Relive the Monte Carlo Rally Power Stage with live text commentary

After a Saturday marked by particularly difficult conditions, the last four special stages of Rally Monte Carlo promises a similar situation! With two passes through a snow-covered Col de Turini, anything can still happen in a rally led by Oliver Solberg, who has a lead of just under a minute over his teammate at Toyota, Elfyn Evans.

The program of the day

08:05 PM. – SS14: Col de Braus / La Cabanette 1 – 12,50 km – matthew fontana
09:35 PM. – ES15: La Bollène-Vésubie / Moulinet 1 – 23,45 km – matthew fontana
11:09 PM. – SS16: Col de Braus / La Cabanette 2 – 12,50 km – Adrien fourmaux
13:15 PM. – SS17: La Bollène-Vésubie / Moulinet 2 (Power Stage) – 23,45 km – Elfyn Evans

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

14h25 - Thank you for following us for this first rally of the season! We'll be back from February 12th to 15th for the Rally Sweden, but until then, of course, you can find all the reactions on AUTOhebdo.fr, on our Youtube channeland in the magazine available this Monday at 20pm in digital version, and Wednesday in newsstands!

Oliver Solberg wins the Monte Carlo Rally and becomes the youngest winner of the event

14h20 - And the provisional general classification:

14h20 - The provisional ranking of the Power Stage:

14:16 p.m. – SS17: 💬 Oliver Solberg: “I don’t understand what’s happening, I think! It’s been an emotional day. It was the toughest rally of my life, and it’s my first rally with the car on tarmac, and we’ve won – it’s fantastic. I was so stressed all weekend, thank you to Toyota for their trust, and I’m delighted to have been able to repay them with a victory.”

14:14 PM – SS17: 🏁 Oliver Solberg crosses the finish line, he wins the 2026 Monte Carlo Rally!

14:13 – SS17: Oliver Solberg loses time on the descent, the Swede obviously manages his lead and is not aiming for the five Power Stage points, which should go to Elfyn Evans.

14:10 p.m. – SS17: 💬 Elfyn Evans: "Hats off to Oliver Solberg, he did a superb job for his first rally with the official team! They worked very hard with Eliott (Edmonson), and it's well deserved for them. Congratulations to the whole team too, who achieved a 1-2-3 finish."

14:10 – SS17: Elfyn Evans finished 17,3 seconds ahead of his teammate Sébastien OgierHe secures his second place overall!

14:05 p.m. – SS17: 💬 Sébastien Ogier: “It was a difficult week, but I’m quite happy to be on the Monte Carlo podium for the fifteenth time; I have every reason to be proud. Oliver Solberg did even better than expected; he did a very good job, and it’s good for the championship. It gives the category a fresh boost, and I can’t wait to fight for the title with him!”

14:05 – SS17: Sébastien Ogier finishes, with an eight-tenths lead over Adrien fourmaux !

14:01 p.m. – SS17: 💬 Adrien Fourmaux: “I didn’t touch anything, I don’t know why I have damage on the front left, maybe the nose of the car is too long! It was very strange in terms of the feeling, but I’m happy with what I did nonetheless. It’s fun to watch from the outside because the car was sliding, but from the inside you feel like you’re losing performance! We can be satisfied with this Sunday, we did the best we could to score as many points as possible, but we’re fighting against the WRC2 and WRC3 cars today!”

14:00 AM – ES17: Adrien Fourmaux takes the lead with a 25,2 second advantage over Katsuta, very good news for the points in the "Super Sunday" and the Power Stage for the Frenchman.

13:57 p.m. – SS17: 💬 Thierry Neuville : “We only had two studded tires left, it wasn’t easy, but that pretty much sums up the whole weekend. I had a lot of trouble finding a good feeling, I can’t seem to use these tires in these conditions. I spent more time as a passenger than a driver, but we made it to the finish and that’s the most important thing.”

