The final day then of the opening round of this iconic rally and with the new points system in place this added to the uncertainty as to how the points table would look following the final stage. Just three stages remained ahead of the crews and just a few seconds separated the top two in both the top category and also Rally2. Gregoire returned to the action and would open the road.
The third run of SS15 La Bréole / Selonnet 3 – 18.31 km saw Thierry set the fastest time from Seb and Ott. Former rally leader, Elfyn was fourth fastest and appeared to be back closer to the pace. In WRC2 there was yet another lead change with Pepe moving back ahead of Nikolay, now holding a 3.7 second lead over the C3 driver. Meanwhile, Yohan was fastest in the stage and was now just 6.7 off the new category leader.
Into SS16 Digne-les-Bains / Chaudon-Norante – 19.01 km and Thierry was fastest again from Elfyn who was just two tenths of a second from the Hyundai crew and Ott third. The stage was a little damp and frosty in places giving some a tricky time. Thierry had pulled more of a gap over Seb and was looking comfortable. In WRC2 Yohan was fastest again and also gained a position, passing Nikolay as well. Pepe was 5.8 seconds slower than Yohan and took a slender lead of just nine tenths of a second into the final stage.
The final stage then, SS17 La Bollène-Vésubie / Col de Turini[Power Stage] – 14.80 km and the top WRC2 runners went first. Yohan flew up the road beating Nikolay’s time by a huge 9.8 seconds. As category leader, Pepe would start last and although going faster than Nikolay, would ultimately drop to second place. Then the Rally 1 runners were unleashed and first in was Gregoire, who finished his first Monte in the top category. Takamoto set the early pace and Ott, Andreas, Adrien and Elfyn didn’t beat his time. Finally, Seb and Thierry came through and eclipsed Takamoto’s time. Thierry took victory and maximum points from the weekend.
Let’s take a look at the final finishing positions and hear from the drivers.
Final Overall Classification – Rallye Monte-Carlo
| 1 | T. Neuville | M. Wydaeghe | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid | 3:09:30.9 |
| 2 | S. Ogier | V. Landais | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid | +16.1 |
| 3 | E. Evans | S. Martin | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid | +45.2 |
| 4 | O. Tänak | M. Järveoja | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid | +1:59.8 |
| 5 | A. Fourmaux | A. Coria | Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid | +3:36.9 |
| 6 | A. Mikkelsen | T. Eriksen | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid | +5:34.6 |
| 7 | T. Katsuta | A. Johnston | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid | +8:28.5 |
| 8 | J. Rossel | A. Dunand | Citroën C3 | +10:29.8 |
| 9 | P. Lopez | D. Vazquez | Škoda Fabia RS | +10:33.8 |
| 10 | N. Gryazin | K. Aleksandrov | Citroën C3 | +10:45.2 |
Hyundai Motorsport
Thierry Neuville
“I don’t have the words to be honest. It was just so great this weekend, I felt so comfortable in the car. The team has done an amazing job and I think the whole package was working very well. It was the first time that we had the team in place like this, and I think this has been a good sign for the future. There’s always some work left so we need to continue working hard, but I’m very happy to win this rally. We were the boss this weekend. The car was amazing so I’d like to say a big thank you to the team.”
Rallye Monte Carlo 2024, 24-28 January 2024
Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid, Podium during Day 3 of WRC Rallye Monte-Carlo 2024
Photographer: Romain Thuillier
Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Ott Tänak
“We need to take fourth but obviously it was not an easy event. We had a lot to learn and discover about the Hyundai i20 N Rally 1 Hybrid. It hasn’t been the most consistent event but we got through the weekend, and let’s see what we can do next. We’re looking forward to Sweden and another adventure. It is coming round very quickly so we are hoping that after some pre-event testing we will be even more ready than we were this weekend.”
Andreas Mikkelsen
“We have enjoyed this weekend. Yesterday we made a good improvement in our speed, but we were cautious today because we were in the middle of no man’s land. We tried to give it a push on the Power Stage, and we were only 0.3 seconds off the pace per kilometre, so we are getting closer and closer. These cars are awesome. To use the maximum potential of them you really need to be used to how they drive, and I am still learning how quick you can go, especially in medium-high speed places where I’m not using the downforce enough. I’m just missing that extra bit of knowledge but with some more seat time, we should be good to go.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Sébastien Ogier
“I think I can be proud of my weekend, I tried everything I could. It’s been a difficult week for me with a big rollercoaster of emotions. On Monday I had to say goodbye to someone very important to me who basically introduced me to motorsport. The start of the event was not easy for many reasons, so I’m happy that we managed to stay in the fight the whole way, and I think it was a super exciting fight for all of the fans to follow. In the end, Thierry was faster this weekend, and he deserved the win. I still managed to bring strong points to the team. It’s also my 15th Rallye Monte-Carlo and 13th time on the podium, so I can be proud of my record on such a challenging rally.”
