WRC 2022 Rallye Monte-Carlo: Sebastian Loeb claims victory from Ogier
23rd January 2022Credit: Red Bull Content Pool
M-Sport Ford and Sebastian Loeb, and co-driver Isabelle Galmiche, took their first win of 2022 as Toyota’s Sebastian Ogier had a horrid final day in the WRC’s Rallye Monte-Carlo.
How this morning’s action unfolded…
While Ogier had regained the lead of the rally weekend, by the end of Saturday afternoon, the eight-time champion played it safe on Sunday morning as he had 21 seconds in hand over his closest rival, Loeb.
This stance was replicated by Loeb who also played safe with a handful of stages to go.
Despite being hampered for the majority of the weekend, Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville braved the frostbitten roads of the French Alps and continued to secure his position in the points, with a sixth-place finish.
However, as the morning progressed, Ogier found himself with a front-left puncture which hindered the Frenchman’s performance on the penultimate stage. This allowed Loeb to claw back some time and re-emerge into the lead of the rally with nearly 10-seconds in hand.
On the power stage, and keen to pull back some of his lost time, the French eight-time champion was handed 10-second time penalty for a jump start infringement. This sealed the rally win for the returning nine-time champion, Loeb.
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As a result of Toyota’s Elfyn Evans’ mistake on Saturday, Ford’s Craig Breen occupied the final podium position. Thus providing M-Sport Ford with a great haul of points in the opening round – and now leads the team’s standings.
Despite the mistake from Evans, earlier in the weekend, the Welsh driver managed to put in a staggering time during the final stage. However, this was soon beaten by Toyota’s Kalle Rovanpera who took home the maximum amount of extra points, to add to his fourth place finish.
Had Ogier not jumped the start of the Power Stage, it would have ended in an extremely tight contest – 0.5 seconds. However, with the penalty added on, Ogier finished behind Loeb in the overall classification by 10.5 seconds.
That’s it for the article: WRC 2022 Rallye Monte-Carlo: Sebastian Loeb claims victory from Ogier! What was your favourite moment from the rally? Let us know in the comments!
Read more WRC here:
- WRC Rallye Monte-Carlo: Day three
- WRC Rallye Monte-Carlo: Day Two
- WRC Rallye Monte-Carlo: Day One
- Preview: 2022 WRC Rallye Monte-Carlo
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