13:56 – SS17: Thierry Neuville finishes with the second provisional time, 1,5 seconds behind Katsuta, despite a spin!

13:53 p.m. – SS17: 💬 Takamoto Katsuta: “ It wasn't a very good weekend; the conditions were very demanding. There are a lot of things to improve. I'm not entirely sure what went wrong in the first two days, but I was definitely missing something. I'm sorry to the team; I'm just trying to improve and I'll do my best in Sweden.

13:52 – SS17: Takamoto Katsuta has now finished the Monte Carlo Rally, setting the fastest time on the special stage with a 3,2-second lead over Paddon. The Japanese driver finished seven seconds behind Léo Rossel overall.

13:39 p.m. – SS17: 💬 Hayden Paddon: "It was very difficult for everyone, but I never imagined I'd be here. The last six weeks have flown by because I never thought I'd be back at Monte Carlo, let alone with a factory car."

13:48 – SS17: Hayden Paddon finishes with a 36-second lead over Arthur Pelamourgues' Rally2.

13:48 – SS17: Starting with two snow tires and two studded tires, Thierry Neuville made a small mistake but he got going again without any problems.

13h46 - 💬 Léo Rossel: « "It's truly incredible, thank you so much to the whole team, it's my first rally with this team and we won! After Yohan, it's my turn, I'm thrilled, thank you so much to Stellantis and this is a very important result for the future of my season."

13:45 PM – SS17: 🏁 Léo Rossel finishes, he wins the WRC2 category!

13:41 – SS17: Very cautious on the descent of the Turini, Roberto Daprà finishes 15,3 seconds behind Pelamourgues, but he secures his second place overall in WRC2!

13:38 p.m. – SS17: 💬 Arthur Pelamourgues: “It wasn’t what we expected. We learned a lot, we made mistakes, but it’s Monte Carlo, and we finished it. It’s my first time with the car, my first time on tarmac in this category, it’s a dream come true.”

13:37 – SS17: The special stage is over for Arthur Pelamourgues who is the first to record a time on the timesheet, in 21:29.3.

13:34 – SS17: Léo Rossel crosses the summit of the Turini, and the descent begins, extremely treacherous, we saw Daprà almost come to a complete stop in some of the curves!

13:28 – SS17: Hayden Paddon is the first of the Rally1 drivers to start the special stage.

13:25 – SS17: Arthur Pelamourgues is approaching the summit of the Col de Turini, which is still snow-covered, although drier traces are beginning to appear.

13:24 – SS17: Léo Rossel sets off; if he finishes the special stage without incident, he will win the Monte Carlo Rally in WRC2.

13:22 PM – SS17: ⚠️ 3:20 penalty for Éric Camilli! The Frenchman arrived twenty minutes late after the previous special stage, falling to third place overall, with only a few seconds' lead over Pelamourgues.

13:20 – SS17: While the snow and ice may have melted in places, the summit of the Turini is likely to remain extremely treacherous. Roberto Daprà sets off in turn, battling for second place in WRC2 against Éric Camilli.

13:18 – SS17 🟢 The Power Stage of the Monte Carlo Rally is underway, with Arthur Pelamourgues being the first to take off!

13h09 - Josh McErlean is not expected to start the Power Stage, after damaging his front-left suspension on SS16.

13h06 - We're back again, to experience the finale of the 2026 Monte Carlo Rally! The Col de Turini will host the Power Stage, which will award five points to its winner!

12:21 – SS16: Sarrazin is doing well, as is his co-driver Yannick Roche.

12:15 – ES16: 🔴 The special stage is interrupted after Pablo Sarrazin's accident blocks the road.

11h55 - The rally continues from 13:15 pm with the Power Stage, but we will obviously be keeping a close eye on SS16 until then, as conditions are constantly improving and Yohan Rossel or Matteo Fontana could still make a big impact…

11h54 - The first drivers have finished in WRC2, here's the current provisional standings:

And the general:

11h45 - The very provisional classification of SS16, we will obviously be looking closely at the performances of Yohan Rossel or Matteo Fontana, who have been the two leaders since the beginning of the day, one in a Lancia Rally2, the other in a Fiesta Rally3!