Elfyn Evans
“We showed that the potential was there to win this weekend, but we just missed the feeling on Saturday afternoon for some reason. Today was much better. There was a real mix of conditions again, but we had to keep pushing to score some more points under the new system and it turned out OK. It’s been a solid enough weekend. We always want to win, but above all I really wanted to finish this rally with solid points, and we’ve done that. Long term we want to win rallies and we will see what’s possible on the next rally in Sweden.”
Takamoto Katsuta
“My rally changed after my mistake on Friday morning when we lost the opportunity to fight for a good result, which was a big disappointment. I’m happy that I could bring the car to the finish in seventh and also score some extra points on Sunday and in the Power Stage. The car was working very well, and I enjoyed the driving. When I felt comfortable and the risks were not so high from the conditions, I felt able to push and the times were pretty good, so that’s positive. The next rally in Sweden is one of my favourite rallies so I will try my best to get a good result there.”
M-Sport Ford WRT
Adrien Fourmaux
“I’m happy to be finished in fifth overall, for sure I would like to do better, but I think it’s a good start to the season. I’m quite happy how we managed it, we were just behind the top four guys, and even on Sunday we showed that we could be up there with them. It’s very positive, we are taking some good points for the championship, and we hope the results will continue to come.”
Grégoire Munster
“The goal was just to get experience on this tricky rally in Monte-Carlo, and I think we managed to do that. Unfortunately, we had to retire on Saturday and restart today, but I think we grabbed a lot of experience and showed great pace. Thanks to the RNCs and weather crews, we managed to get a third fastest time, which is our best result so far on a WRC stage. We also managed to be within 0.5s/km of Thierry on Saturday morning, while he was the fastest car on the loop, which was a real positive. We also managed to grab our first point in WRC, we could have achieved more without the mistake on Saturday, but still great learning and thanks to the team the car was working perfectly throughout the weekend.”
Škoda Motorsport
Oliver Solberg
“It’s always disappointing not to get through all of the stages on a rally, but it was our choice to take only one spare tyre on Saturday. If we’d had two, it would have been OK, and we could have continued – but the rules are clear, and you have to have four inflated tyres on the car. We accept this.
“I would say this event has been a little bit mixed. The first night on Thursday didn’t go perfectly for us. It was a challenge to try to find the comfort and the feeling from the car. We made some changes for Friday and the car was really nice.
“Winning those stages was good, but I still felt there was more to come from me and the car – we weren’t nearly to the limit of what we could do or what the car could do. When we came back on Sunday, there was no point to take any risks.
“We did not register for WRC2 points for Monte Carlo, so this doesn’t affect our championship season. The reason to come here was to take more experience and learn even more about this great rally – from that side of things, this week has been a success.
“I want to thank the team, Elliott, my ice note crew Eric [Camilli] and Stéphane [Prévot], my partners and, of course, Škoda Motorsport for this very cool car. From here we look towards Rally Sweden… my home event. Now, that’s a special one, like you can imagine for me.”
2024 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round 1
| 1 | T. Neuville | 30 |
| 2 | S. Ogier | 24 |
| 3 | E. Evans | 21 |
| 4 | O. Tänak | 15 |
| 5 | A. Fourmaux | 11 |
| 6 | T. Katsuta | 9 |
| 7 | A. Mikkelsen | 6 |
2024 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round 1
| 1 | Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team | 46 |
| 2 | Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team | 45 |
| 3 | M-Sport Ford World Rally Team | 12 |
Summary
Well, what a rally we were treated to this weekend. We had a real fight in both categories for victory and new crews fighting with some making their return to the top of the championship. Thierry and Martijn took victory with a good drive, even though there was the spin. Seb and Vincent did what they could to take victory, but ultimately took a strong second place. Elfyn and Scott set great pace early on taking two stage wins and leading up to stage nine as well.
Away from the podium positions Ott and Martin apart from their issue on Friday morning had a good rally and dealt with the engine issues well.
The two M-Sport crews had a very solid results. Adrien and Alex had a well-managed event, showing some pace when possible and then just driving through when there was nothing to fight for. They took a well-deserved fifth place. Their teammates Gregoire and Louis also had a very good debut in Rally 1 machinery in Monte-Carlo with a top three time and solid drive. The mistake that saw them exit on Saturday afternoon was just one of those things. The car was not damaged, which is a good thing.
Takamoto and Aaron in their Yaris had a good rally even excepting the mistake that saw them lose well over five minutes on Friday morning.
The WRC2 category fight was amazing with Pepe, Nikolay and Yohan all fighting for victory. Pepe took the most stage wins and ultimately took second place from Yohan with Nikolay third in his first outing in a C3 Rally2.
The next round is Rally Sweden from the 15th to 18th of February, the only round to run on snow and ice covered roads.