Monte Carlo: Loeb claims 77th rally win!

(Image: ANDRE LAVADINHO)

Citroën’s Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena claimed their 77th world rally victory and seventh Rallye Monte-Carlo win this evening, the multiple World Rally Champions claiming the silverware by one minute 39.9 seconds.

Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia finished a fine second in the debut competitive outing of the Volkswagen Polo R WRC and Dani Sordo and co-driver Carlos del Barrio rounded off the podium positions in another Citroën DS3 WRC.

With the rally now based in Monaco, the crews headed out of the Principality this afternoon for some of the most famous stages of the event, which were scheduled to include three runs over the legendary Col de Turini and two through the Lantosque-Luceram stage.

However, the final two stages of the rally were cancelled for safety reasons due to the huge volume of spectators and difficult access conditions.

The first run through Turini this afternoon proved to be the trickiest stage of the entire event, with a mix of conditions providing zero grip and almost un-driveable conditions. Here, third-placed Evgeny Novikov was forced to retire having hit a mountain wall and both Jari-Matti Latvala – in fifth – and Juho Hänninen, seventh, went off the road.

While Loeb and Ogier maintained position at the head of the leaderboard, Sordo therefore moved up to third with Mikko Hirvonen climbing to fourth.

Bryan Bouffier – winner of the opening stage – finished fifth and the top six was rounded off by Mads Østberg, who suffered with brake problems in the final stage.

The snowy scenery will certainly remain similar for the contenders as they now head to Sweden for the second round of the FIA World Rally Championship (7-10 February).

Rallye Monte-Carlo – Final Unofficial Results (subject to final scrutineering)

1. Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena (Citroen DS3 WRC) 5h 18m 57.2s
2. Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (Volkswagen Polo R WRC) 5h 20m 37.1s
3. Dani Sordo/Carlos Del Barrio (Citroen DS3 WRC) 5h 22m 46.2s
4. Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen (Citroen DS3 WRC) 5h  24m 23.5s
5. Bryan Bouffier/ Xavier Panseri (Citroen DS3 WRC) 5h 27m 10.3s
6. Mads Østberg/Jonas Andersson (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) 5h 31m 00.9s
7. Martin Prokop/Michal Ernst (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) 5h 42m 24.5s
8. Sepp Wiegand/Frank Christian (Skoda Fabia S2000)5h 48m 31.7s
9. Olivier Burri/Guillaume Duval (Peugeot 207 S2000) 5h 54m 35.4s
10. M Kosciuszko/M Szczepaniak (MINI Cooper Works WRC) 5h 55m 25.2s