ROUND BY ROUND

1 Monte Carlo JANUARY 25-28

Forget the Col de Turini providing a sting in the tail on this year’s Monte, the sting comes right at the top of the season as the crews are forced to tip-toe their way across the top of a frozen solid Sisteron test on the first Thursday night of the 2018 season. Few emerge unscathed, but Thierry Neuville (spin) and Elfyn Evans (puncture) endure the toughest starts, dropping four minutes apiece. The shocking conditions continue, but Sebastien Ogier is more than a match for them, to secure his fifth straight win on the WRC season opener. 1 Sebastien Ogier (Ford Fiesta) 2 Ott Tanak (Toyota Yaris) 3 Jari-matti Latvala (Toyota Yaris)

2 Rally Sweden FEBRUARY 15-18

Sitting in a Sisteron ditch a couple of weeks earlier, it was hard for Neuville to see a positive from his disastrous start to the Monte. But starting fifth on a particularly snowy road in Sweden isn’t a bad pay-off and he makes the most of it – moving into the lead on SS3 and staying there all the way to the finish. First and second on the road, Ogier and Ott Tanak can do nothing except shovel snow out of the way and swear about it. They do lots of both. 1 Thierry Neuville (Hyundai i20) 2 Craig Breen (Citroen C3) 3 Andreas Mikkelsen (Hyundai i20)

3 Rally Mexico MARCH 8-11

Championship leader Neuville finds the shoe on the other foot on round three, where he’s sacrificed at the front of the field and can only manage sixth place. Sebastien Loeb is back in the WRC again and leads, but loses out when he stops to change a puncture. Ogier wins, but clipping a chicane on the final stage means a trip to the stewards and the loss of his four powerstage points. Ogier is furious and this row will rumble on until mid-season. 1 Sebastien Ogier (Ford Fiesta) 2 Dani Sordo (Hyundai i20) 3 Kris Meeke (Citroen C3)