Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia claimed their third consecutive Rallye Monte-Carlo victory today, the French pair arriving back in Monaco with an emphatic one minute 54.5 second advantage over Polo R WRC team-mates Andreas Mikkelsen and Anders Jaeger Synneväg. Despite a last minute transmission scare after the penultimate stage, Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul took the final podium position, the first for the new generation Hyundai i20 WRC.

In the FIA World Rally Championship, Ogier’s victory and maximum points in the Power Stage give him a nine-point lead over Mikkelsen with Neuville slotting into third. In the Manufacturers Championship, Volkswagen and Hyundai have 25 points apiece.

Today’s route covered just three stages and 45.50 competitive kilometres and, despite his massive lead following Kris Meeke's retirement, Ogier continued to push, winning two of the three tests. His 33rd career win now also means he joins an elite group of four other drivers - Sandro Munari, Walter Röhrl, Tommi Mäkinen and Sébastien Loeb - to have won Rallye Monte-Carlo three consecutive times. Mikkelsen collects his 15th podium result and this time with a new co-driver alongside him, Jaeger Synneväg taking points in his first competitive outing in a world rally car. Rounding off the podium, Thierry Neuville dropped over a minute in the final stage with only two-wheel drive but the Belgian had enough in hand to maintain position.

Mads Østberg, another driver with a new co-driver, finished fourth in the Fiesta RS WRC ahead of Stephane Lefebvre. Left fielding the only remaining DS3 WRC following Meeke’s retirement, the young Frenchman finished fifth, a WRC career-best. Dani Sordo moved one position up the leaderboard into sixth, overhauling Ott Tanak. The top 10 was rounded off by drivers in R5 cars; Elfyn Evans reigned supreme in the new Fiesta and took the FIA WRC 2 Championship category victory, overcoming punctures and time losses in an impressive display. Esapekka Lappi was ninth overall, not registered in WRC 2, and Armin Kremer finished 10th, second in the category. In the FIA WRC 3 Championship, Ole Christian Veiby also dominated and the Norwegian claimed an emphatic win in his Citroën DS3 R3.

The second round of the FIA World Rally Championship takes the contenders to Rally Sweden (11-14 February) for one of the fastest and most spectacular events of the series.

Rallye Monte-Carlo – Final Unofficial Results

FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers (after 1 of 14 rounds)

FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers (after 1 of 14 rounds)