11:44 p.m. – SS16: 💬 Oliver Solberg: "It was tricky because the start of the stage was very enjoyable, but towards the end there was clearly snow, and I made a mistake. Everything else went perfectly; now I just want to finish the last stage, it's so difficult because it's so treacherous."

11:43 – SS16: This didn't prevent the Swede from setting the second-fastest time, 5,4 seconds behind Fourmaux, but he hit the barrier with the right side of his Yaris. His overall lead increased to 58,3 seconds.

11:42 – ES16: 💥 Oliver Solberg makes another mistake, and once again he narrowly escapes!

11:41 – SS16: Elfyn Evans finishes 21,7 seconds behind Adrien Fourmaux, who overtakes him in the "Super Sunday" standings.

11:40 p.m. – SS16: 💬  Sébastien Ogier: "It was easier because there were a few lines. Come on, let's continue rolling along peacefully like a little train on the tracks while enjoying the beautiful view and the lovely weather!"

11:39 – SS16: Sébastien Ogier loses 19 seconds on the special stage, the Gapençais driver takes no risks and wants to secure his third place in the rally.

11:37 p.m. – SS16: 💬 Adrien Fourmaux: "Today, we're not battling amongst ourselves in Rally1, we're battling with the Rally3s! We have to manage to get the best possible result. It was a very good stage, I'm really happy with it."

11:37 – SS16: Adrien Fourmaux finished 17,1 seconds ahead; the Frenchman has once again delivered a very impressive special stage!

11:35 p.m. – SS16: 💬 Thierry Neuville: "It went well, but we discovered a problem with one of our tires before the start of the special stage; we had to change it because there was a nail in it."

11:34 – SS16: Best time for Thierry Neuville, with a 4,6 second lead over Takamoto Katsuta.

11:32 p.m. – SS16: 💬 "I got caught out by the mud too, I slipped all the way to the rail. It's been a disastrous weekend." explains Josh McErlean, who managed to reach the finish line, but with a badly damaged front-left suspension.

11:31 p.m. – SS16: 💬 Takamoto Katsuta: "I got caught out by the mud, it's definitely harder than the first run, I hit the barrier but nothing serious."

11:30 – SS16: Takamoto Katsuta finishes, with an 8,9 second lead over Paddon, despite a mistake on the climb, at the same place as Josh McErlean's mistake.

11:29 – SS16: Paddon finishes in 11:06.8. It's a terrible day for the Ford Pumas, as McErlean and Armstrong crashed in the special stage, while Munster was unable to start the first stage of the day.

11:28 – SS16: Hayden Paddon passes McErlean without incident, and will therefore be the first to cross the finish line.

11:27 – SS16: McErlean tries to raise his Puma Rally1 so as not to hinder his opponents behind him.

11:27 – SS16: 💥 Josh McErlean makes a mistake less than a kilometer from the finish! The Irishman crashes into the barrier after being caught out by mud.

11:26 – SS16: Jon Armstrong is stopped after 700m of the special stage.

11:25 – SS16: The climb up La Cabanette is still a bit muddy, but much faster than this morning, very clearly!

11:22 – SS16: Josh McErlean arrives at the intermediate point located after 7,6 km, the road is still wet but without too much black ice.

11h18 - And once again, the standings change in the previous special stage, Matteo Fontana once again sets the fastest time with his Ford Fiesta Rally3!

11:16 – SS16: The sun is now out, and the snow and ice are melting nicely on this special stage.

11:16 p.m. – SS16: 🟢 Josh McErlean is now underway!

11h15 - A slight delay before the start of SS16, but it should begin soon with Josh McErlean!

