sébastien Ogier achieve the same time at the top of Turini! Thierry Neuville loses 2″5 at the first intermediate, located on the climb.

Behind the summit of Turini, a slippery section of road is reported by the reconnaissance teams.

Sébastien Ogier took four soft tires this evening.

Some on-board camera images of Sébastien Ogier and his new co-driver, Benjamin Veillas (Toyota), leaders of the event after SS1:

A dream start for the reigning champion and his new co-driver in the dark of the opening stage! 🤩@SebOgier #ToyotaGAZOORacing #GRYaris # Rally1 #WRC #RallyMonteCarlo pic.twitter.com/pAdlGgtZzv

- TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT (@TGR_WRC) January 20, 2022