Léo Rossel, winner in WRC2 of a "crazy rally"

After Yohan Rossel's three consecutive victories in the opening round of the season, it was his younger brother Léo who stole the show, mastering a particularly tricky course. The Citroën driver ultimately won by more than two minutes over the Italian Roberto Daprà. Having come close to a first World Rally Championship victory in Central Europe last year, Léo Rossel has finally broken his losing streak, and he did so in what is the rally the most prestigious of the season.

"In terms of 'beauty,' I definitely prefer winning my first victory in Monaco to the Central Europe Rally, even though I'd like to win every rally I enter!"he explained to our microphone. “We are very happy (with his co-driver Guillaume Mercoiret. Ed.), it was an insane rally, we will remember it for a long time for sure. We really experienced some crazy things, just the descent of the Turini this Sunday morning, I couldn't even recognize the descent in the snow.”

While his brother Yohan made a mistake on the very first stage Thursday evening, Léo managed to take the lead in the rally on the fourth stage and never relinquished it, despite a strong comeback on Saturday morning from Nikolay Gryazin. An error by the Bulgarian driver opened the way for Rossel, who nevertheless had to keep a cool head in the snowy and icy conditions.

“I’m very happy, I hope this is the first victory that will lead to others. Nevertheless, I know there will be more difficult moments during the season. The goal is to make the most of them and try to capitalize on them. Now, we have a bit of a break between now and our next round, so we’ll see how it goes. We’re very happy with what we’ve achieved; it means we’ve made progress compared to last year, and that’s the most important thing.”

Proudly represent France

Backed by Stellantis Motorsport, Léo Rossel doesn't yet know exactly what his 2026 season will look like. No doubt a victory at Monte Carlo would allow him to significantly expand his program, as he is now logically the leader of the WRC2 World Championship!

“It’s true that this year I’m lucky to have Stellantis behind me. Last year I had the Federation’s support, but it’s not entirely clear with them this year. I hope they’ll support us this year; it will help us do many more rallies. I would be happy to represent France again in the World Championship.”

ALSO READ > WRC 2026 Championship – Standings after Rallye Monte-Carlo

Interview by Pierre Barré in Monte-Carlo (Monaco).