The World Rally Championship WRC launches its season this Thursday, January 23, 2025 with the traditional Rally Monte-Carlo. On the competitors' side, 10 Rally1 will be at the start of this 93rd edition. Defending champion and last winner of the event, Thierry Neuville will put his crown back into play. Facing him, the Belgian will have some great people, notably his teammate Hyundai Ott Tänak or Kalle Rovanperä, back on a full programme after a year part-time.
As for the Monte Carlo victory, Sébastien Ogier necessarily appears as a serious candidate, he who already has 9 successes in this Rally. The Frenchman Adrien fourmaux, Hyundai's new recruit, will be keen to make a good impression for his first appearance in his new colours.
Three specials are on the menu this Thursday evening:
18h05 – SS1: Digne-les-Bains / Chaudon-Norante – 19,01 km
19h53 – SS2: Faucon-du-Caire / Bréziers – 21,18 km
21h06 – SS3: Avançon / Notre-Dame-du-Laus – 13,97 km
WRC – Rallye Monte-Carlo 2025
The first day with live commentary
21h52 – 🏁 This is the end of this first day of the Rallye Monte-Carlo 2025. Thank you for joining us and see you at 9:31 this Friday for the second day of competition. Have a great evening everyone!
21h47 – 🏁 3/3 for Toyota but thanks to Evans this time since Ogier did not manage to set the best time. As a reminder, the Tricolore almost made a mistake and lost big seconds in this incident. This thus gave the lead of the Monte-Carlo 2025 to Neuville who now leads by only two seconds ahead of Evans. Fourmaux has fallen back to 5th place, three seconds behind Tänak in front of him.
21h44 – Like Pajari, McErlean is also not taking any risks. 1'04“9 behind Evans for him with a time of 11'11“2
21h41 – Pajari has finished his first day at Monte-Carlo on a Rally1. Of course, the Finn played it safe. 10'56“2 for him on the line at 49“9
21h38 – Munster finished on a high note and with a smile. The Luxembourger signed the 4th provisional time at 17“2 “only” from Evans. It was really tricky, with our position on the road we can be satisfied with the 4th time. I like these conditions a lot, but I already don't have much hair left, if I lose it with this stress it's not good »
21h34 – Rovanperä remains discreet and accepts to lose time once again. 16 seconds dropped on the line with a time of 1'10"22 for the Finn. Only in the last stage did the performance match our pace, in the first two it was crap. We have to see what more we can do. »
21h31 – Katsuta happy to see the finish line to finally be able to return to the service park, he who has had a problem with his Yaris since SS1. 10'30“5 for him on the line of this SS3 at 24“2 from Evans
21h28 – Fourmaux falls in the standings and falls behind Tänak by three seconds. He completed his last special in 10'34“1, 27“8 behind Evans. He is now 5th, 30 full seconds behind. I didn't have a good feeling, I was afraid of getting caught out (…) It's only the beginning, the rally is very long. »
21h25 – And we have an idea of what Ogier has lost in these misadventures. 23 seconds behind on the line for him with a time of 5'10"29. This allows Neuville to take the lead in the general classification with a 8-second lead over Evans. Difficult of course, there is a lot of mud on the road, we hit a pole on the side. It is always a chance to get out of it. " explained Ogier.
21h22 – Tänak continues to be discreet. The Hyundai driver has again lost time, 17 seconds this time after completing the stage in 8'10"24. Happy to be here (smiles). There are some places where you don't expect it to be so slippery."
21h19 – Evans recovers in this SS3. The Welshman raised his tone and made up time at Neuville. 10'06“3 for him on the line to beat the Belgian by 5“4
21h17 – Ogier had a very close call! The Frenchman made a mistake and almost lost his Yaris. Luckily, the Gapençais managed to avoid going off even though he lost almost 15 seconds
21h16 – Neuville reaches the finish. In this special stage of all dangers, the Belgian mastered his subject to stop his time at 10'11"7. We have seen him in delicate situations several times with very difficult conditions. " The first part of the special, I dirty the road. The second I swept it (laughs). It was difficult to avoid the traps. I am happy with this first day. The main objective was to finish the day.
