By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
The Auto Magazine
  • Home
  • Auto Shows
    Auto ShowsShow More
    Driving Trade Forward: AfCFTA, AGOA,BRICS and the Tariffs – All On The Menu At Automechanika CEO Breakfast
    May 9, 2025
    Toyota Expands Commitment to Hydrogen Society with Fleet, Infrastructure and Next-Gen System Debut
    April 30, 2025
    Ford is Ready to Tackle the Simola Hillclimb with Over 6 000 Horsepower
    April 30, 2025
    LDV (Maxus as Known in China) Makes a Bold Statement at Shanghai Motor Show
    April 30, 2025
    Upcoming OMODA C3 redefines the crossover with cyber-mecha aesthetics
    April 29, 2025
  • Bikes
    BikesShow More
    BMW Motorrad presents the new BMW R 1300 RS
    May 2, 2025
    BMW Motorrad presents the new BMW R 1300 RT
    April 30, 2025
    Honda NC750X Named Winner in 2025 Red Dot Design Award
    April 10, 2025
    The Panigale V4 honoured with the prestigious iF Design Award
    March 30, 2025
    BMW Motorrad presents the new BMW R 12 G/S
    March 29, 2025
  • News
    NewsShow More
    SEAT S.A. celebrates 75 years
    May 9, 2025
    Lucid Strengthens Leadership Team as Company Prepares for Growth
    May 8, 2025
    GWM Sells Over 100,000 Vehicles in April, Up 5.55% Year-on-Year
    May 8, 2025
    296 LMGT3s head to Belgium for 2025 6 Hours of Spa
    May 8, 2025
    Toyota Announces April Through March 2025 Financial Results
    May 8, 2025
  • Concepts
    ConceptsShow More
    Hyundai Motor and Plus Unveil Concept for Autonomous Hydrogen Freight Ecosystem at ACT Expo 202
    May 2, 2025
    Hyundai Motor Unveils the new IONIQ 6 and IONIQ 6 N Line
    April 5, 2025
    Kia and LG Electronics Partner to Showcase New PBV Concepts for Work and Play
    April 4, 2025
    BMW Group reveals revolutionary electric drive concept with 800V technology for the Neue Klasse
    February 24, 2025
    Audi unveils Q6 e-tron offroad concept
    January 28, 2025
  • EVs
    EVsShow More
    Enviro Automotive Unleashes Cutting-Edge 4×4 EVs and Unprecedented Price Reductions
    May 9, 2025
    Mercedes-Benz and The Mobility House Launch Europe-Wide Partnership for Smart Home Charging
    May 9, 2025
    Coming soon: the new Volvo XC70
    May 8, 2025
    Isuzu begins production of D-MAX EV pickup truck in Thailand
    May 2, 2025
    Rethinking the way we perceive, design and use electric LCVs with Renault Trafic, Goelette and Estafette
    May 2, 2025
  • Motosport
    MotosportShow More
    Ferrari in action at Laguna Seca, Nürburgring and Indonesia
    May 9, 2025
    TOYOTA GAZOO Racing gears up for gruelling gravel rallies
    May 9, 2025
    Porsche Penske Motorsport aims to maintain IMSA winning streak in the USA
    May 9, 2025
    BEHIND THE SCENES: ARCHIE RUTHERFORD ON WHAT IT TAKES TO BRING THE W2RC TO SOUTH AFRICA
    May 9, 2025
    TGR ready for South African Safari Rally as W2RC resumes
    May 8, 2025
  • Trucks & Buses
    Trucks & BusesShow More
    Successful together: representatives of the 12 project partners of the ATLAS-L4 project at the closing event in Penzing with Ernst Stöckl-Pukall, Head of the “Digitalization and Industry 4.0” department at the Federal Ministry of Economics (first row, second from right) and Georg Grüneißl, Head of Product Strategy and Planning at MAN Truck & Bus, representing the project consortium leader (first row, center)
    Goal achieved: the driverless truck on the road becomes reality
    May 8, 2025
    Volvo’s gas-powered trucks on the rise – enabling up to 100% CO2 reduction
    May 5, 2025
    Mercedes-Benz Trucks aims to win a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title with eActros 600
    May 2, 2025
    MAN again with rising order intake
    April 29, 2025
    Volvo reaches milestone with 5,000 electric trucks sold worldwide
    April 29, 2025
  • Reviews
    ReviewsShow More
    Sporty meets efficiency: the new Audi A6 plug-in hybrid models
    May 7, 2025
    THE ROLLS-ROYCE PHANTOM AT 100 YEARS
    May 4, 2025
    Introducing the 2026 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring
    April 16, 2025
    TGR to Launch Evolved GR Yaris
    April 14, 2025
    Connected development: the Audi A6 Avant as the perfect travel companion
    April 9, 2025
  • Tech
    TechShow More
    Hyundai Motor Group Delivers Enhanced In-Car Experience Through Equinix Data Centers Globally
    May 8, 2025
    Artificial intelligence as a quality booster
    April 28, 2025
    Kia Introduces AI Voice Assistant to Enhance Connectivity and Driver Experience
    April 16, 2025
    Bentley employs pioneering AI technology in the quest for leather perfection
    April 15, 2025
    Bandai Namco, AirConsole and Volkswagen bring PAC-MAN into the vehicle
    April 15, 2025
Hot News
Ferrari in action at Laguna Seca, Nürburgring and Indonesia
SEAT S.A. celebrates 75 years
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing gears up for gruelling gravel rallies
Enviro Automotive Unleashes Cutting-Edge 4×4 EVs and Unprecedented Price Reductions
Driving Trade Forward: AfCFTA, AGOA,BRICS and the Tariffs – All On The Menu At Automechanika CEO Breakfast
Reviews

