Neuville held off Ogier’s tenth and won for the second time in Monte Carlo

The Belgian Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) this Sunday the tenth victory in the Monte Carlo rally of nine-time world rally champion (WRC) Sébastien Ogier (Toyota) and won for the second time the event par excellence of the rally circuitwhere he achieved 30 points by achieving 25 points for the first place of the weekend and the five awarded to the fastest in the final section.

Neuville, close to perfection this Sunday, denied Ogier’s dream so close to Gaphis hometown, and added the first 30 world championship points ahead of an exciting WRC where British Elfyn Evans (Toyota) will predictably be his biggest rival.

And Evans finished third, behind Neuville and Ogier, in a weekend where the Welshman started in charge on Thursday and Friday. But some mistakes in the final stages on Saturday prevented him from fighting for first place where the Belgian and the French are fighting.

On the other hand, the Belgian started third on Saturday, with Evans and Ogier ahead sixteen seconds off the Welsh pilot’s time. However, the Belgian from Hyundai completely dominated the day on Saturday, winning the first and sixth stages and coming second in the other four stages of the test.

Thus, he surpassed Ogier by only three seconds and three tenths and took the first 18 provisional test points, pending completion of the day on Sunday, according to the new scoring system.

Ogier was nearly three seconds and three tenths behind Neuville with the final day remaining, having shared 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 fastest points on Sunday in addition to 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point for the five fastest in the last timed section.

And this Sunday, despite the French’s attempts, Neuville appeared on the asphalt. He led three sectors of the day, numbers 15, 16 and 17 of the rallyto consolidate his first place, achieve his second rally victory after 2020 and prevent Ogier, at home, from achieving his tenth victory in the event, settling for second place.

But not only that, but in the so-called ‘Power Stage’, which gives five, four, three, two and one points to the fastest, he once again led the test and took the five points shared with the winner of and show that this year that he has just started to be one of the main contenders for a title he cannot avoid, as he has been runner-up five times in the WRC.

For his part, the Spanish pilot Pepe López and his co-driver David Vázquez (Skoda Fabia RS) were just four seconds behind Frenchman Yohan Rossel (Citröen). and finished second in WRC2, the second category of competition, and ninth in the general classification.