10h59 - The updated standings for SS15:

10:55 – SS15: And once again, Yohan Rossel outpaces the Rally1 cars with his Lancia WRC2, the Frenchman setting the fastest time on the special stage with a 9,1 second lead over Evans!

10h44 - We'll meet again at 11:09 for the sixteenth special stage of the rally, the second pass through the Col de Braus / La Cabanette stage.

10h27 - And finally, the provisional standings for "Super Sunday"!

10h27 - And the provisional overall standings with two stages remaining:

10h26 - The provisional standings for this fifteenth special stage:

10:25 – SS15: Léo Rossel is the first driver to finish in Rally2, with the seventh provisional time overall.

10:21 p.m. – SS15: 💬 Oliver Solberg: "I spun out, it's so easy to do in the hairpins. Nothing serious, it's okay, but I lost at least ten seconds. When you're in the lead, I can't say it's great to drive in those conditions!"

10:21 – SS15: Oliver Solberg concedes 8,8 seconds to Elfyn Evans, he still has a 42-second lead in the overall standings with two stages to go.

10:19 p.m. – SS15: 💬 Elfyn Evans: "It seems like things are going better towards the end of the stage, but actually no! I don't really feel like I'm pushing hard. And we have no idea what the Power Stage will be like."

10:19 – SS15: Elfyn Evans finishes 7,5 seconds ahead, taking the provisional lead in the "Super Sunday" Rally1.

10:19 p.m. – SS15: 💬 Sébastien Ogier: "I don't know, it's not fun, you just have to survive. We were going slowly but we still had some close calls on the descent. I'm just trying to finish the rally, it wasn't the most fun of my career, but that's how it is."

10:18 – SS15: Oliver Solberg makes a mistake on the descent! The Swede doesn't touch anything but loses precious seconds!

10:17 – SS15: Sébastien Ogier takes second place at the finish of the special stage.

10:17 p.m. – SS15: 💬 Thierry Neuville: “We hit something on the first corner, I didn’t have anything in my notes so there must have been something I didn’t see. I stopped immediately for the puncture, and with three studded tires and one snow tire it wasn’t easy, I’m happy to have finished.”

10:16 p.m. – SS15: 💬 Adrien Fourmaux: “I don’t know what happened with Thierry, but we didn’t lose any time at all; it was just strange to see him in the hairpins! It’s a shame because we’re doing everything we can for Super Sunday points, but it’ll be faster later on. I’m happy with my pace; I did my best.”

10:15 – SS15: Fastest time at the finish for Adrien Fourmaux, with a fifteen-second lead. Thierry Neuville follows him, logically more than two minutes behind after his wheel change.

10:13 p.m. – SS15: 💥 Thierry Neuville hit a mountainside, but the Belgian continued down the Turini descent.

10:13 – SS15: 💬 Jon Armstrong: « It wasn't too bad; the conditions were consistent on the climb. On the descent, there was a bit more snow that turned to mud, and it's really tricky in those conditions; you can't really trust the car. I think it's going to improve a lot further down.

10:11 – SS15: Jon Armstrong finishes 5,1 seconds ahead, clearly excellent at this Monte Carlo!

10:11 – SS15: At the summit of the Turini, Elfyn Evans had the best time, ahead of Adrien Fourmaux and Oliver Solberg.

10:10 p.m. – SS15: 💬 Takamoto Katsuta: "There's quite a bit of snow at the top of the Turini, it's really difficult because there's no grip! We'll see what the conditions are like for the Power Stage, but it's not very nice at the moment."

10:09 – SS15: Katsuta sets the fastest time, now 15,3 seconds ahead of Paddon.

10:08 p.m. – SS15: 💬 Hayden Paddon: "The road surface is changing dramatically. It melts extremely quickly on the descent and it's very difficult because the available grip is constantly changing."

10:08 – SS15: Hayden Paddon finishes, 28 seconds faster than McErlean.

