A puncture deprives Sebastien Ogier of ninth Rally Monte-Carlo win: returnee Sebastien Loeb dusts off WRC win number 80
Sebastien Loeb (Ford) has won the 2022 Rally Monte-Carlo on his return to the World Rally Championship (WRC) after a dramatic finale
In a thrilling duel between two WRC legends, the nine-time world champion edged out his namesake, eight-time champion Sebastien Ogier (Toyota), to become the first winner of the WRC’s Rally1 Hybrid era. Loeb’s M-Sport team-mate Craig Breen came third.
After a thrilling exchange of blows between the two Sebs over almost the entire rally, Ogier already looked like the sure winner on Sunday. Before the penultimate special stage (SS), Ogier had a lead of 24.6 seconds over Loeb. But then Ogier caught a puncture on the left front and lost 34.1 seconds to Loeb on the penultimate special stage. Ogier was unable to close the gap of 9.5 seconds at the power stage.
At the finish, 10.5 seconds separated the two after a 10-second time penalty for Ogier for an early start into the power stage. Breen, 1:39.8 minutes behind, had nothing more to do with the fight for the top two places. Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota) was fourth ahead of Gus Greensmith (Ford) and Thierry Neuville in the only remaining Hyundai.
Seventh overall and winner of the WRC2 classification was Andreas Mikkelsen (Skoda). Eighth place went to another WRC2 driver, Erik Cais (Ford). Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota) and Nikolai Gryasin (Skoda) completed the Top 10.
For Loeb, who last competed in the WRC in September 2020 and who had little preparation time for his first start for M-Sport due to his participation in the Dakar Rally, it was his 80th victory in the World Rally Championship – but the first with his new co-driver Isabelle Galmiche.
“I am very happy. I didn’t expect much beforehand. It was a great fight,” said Loeb, who made good use of the potential of the well-sorted Ford Puma Rally1. With a total of five SS wins, the 47-year-old impressively showed that he is still in top form. However, it is not yet clear whether Loeb will contest any more rallies in the course of the 2022 WRC season.
Plattfuß bringt Sebastien Ogier im den Sieg
Ogier, who will also only contest individual rallies this season and is not confirmed for another round so far either, was annoyed about the unlucky missed ninth victory at the Rally Monte-Carlo. Instead, he now has to share the “Monte-Masters” title with Loeb, who drew level with his compatriot with his eighth triumph.
“I leave with my head held high,” said Ogier. “I did my job this weekend and that’s the way it is. Congratulations to the team, it was a good weekend for the first time with the hybrid.”
In the shadow of the duel between the two Sebs, Breen was a secret winner. For of all the drivers who will contest the full 2022 season, he scored the best result and finished on the podium for the seventh time in his WRC career.
Craig Breen the secret winner
“It’s an incredible feeling. This is the result of 18 months of incredibly hard work by a group of people who have worked their way all over Covid and it’s all worth it because this is an absolutely amazing machine,” said Breen.
Away from Ogier’s tyre drama, Toyota also experienced a rally of light and shade. Rovanperä was set back by technical problems with his car on Thursday, but fought his way back with, among other things, two SS wins on Saturday afternoon, ending up in a good fourth place and winning the power stage.
Elfyn Evans, on the other hand, was disappointed. For a long time, the Briton was the first pursuer of the two Sebs at the top, until he made what he described as a “clumsy” mistake on the eleventh special stage on Saturday. In a right-hand bend, Evans slid off the road and got his car stuck on a slope. Only after more than 20 minutes was he able to free the car with the help of spectators.
On the second run of the special stage “Saint-Geniez – Thoard” on Saturday afternoon, Katsuta missed the chance for a top-5 result. On an icy section, the Toyota junior slid off the road. Again, spectators had to lend a hand to pull the car back onto the road.
Greensmith underlined the good performance of the Ford Puma Hybrid Rally1 with fifth place overall. The 25-year-old Briton had particular reason to celebrate on Friday when he won a special stage in the WRC for the first time on the seventh special stage in the afternoon. On Saturday, he then lost more than one and a half minutes due to a puncture on the eleventh special stage.
The only retirement in the M-Sport camp was Adrien Fourmaux, who caused the first heavy accident of the Rally1 era on Friday. On the third special stage, the Frenchman hit the embankment on the inside of a right-hand bend. There his car was levered out, rolled over the crash barrier and rolled more than 20 metres down a slope. Fourmaux and co-driver Alexandre Coria escaped the wreckage under their own power and uninjured.
Hyundai experiences debacle
Hyundai experienced a rally to forget, ending with just 13 points in the manufacturers’ standings. The development backlog, after a late board decision to continue the WRC programme Hyundai had been the last of the three manufacturers to start working on the Rally1 car, was clearly noticeable for the team from Alzenau.
There were more or less major technical problems on all three Hyundai i20 N Rally1 cars. Neuville was already complaining about the handling of his car on Friday. “It’s a nightmare. I have never been so scared when driving,” said the Belgian. Then on Saturday, the car’s front right shock absorber broke. After a makeshift repair, Neuville could only continue at reduced speed, so more than sixth place was not possible in the end.
His two teammates did not finish. Ott Tänak had to park his Hyundai on Saturday. The Estonian had skidded off the road on SS 13 and hit the front of an embankment. The radiator was damaged and the engine overheated, making it impossible to continue.
On Friday and Saturday, exhaust fumes leaked into the interior of Oliver Solberg’s car, which caused concentration problems, vision problems and dizziness in Petter Solberg’s son and co-driver Elliott Edmondson, resulting in a crash on the tenth special stage on Saturday. As Solberg and his co-driver did not feel physically well on Sunday, they decided in consultation with the team to abandon the rally after SS 14.
The 2022 WRC season continues from 24 to 27 February with Rally Sweden, the only winter rally on the calendar.