21h06 – 🟢 Here we go for the last special of the evening! Neuville opens the road! A lot of people are expected as the riders will tackle the Col du Turini where the atmosphere is likely to be lively as always!
20h38 - The start of SS3 is scheduled for 21:06 a.m.
20h35 – 🏁 And 2/2 for Ogier in this start of Monte-Carlo! After SS1, the Tricolore signed the best time during SS2 this Thursday evening. A new scratch which allows him to push Neuville back to 5 in the general classification while Evans has fallen back to third place and is now threatened by Fourmaux on whom he only has 3 tenths of a margin.
20h32 – “Mamma mia”. A hard learning experience for McErlean who is making his debut at the wheel of a Rally1. The Irishman completed SS2 in 12’15“3, more than a minute behind Ogier
20h29 – Pajari continues to learn from the big boys. Unsurprisingly, the Finn is not playing for time at the start of the weekend. 11'34“1 on the line for him, 22“7 behind Ogier. Lots of traps. The last part is full of mud, much more than expected. So I didn't know how to handle it with these tires. »
20h26 – Munster a little more confident. The Luxembourger ranked in provisional 6th place at 15“8 “only” behind Ogier. The latter also confirmed difficult conditions with some muddy sections
20h23 – Rovanperä is also very far away! The Finn does not seem comfortable and concedes 22 seconds this time! Clearly, he is not comfortable on the road of these first special stages of the weekend. He says he lacks confidence on these slippery sections in addition to not appreciating the behavior of his car.
20h20 – Katsuta still behind while he had indicated having a problem with his Yaris. The Japanese lost 22 seconds with a time of 4'11"34
20h16 – Fourmaux raises his voice! Third provisional time for the Northerner after finding his marks during SS1. The new Hyundai driver finished just 2 seconds behind Ogier. Not bad! It was incredible! The speed at the start of the special… it was crazy (…) A real Monte-Carlo special. »
20h13 – Ogier doesn’t take his foot off the gas! In search of a 10th victory in Monte-Carlo, the Frenchman set the best provisional time in 11’11“4, beating Neuville by 0“9. The gap could have been bigger but the Gapençais lost a little time in the last section as he had a lead of up to more than 3 seconds. It was tricky. Much less regular than the first pass. Not easy to go all out."
20h10 – Tänak still behind. The Estonian crossed the line in 11'17“8. Although he did better than Evans, he still finished 5“5 behind Neuville. The conditions can trap you. There are a lot of surprises. We did our best but it was tricky. »
20h07 – 11'20“9 for Evans who concedes 7“9 on Neuville. This means that the Welshman passes behind the Belgian in the general classification by 7“4. It was very difficult. Difficult to read the grip. There is mud in some places… I expected the same grip all the way… so there were some traps. »
20h04 – The time to beat in this SS2 is known: 11'12“3 signed by Neuville, the first to pass on this course between Faucon-du-Caire and Bréziers. It was more polluted than expected. The spectators probably walked on the road several times and there was mud because our ushers did not report it when they passed by »
19h57 – After a timid start, will Tänak and Rovanperä attack in this SS2? The answer will be in a few minutes when the first times of the special will start to fall
19h53 – 🟢 The action resumes at the 2025 Monte Carlo Rally! Neuville opens the hostilities in this SS2. The Belgian is third, 4 seconds behind Ogier
18h48 - 🏁 The start of ES2 is scheduled for 19:53 p.m.
18h46 - 🏁 It is therefore a first scratch for Ogier in this Monte-Carlo 2025 who takes the lead for 3“5 ahead of Evans and 4“4 ahead of Neuville. Fourmaux and Tänak complete the Top 5 of this SS1.