10:06 p.m. – SS15: 💬 Josh McErlean: "The snow is melting quite a bit, and even on our run we saw that the conditions were changing a lot. It's very unpredictable, and it's easy to get caught out by pushing too hard. I'm happy to be finished. It's a very good training exercise to force yourself to be patient, that's all you can do!"

10:05 – SS15: Josh McErlean finishes with the first time on this Turini stage, in 24:28.4.

10:03 – SS15: Fourmaux is undoubtedly coming back to Neuville, but the two Hyundai They did not exchange positions as they began the descent… Neuville finally let them through!

10:01 – SS15: Adrien Fourmaux is catching up to Thierry Neuville in the special stage, will the Belgian let his French teammate pass before the descent?

10:00 AM – ES15: Sébastien Ogier is starting the special stage, while for Neuville, things look difficult, with one snow tire on the front right and three studded ones…

9:59 – SS15: Paddon and Katsuta have started the descent, Jon Armstrong arrives after excellent intermediate points on the climb.

9:54 AM – ES15: 🛞 Thierry Neuville had a puncture in the very first meters of the special stage!

9:53 – SS15: Josh McErlean is approaching the completely snow-covered summit of the Col du Turini; the descent promises to be particularly treacherous in the first few kilometers.

9h50 - It should be noted that in SS14, which kept changing, Matteo Fontana set the best time… with a Fiesta Rally3!

9:47 – SS15: McErlean is approaching the seventh kilometer, and now the road is completely icy and snowy!

9:44 – SS15: Hayden Paddon also left, also with four studded tires.

9:42 – SS15: The Irishman started with four studded tires, which will suffer at the beginning of the climb. Twelve kilometers lead to the summit of the Turini, before a 13,4 km descent.

9:41 p.m. – SS15: 🟢 Josh McErlean is off! The tarmac is damp in La Bollène-Vésubie, but it's undoubtedly the climb up the Turini that will pose the most problems for the crews…

9:38 – SS15: A rock fell onto the road during the night, which explains the delay to the special stage, while it was safely removed.

9:35 – SS15: The start of the special stage is delayed until 9:41.

9:33 – SS15: The drivers are preparing for the fifteenth special stage, a 23,45-kilometer route between La Bollène-Vésubie and Moulinet, which includes the legendary Col du Turini. The same stage will be run a second time later to form the Power Stage.

9h21 - Before we turn our attention to SS15, let's highlight the fastest time in SS14 set by Yohan Rossel in the Lancia Rally2! The Frenchman finished 12,9 seconds ahead of Jürgenson, and 20,5 seconds ahead of the Fourmaux/Evans duo!

9h - The updated standings after the first runs in WRC2, we'll be back at 9:35 for SS15, the first run at Turini!

8:50 – SS14: Excellent run by Léo Rossel! The WRC2 leader takes the third fastest time overall, 5,2 seconds behind Fourmaux and Evans.

8h41 - The provisional general classification before the arrival of the WRC2s:

8h40 - The standings for SS14 after the Rally1 cars have passed:

8:38 p.m. – SS14: 💬 Oliver Solberg: "All that matters is the rally position; it's a unique and incredible position to be in, I couldn't have dreamed of anything better. I'm going to try to stay as clean as possible. It was very tricky, very easy to make a mistake; the conditions are constantly changing, it's too risky to try anything."

8:38 – SS14: Oliver Solberg concedes 8,5 seconds, his overall lead falls to 50,8 seconds over Evans, who therefore sets the fastest time on the special stage, tied with Adrien Fourmaux!

8:36 p.m. – SS14: 💬 Elfyn Evans: "It was very difficult, as expected; there's no grip on the climb."

8:35 – SS14: Elfyn Evans finishes… with exactly the same time as Adrien Fourmaux!

8:35 – SS14: 💬 Sébastien Ogier: "I can't get on!"

