Ogier clinches Citroën’s 100th WRC victory!

Exactly 10 years after their maiden Monte Carlo victory, Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia finished on top in the Principality for the seventh time to chalk up Citroën’s 100th WRC win (72 on Groupe Michelin tyres) and kick off the brand’s 100th anniversary celebrations in style. The French pair was joined on the Monaco podium by Thierry Neuville (2nd, Hyundai/Michelin) and Ott Tänak (3rd, Toyota/Michelin). Michelin claimed a one-two finish in the WRC2 class, too, with Gus Greensmith (Ford/Michelin) and Yoann Bonato (Citroën/Michelin).

The 2019 Rallye Monte-Carlo lived up every bit to its promise as competitors were forced to contend with a classic mixed-bag of icy, snowy, wet, damp and dry roads through the Alps near Gap and in the mountains that tower over the French Riviera.

The highly varied conditions made getting the frequently complex tyre calls right vital, with Michelin’s drivers chiefly opting for a combination of studded or non-studded snow tyres (Pilot Alpin A41), matched with super-soft (SS6) or soft (S6) variants of the Pilot Sport asphalt tyre for the week’s competitive loops.

The treacherously slippery conditions led to a high number of damaged wheel rims but, in the vast majority of cases, Michelin’s robust and versatile WRC tyres took the often spectacular impacts in their stride to stay inflated to the stage ends!

Fans were kept entertained by the exceptionally thrilling fight that opposed Ogier and Neuville all the way the end of the final stage. On the start-line of the rally’s ultimate test (13.58km), the pair was split by just four-tenths of a second, but the defending world champion went on to clinch the spoils by 2.2 seconds, the smallest ever winning margin seen on the Rallye Monte-Carlo.

Ogier’s score of seven victories on the event takes him level with fellow Frenchman Sébastien Loeb and equals Walter Röhrl’s longstanding record of Monte successes with four different car manufacturers (Peugeot, Volkswagen, Ford and Citroën). He has also taken the record for the highest number of straight Monte Carlo wins to six since 2014.

Toyota/Michelin’s Ott Tänak recovered from a problem on SS7 to finish on the podium in the Principality for the third year running. The Estonian also harvested the week’s highest number of fastest stage times which helped him to ease past team-mate Latvala (5th) and Loeb (4th) into the top three. After rushing back to France after finishing on the Dakar podium, Loeb marked his debut with Hyundai Motorsport with two fastest times.

Michelin’s customer tyres dominated the order in WRC2, too, thanks to Briton Gus Greensmith (Ford Fiesta R5/Michelin) – who topped the ‘WRC2 Pro’ standings – and the reigning time French champion Yohann Bonato (Citroën R5/Michelin). The French Motorsport Federation’s protégé and WRC rookie Adrien Fourmaux ended up 10th overall in his Ford Fiesta R5/Michelin.

Michelin drivers won all of the classes in which the French firm was represented, namely RC3 (Cédric Durand, Renault Clio), RC5 (Richard Desbordes, Citroën DS3) and RC4B avec Yohan Rossel (Peugeot 208 R2).

Next WRC round: Rally Sweden (February 14-17).