Ogier clinches Monte-Carlo victory

A second fastest time on the closing ‘Power Stage’ ensured that Sebastien Ogier won his first-ever Rallye Monte-Carlo as a World Rally Championship driver. He was 0.4s slower than team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala. That meant he only claimed two extra championship points, but he wasn’t too upset. “It’s been a tough weekend and I’m happy to finish. I wasn’t in the mood to take risks for three extra points,” he said. Kris Meeke claimed the final ‘Power Stage’ point.

Mikko Hirvonen’s worst nightmare came true on the last test. His car continued to lose battery power on the road section to the stage and that meant he started late. He then grappled to keep his car moving on the 16-kilometre test, but all of his efforts were in vain. He was forced to stop and hand Elfyn Evans the sixth place that he’d worked hard to earn only two stages earlier.

During a rally where it was almost impossible to predict who would win, Yurii Protasov crossed the finish line as the WRC2 winner. Lorenzo Bertelli was second in his Ford Fiesta R5, albeit more than seven minutes behind his rival, and Robert Barrable was third in his Tunnocks World Rally Team machine. He was a further minute and-a-half behind Bertelli.