ROLLS-ROYCE SPECTRE: THE ROLLS-ROYCE THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING

Latest News

Bentley celebrates UK retailer network with annual awards ceremony

Motosport

Emotional King of the Hill at 15th Simola Hillclimb ends with Zeelie, Mitchell and Weston on top

Electric Vehicles

New partnership with SIXT – Elli opens its charging network to external partners

Font ResizerAa
The Auto MagazineThe Auto Magazine
  • Home
  • Auto Shows
  • Bikes
  • News
  • Concepts
  • EVs
  • Motosport
  • Trucks & Buses
  • Reviews
  • Tech
Search
  • Home
  • Auto Shows
  • Bikes
  • News
  • Concepts
  • EVs
  • Motosport
  • Trucks & Buses
  • Reviews
  • Tech
Follow US
Crafted by Intellegere Media. © 2024 The Auto Magazine. All rights reserved.
Motosport

Ogier’s milestone Monte win crowns TOYOTA GAZOO Racing one-two

Itumeleng Garebatshabe
Last updated: January 28, 2025 10:20
By Itumeleng Garebatshabe
249 Views
11 Min Read
Share
11 Min Read
SHARE

Sébastien Ogier has claimed a record-extending 10th victory on the legendary Rallye Monte-Carlo as TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team scored a one-two finish to launch its 2025 FIA World Rally Championship campaign with a maximum points haul.

The victory is Ogier’s third Rallye Monte-Carlo win with TGR-WRT and his second with co-driver Vincent Landais, and brings Toyota’s all-time record on the event to six wins.

As usual the rally brought a wide range of changeable conditions during the weekend, with dry asphalt stages in the mountains of the French Alps also featuring sections of ice as well as plenty of mud and gravel being dragged onto the road. It provided a challenging first event for the teams and drivers with the revised technical package for 2025, with the top class of Rally1 cars no longer featuring hybrid units and also running on Hankook tyres for the first time.

- Advertisement -
Ad image

Despite these challenges, the battle for victory remained tight throughout the weekend and went down to the very last stage across the iconic Col de Turini on Sunday afternoon. Ogier had eked out a lead of 20.3 seconds over Evans going into the final day, with the Hyundai pair of Adrien Fourmaux and Ott Tänak also close behind, but an early start combined with cold and wet conditions made for a difficult last tyre choice.