8:34 – SS14: A difficult stage for Sébastien Ogier, who finished 15,9 seconds behind. A delay was introduced in the starting order, between Oliver Solberg and Léo Rossel, who will start at least ten minutes after the Swede.

8:32 – SS14: 💬 Adrien Fourmaux: "It was very different compared to when the course openers went through; there's less mud than expected, so I was too cautious at the start. We have no grip in the hairpins, we're at a standstill, it's not easy."

8:32 – SS14: Adrien Fourmaux is the first to finish the special stage in less than 14 minutes, gaining seven seconds on Neuville.

8:30 p.m. – SS14: 💬 Thierry Neuville: "I think the end of the special stage cleans itself up, just like the beginning of the special stage. When you get into the mud, I have absolutely no confidence."

8:29 – SS14: At the intermediate points, Fourmaux improves, while Thierry Neuville finishes with a 7,2 second lead.

8:28 p.m. – SS14: 💬 Jon Armstrong: “Honestly, I felt like I was standing still! I was being careful, I just wanted to have traction at the rear, but I’ve never been so slow on a special stage in my life with all those uphill hairpins.”

8:28 – SS14: Armstrong finished 10,7 seconds ahead!

8:27 – SS14: Jon Armstrong will be next at the finish line; the Irishman is having an excellent special stage!

8:25 p.m. – SS14: 💬 Takamoto Katsuta: "It's very tricky, there's a bit of ice at the start, you never know what you're going to encounter. I wanted to drive without taking any risks, I want to finish this rally."

8:24 – SS14: Katsuta then improved the best time, finishing 3,2 seconds ahead of Paddon.

8:24 p.m. – SS14: 💬 Hayden Paddon: "The goal is simply to have fun today because the weekend hasn't been easy so far. It's not often that it takes us 14 minutes to cover 12 kilometers; I think we were going faster on the reconnaissance runs!"

8:23 – SS14: Sébastien Ogier and Elfyn Evans are involved in the special stage, still no sign of Grégoire Munster, who is suffering from mechanical problems.

8:22 – SS14: Hayden Paddon finished the race, with a 2,5 second lead.

8:21 – SS14: 💬 Josh McErlean: "It's very difficult, especially going uphill on the hairpin bends; you're constantly waiting for traction. It's great fun, but it's just not very fast!"

8:20 – SS14: McErlean is the first to finish, 14:26.1 for the Irish driver.

8:15 – SS14: Josh McErlean is now in La Cabanette and its 14 hairpin bends, the road is completely icy.

8:14 – SS14: Munster appears to have suffered a mechanical problem; he is on the phone with his team to resolve the issue.

8:13 – SS14: Takamoto Katsuta is in the special stage, Grégoire Munster was supposed to follow him, but the Luxembourger is late and missed his time slot.

8:12 – SS14: The passage of snowplows created walls of snow on the edge of the already narrow special stage, and the passing cars brought more snow onto the racing line…

8:10 – SS14: The Toyota drivers, who occupy the top three places in the overall standings, are starting with six studded tires, while the Hyundais of Adrien Fourmaux and Thierry Neuville have chosen four studded tires and two snow tires.

8:08 – SS14: Hayden Paddon is next to start, after a particularly difficult SS12 on Saturday. Sami Pajari, who hit a tree yesterday, will not be starting.

8:05 p.m. – SS14: 🟢 Josh McErlean is off, opening the track. The start of the special stage is fairly clean, but ice begins to appear as we climb the Col de Braus.

8h04 - The rally standings after SS13 yesterday:

8h03 - Before we begin this "Super Sunday," here's a look back at Saturday's events:

8h02 - The snowplows worked all night to improve conditions in the various passes, but conditions will still be very tricky for all crews from the first special stage of the day, from Col de Braus to La Cabanette.

8am – 👋 Hello everyone, welcome to AUTOhebdo.fr to follow the final day of the 2026 Monte Carlo Rally live with text updates 👋!