DRIVER ANALYSIS
SEBASTIEN OGIER M-SPORT FORD FIESTA
Made mistakes, just smaller ones than the best of the rest. But he’s forgiven a couple of spins in some of the toughest Monte conditions on record. Richly deserved this fifth straight – and sixth in total – win at home.
BRYAN BOUFFIER M-SPORT FORD FIESTA
This was the biggest drive of his career and it wasn’t helped by a recce shunt which knobbled his co-driver and forced a still Dakar-tired Xavier Panseri into the seat. They made the most of it to bring the car home in eighth place.
ANDREAS MIKKELSEN HYUNDAI MOTORSPORT HYUNDAI i20
Genuinely unlucky that a minor indiscretion led to an alternator belt-ruining ingestion and the loss of his chance to fight for victory. Returned with a fastest time, but nothing like the commitment he needed for glory as he drove for points.
KRIS MEEKE TOTAL ABU DHABI CITROEN C3 WRC
Rear visibility of the C3 WRC clearly needs some attention… Meeke was unfortunate to drop the back of the car in a ditch after a spin in the opening stage. Otherwise surefooted, sensible and searingly quick on the finale.
JARI-MATTI LATVALA TOYOTA YARIS WRC
Bounced back from a couple of early problems to demonstrate the sort of maturity he needs. Kept his head as younger team-mate Tanak powered ahead and looks a confident and assured driver now.
ELFYN EVANS M-SPORT FORD FIESTA
Clipped a rock and ruined his rally in stage one. Superb through the rain, the mud, the slush and the snow, but then struggled to find his feet in the frost on the run down the Col de Turini on the final day. Missed fifth place by one second.
THIERRY NEUVILLE HYUNDAI MOTORSPORT HYUNDAI i20
Nobody suffered more at the hands of the dreaded Sisteron hairpins than the Belgian. He paid a heavy price for a silly mistake, but showed both exceptional pace and consistency for the rest of the rally to regain some pride from the event.
DANI SORDO HYUNDAI MOTORSPORT HYUNDAI i20
Massive frustration at the Spaniard’s off in the snow on SS9. Hyundai’s safety net looked like it was saving them after the two permanent drivers hit trouble, only for Sordo to be caught out by suboptimal grip. A disappointing end.
CRAIG BREEN TOTAL ABU DHABI CITROEN C3 WRC
Like his team-mate, caught out by the ice on the opener, then the loss of brakes on Friday morning forced him to run first on the road as a Saturday snowplough. Breen was powerless and did well to keep the car at the races.
ESAPEKKA LAPPI TOYOTA YARIS WRC
Paid heavily for powerstage mistake, prior to which he was always there or thereabouts and looked to have the measure of Meeke and Evans in the race to finish in fourth. Dropped to seventh.
OTT TANAK TOYOTA YARIS WRC
Showed last year that he’s got a good idea of what it takes to run at the top of the Monte Carlo Rally, but nobody really expected him to be pushing for the win on his debut with the Japanese team. Matched Latvala’s Toyota debut second from 2017.