‘Match ends when referee blows the whistle’: so said the legendary Sampdoria coach Vujadin Boskov, and it is a quote that can be perfectly integrated in the final of the Monte Carlo Rallywon by Sebastien Loeb in the most unexpected and spectacular way. Thanks to this success, the Frenchman returns for the first time to victory in the WRC since 2018, the year in which the M-Sport team also took the last one, but above all becomes the new King of Monaco: in fact, with his 8th win in the Principality, Loeb overtakes eternal rival Sebastien Ogier, who shared the most triumphs in Monte Carlo in the WRC.
A day also began with the communication of the withdrawal from the Rally by Solberg and his co-driver Edmonson, who felt a discomfort after breathing the exhaust gases of their Hyundai inside their cockpit. At the end of the first scheduled test, the PS14 Loeb started the difficult recovery on Ogier – leading by 20 seconds – winning the race, just over a second ahead of his fellow countryman. However, in the next heat, it was the Hyundai to redeem itself from all the complexities that emerged in Monte Carlo thanks to Thierry Neuville, who won at the top of the stage classification always ahead of Ogier. In this case, however, Loeb paid a delay of 6 and a half seconds from the Belgian, thus losing further ground against the Toyota rival.
⚠️BREAKING: What. A. Finish 😲 @SebastienLoeb and Isabelle Galmiche: #RallyeMonteCarlo 2022 champions 🙌🙌 #WRC | #WRCLive | #MSPORTERS | #MSport
– WRC – FIA World Rally Championship (@OfficialWRC) January 23, 2022
The fate of the throne of the Principality therefore seemed ready for the coronation of the 38-year-old from Gap, at least until what happened during the PS16that is the penultimate absolute test: in this, Ogier has in fact sensationally laundered in the course of his attempt, thus allowing Loeb not only to regain the leadership of the general classification, but even to generate an advantage of 9.5 seconds on the eve of the power stage. In the latter, decisive for the assignment of the Rally, the gap between Ogier and Loeb translated into exactly 9 seconds ahead of the first over the second, but with another twist: Ogier, in fact, was the protagonist of a jump start at the start, with the Race Direction giving him a 10 second penalty. Without this, therefore, the fight between the two would have been resolved on the edge of tenths. Finally, Craig Breen, in 3rd place overall, completed the Ford party. In this way, before the great return to Sweden – from 24 to 27 February – Loeb and Ford are therefore the first leaders of the 2022 world championship both in terms of the drivers and manufacturers standings.
Monte Carlo Rally | Final ranking
Pos. | Pilot | Car | Time / Gap |
1 | S. OGIER | Toyota | 3: 00; 32.8 |
2 | S. LOEB | Ford | +10.5 |
3 | C. BREEN | Ford | +1: 39.8 |
4 | K. ROVANPERÄ | Toyota | +2: 16.2 |
5 | G. GREENSMITH | Ford | +6: 33.4 |
6 | T. NEUVILLE | Hyundai | +7: 42.6 |
7 | A. MIKKELSEN | Skoda (WRC2) | +11: 33.8 |
8 | T. KATSUTA | Toyota | +12: 24.7 |
9 | E. CAIS | Ford (WRC2) | +12: 29.2 |
10 | N. GRYAZIN | Skoda (WRC2) | +13: 41.3 |
#WRC #Monte #Carlo #Rally #Loeb #wins #breath #FormulaPassionit