Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena powered the all-new Citroën C4 WRC to victory in the 75th Rallye Monte Carlo, which finished back in Monaco today. The French/Monégasque pairing led from start to finish, claiming their fourth victory in one of the most legendary events in the FIA World Rally Championship. Citroën also claimed an emphatic one-two on the competitive debut outing of the C4, with Loeb’s team-mate Daniel Sordo finishing second, equalling his best result at World Championship level. Third position was taken by the 2006 event winner, Marcus Grönholm (Ford).
The final leg of Rallye Monte Carlo brought the crews back to Monaco for the closing 2.8 kilometre super special stage, run around part of the famous Grand Prix circuit. While the podium positions remained unchanged, Mikko Hirvonen (Ford) and Chris Atkinson (Subaru) had everything to fight for, as the crews were split in fourth and fifth positions by just seven-tenths of a second. Ultimately Atkinson took the honours, the Australian overhauling the Finn and taking fourth by just two-tenths of a second. Petter Solberg (Subaru) rounded off the top six.
After the opening round of the 2007 FIA World Rally Championship, Sébastien Loeb and Citroën lead both the Drivers and Manufacturers’ Championships as the series moves to the snow in Scandinavia for the Uddeholm Swedish Rally (3-5 February).
Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo – Final Results
| 1 | Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena | Citroën C4 WRC | 3 hr 10 min 27.4sec |
| 2 | Daniel Sordo/Marc Marti | Citroën C4 WRC | 3 hr 11 min 05.6sec |
| 3 | Marcus Grönholm/Timo Rautiainen | Ford Focus RS WRC | 3 hr 11 min 50.2sec |
| 4 | Chris Atkinson/Glenn Macneall | Subaru Impreza WRC | 3 hr 12 min 55.5sec |
| 5 | Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen | Ford Focus RS WRC | 3 hr 12 min 55.7sec |
| 6 | Petter Solberg/Philip Mills | Subaru Impreza WRC | 3 hr 13 min 39.4sec |
FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers (after 1 of 16 rounds)
| Sébastien Loeb (F) | 10 points |
| Daniel Sordo (E) | 8 points |
| Marcus Grönholm (S) | 6 points |
| Chris Atkinson (AUS) | 5 points |
| Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) | 4 points |
| Petter Solberg (N) | 3 points |
| Toni Gardemeister (FIN) | 2 points |
| Jan Kopecky (CZ) | 1 point |
FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers (after 1 of 16 rounds)
| Citroën Total World Rally Team | 18 points |
| BP-Ford World Rally Team | 10 points |
| Subaru World Rally Team | 8 points |
| OMV Kronos Citroën World Rally Team | 2 points |
| Stobart M-Sport Ford Rally Team | 1 point |