18h44 – And McErlean crosses the finish line. The new recruit of M-Sport for this season covered the 19 kilometres of the special in 12'26“2 to 55“8 of Ogier. The Irishman warned that it was above all a question of taking his bearings for his first rally in the premier category and that we should therefore not expect anything from him
18h41 – While Solberg was stopped in the first part of this special, Pajari got the better of him with a time of 11'52"9, 22"5 behind Ogier. It was tricky. I felt like I was very slow but overall it was pretty good. For me, it was important to finish this first special stage to gain confidence."
18h38 – Munster finds its marks. The Luxembourger finished in 11'56“9, 26“5 behind Sébastien Ogier.
18h35 – Rovanperä also starts smoothly. The Finn, who is making his full-time return, lost 15 seconds to Ogier with a time of 6'11. I'm not very surprised to be honest. There was pollution very quickly and most of the others have already done this stage last year."
18h32 – Katsuta far behind. The Japanese reached the finish in 11'47“8, 17“4 behind Ogier. Apparently, he encountered a problem with his Yaris
18h29 – And Fourmaux completes his first WRC special in the colours of Hyundai. The Northerner did not attack and preferred to lose a little time at the start of Monte-Carlo. 11'41“2 for him, 10“8 behind Ogier. It was a big challenge because there was pollution on the road after about 10 kilometers.”
18h26 – Ogier, for his part, is already hot! The nine-time winner of the event flew all along the special to beat Evans’ mark by 3 seconds. The Gapençais sets a new benchmark to beat: 9'11"30. On the way to tenth? I felt pretty good. I expected more difficult conditions so it was nice to drive. »
18h24 – No problems at all for Tänak. The Estonian appeared calm at the stop point, assuring that everything had gone well. The 2019 champion probably didn't want to attack right away to preserve himself for the rest of the loop.
18h23 – Already problems for Tänak? The Estonian has in any case let several seconds slip away on Evans and Neuville. He completed the special in 11'43“9, 9“6 behind Evans' reference!
18h20 - Evans immediately improves. 11'34“3 which takes half a second from Neuville. The Welshman lost a little time in the last sections since he counted up to 2“6 provisional advantage. I lost a bit of confidence in a slippery part (…) But overall it's not bad," explains the Toyota driver
18h17 – And on the line it is a time of 11'34"8 for Neuville who is competing in his first special as reigning champion. Here is the first reference to beat in this SS1. " It was different. It was the first time I rode with these tires in these conditions. So I was more in discovery. I don't know when the grip will change. Not easy to start in these conditions."
18h12 – ❄️ As for the weather, no snow is forecast for this Thursday evening. However, the crews will have to be very careful of the black ice during these three evening specials to avoid being trapped
18h09 – 🛞 No information has been given yet regarding the choice of the drivers' tires. As a reminder, Hankook is now the exclusive supplier of the WRC
18h05 – 🟢 The 2025 WRC season is underway! Neuville is on the road to the first special stage of the Monte-Carlo. 19,01 kilometres on the programme for this route between Digne-les-Bains and Chaudon-Norante
17h59 – The map of the three special stages of the day at Monte-Carlo:
17h54 – As for the new features for the 2025 season: a new points scale. After the one introduced in 2024 which was poorly received, the promoter has decided to make a new change. Here it is:
17h52 – Here is the order of the day
Thierry Neuville
Elfyn Evans
Ott Tänak
Sébastien Ogier
Adrien fourmaux
Takamoto katsuta
Kalle Rovanpera
Grégoire Munster
Sami Pajari
Josh McErlean
17h45 – 👋 Good evening everyone ! Welcome to this live commentary to follow together the first day of the Rallye Monte-Carlo, first round of the 2025 WRC season, with live commentary on AUTOhebdo! The start of SS1 (Digne-les-Bains / Chaudon-Norante – 19,01 km) will be given in a few minutes, at 18:05 p.m.!
ALSO READ > Our favorites for the 2025 Monte-Carlo Rally
Lens
23/01/2025 at 07:53 a.m.
Interesting!
DELFORGE VINCENT
23/01/2025 at 05:53 a.m.
great to be able to follow remotely!