Ogier and Evans both took a package of four studded winter tyres plus two supersoft slick tyres, which paid off in the icy first stage prior to sunrise. With the four studded tyres fitted they were around 20s quicker than Fourmaux, but that advantage swung the other way on a drier second stage, where Fourmaux could fit his four slicks and close back to within 4s of Evans and 22.2s of Ogier.

The rally-ending Power Stage featured a true mix of conditions, with a largely dry ascent and descent but with some ice atop the famous Col. In the end, all of the top three drivers opted for a mix of slick and studded tyres and it was Ogier who set the best time, just 0.215s quicker than Evans – who ran wide and brushed a bank on the rapid descent to the finish.

Ogier’s win is also his 15th for TGR-WRT, drawing him level with team-mate Kalle Rovanperä and their fellow two-time champion Carlos Sainz as the drivers who have achieved the most WRC victories for Toyota.

Evans and co-driver Scott Martin start their season strongly, also topping the Super Sunday classification to earn five extra bonus points. 1.1s in front of Rovanperä and 1.8s in front of Ogier.

2025 FIA World Rally Championship / Round 01 / Rallye Monte Carlo 2025 / 22-26 January 2025 // Worldwide Copyright: Toyota GAZOO Racing WRT

With a different tyre strategy, Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen were consistent across all conditions on the final day and beat Ott Tänak to fourth overall, securing a solid haul of 18 points from a challenging weekend.

Takamoto Katsuta and Sami Pajari built their confidence and pace through the rally. Katsuta won a stage and was third-quickest across Saturday, while Pajari gathered valuable experience on his first Rallye Monte-Carlo in Rally1 machinery. Starting the final day sixth and seventh, both would unfortunately slide off the road in Sunday’s first stage.

Quotes:
Jari-Matti Latvala (Team Principal) 
“I’m really delighted. We could not really have had a better start to the season than this: we got the maximum 60 points as a team, a one-two-four overall and the 10th victory for Sébastien Ogier on Rallye Monte-Carlo, which is a truly amazing and unique achievement. The conditions were very difficult until the end and the tyre choice was stressful this morning because the road was freezing after the route-note crews had passed through. Unfortunately Sami and Taka went off, and perhaps I should have pushed them to take a safer choice, but this rally was all about the experience for them. With our other drivers it worked out well in the end, so thank you to them. At the same time it was a very entertaining rally and I think we have an exciting season ahead.”

Elfyn Evans (Driver car 33) 
“This was a typical Rallye Monte-Carlo, a bit more extreme than in recent years and it was a properly challenging weekend. I’m very happy to be here at the end with a decent haul of points. Today started off with some very tricky conditions, we made a change at the last moment to take four studded tyres and I wasn’t sure it was the right call. In the end it seems there wasn’t a lot between the two choices and we had a pretty thrilling Power Stage to finish: we had a close moment a few corners from the end but thankfully we managed to get away with it.”

Kalle Rovanperä (Driver car 69) 
“Rallye Monte-Carlo is always tough and it was especially so this year. For me personally it was a pretty difficult weekend. We didn’t have the result that we wanted or the pace that we wanted but we have to be happy at the end to have got some pretty good points. Today was not a bad day for us: we just tried our best, kept consistent and it paid off. A big thanks to the team, now let’s see what we can do in Sweden.”

Sébastien Ogier (Driver car 17) 
“It’s amazing to win this rally for the 10th time: it makes me incredibly happy and proud. This rally is the one that gave me the dream to be a rally driver, so if I could pick only one to win in a season, it would always be this one. This year it’s been a huge fight up until the very last stage. We had changing conditions, difficult tyre decisions and pressure right until the end so I’m glad we managed to keep it under control. We definitely had some moments but to win this rally I think you always need a bit of luck too. It’s a perfect start to the year for the team so we couldn’t ask for anything more.”

Takamoto Katsuta (Driver car 18) 
“This morning in the first stage we knew that the conditions could be quite tricky, but we came to one right-hand corner that was frosty where we didn’t have that information in our pacenotes. We were quite slow going into the corner, but the car went wide and got stuck in a small ditch which we couldn’t get out of. Until then it had been quite a good rally, especially Saturday when the pace was good. It’s a pity but I just need to refocus on the next rally in Sweden and try to do a good job for the team there.”

