Monte magic: six in a row for Ogier!

January 27, 2019 0 Comments

Sébastien Ogier has won Rallye Monte-Carlo for a sixth consecutive time, marking his return to Citroen with victory on the opening round of the 2019 FIA World Rally Championship.

And having previously won the event in a Volkswagen Polo WRC (2014, ‘15 and ‘16) and in a M-Sport Ford Fiesta WRC (2017 and ’18), today’s victory in a Citroen C3 WRC makes it six straight wins in three different cars!

Co-driven by Julien Ingrassia, Ogier’s win was only sealed on the final Power Stage, where he was 1.7 seconds faster than Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul. That gave the returning Citroen pair a 2.2 seconds victory margin over the Hyundai crew, which is the closest finish in Rallye Monte-Carlo history.

However, Neuville had lost 20 seconds earlier in the event with an overshoot at a junction – setting the scene for what’s sure to be an epic battle for the world title.

And Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja will surely be part of that battle too, as they finished third after losing time with a puncture in their Toyota Yaris WRC.

Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena finished fourth on their first event for Hyundai, Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila were fifth in a Toyota and Kris Meeke/Seb Marshall set the fastest time on the Power Stage and finished an excellent sixth on their first rally for Toyota.

"You know it is the rally I want to win the most in the season, that is why I am so happy now,” said Ogier at the Power Stage finish line. “We had this problem with the throttle and it was pushing the car on the brakes so it was tough. I am very happy. Six years in a row with three different cars!"

Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia wear Stilo WRC DES Zero 8860 helmets.