Sami Pajari (Driver car 5) 
“The approach for today was the same as before and we were not planning to push particularly hard. There was just one surprisingly icy braking point which just caught us out. It was an unfortunate end to our rally, as it been going according to plan until then. On Saturday especially we saw that the times were getting better and the feeling was getting better and the confidence was rising. Everything felt under control so it’s a pity to end the rally like this, but we will try to learn from what happened and look forward to Sweden.”

PROVISIONAL FINAL CLASSIFICATION, RALLYE MONTE-CARLO 

1 Sébastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) 3h19m06.1s
2 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) +18.5s
3 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +26.0s
4 Kalle Rovanperä/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) +54.3s
5 Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +59.0s
6 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +5m44.2s
7 Josh McErlean/Eoin Treacy (Ford Puma Rally1) +10m15.1s
8 Yohan Rossel/Arnaud Dunand (Citroën C3 Rally2) +10m26.8s
9 Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +11m40.7s
10 Eric Camilli/Thibault de la Haye (Hyundai i20 N Rally2) +13m14.6s
Retired Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1)
Retired Sami Pajari/Marko Salminen (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) 

2025 FIA World Rally Championship for drivers after round 1: 
1 Sébastien Ogier 33 points
2 Elfyn Evans 26
3 Adrien Fourmaux 20
4 Kalle Rovanperä 18
5 Ott Tänak 11
6 Thierry Neuville 9
7 Josh McErlean 6
8 Yohan Rossel 4
9 Nikolay Gryazin 2
10 Eric Camilli 1

2025 FIA World Rally Championship for manufacturers after round 1: 
1 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team 60 points
2 Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team 36
3 M-Sport Ford World Rally Team 11

What’s next? 
Rally Sweden (February 13-16) is the only full winter event of the season held on snow and ice. Metal studs inserted into the tyres bite into the surface to provide grip and allow for some of the highest speeds of the year.

TAGGED:2025 FIA World Rally ChampionshipRallye Monte-CarloSébastien OgierTOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team

Sign Up For Daily Newsletter

Stay Updated! Get the latest breaking news delivered straight to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.
Share This Article
Facebook Whatsapp Whatsapp LinkedIn VKontakte Telegram Email Copy Link Print
Share
ByItumeleng Garebatshabe
Editor
Follow:
Itumeleng is the Managing Editor of The Auto Magazine. He is a tech and car enthusiast

Follow US

FacebookLike
XFollow
InstagramFollow
YoutubeSubscribe
TiktokFollow
TelegramFollow
Google NewsFollow
LinkedInFollow
- Advertisement -
Ad imageAd image

You Might Also Like

Motosport

Finnish rally talent set for home debut with TOYOTA GAZOO Racing

By Itumeleng Garebatshabe
June 24, 2024
Motosport

Rally Italia Sardegna delivers another win for Hyundai

By Itumeleng Garebatshabe
June 3, 2024
Motosport

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing begins WRC title bid with a legendary challenge 

By Itumeleng Garebatshabe
January 21, 2025
Motosport

Rally Croatia: Škoda Fabia RS Rally crews chase victory in RC2 class and WRC2 category

By Itumeleng Garebatshabe
April 18, 2024
Motosport

SUPERSUB ROVANPERÄ CLAIMS REMARKABLE WIN FOR TOYOTA GAZOO RACING

By Itumeleng Garebatshabe
July 2, 2024
Motosport

Double podium to start the season for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing

By Itumeleng Garebatshabe
January 29, 2024

The Auto Magazine

  • Advertise
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Cookie Policy
  • Bikes
  • Electric Vehicles
  • Trucks & Buses
  • Auto Shows
  • Latest News
  • Motosport

Made by Intellegere Media. All rights reserved. 2023

Don't not sell my personal information
Join Us!
Subscribe to our newsletter and never miss our latest news, podcasts etc.

Zero spam, Unsubscribe at any time.
adbanner