It was a battle of the World Rally Championship title-winning Sebastiens as nine-time title winner 47-year-old Sebastian Loeb took on eight-time world title winner, 38-year-old Sebastien Ogier – and it was appearing as though Sebastien the Younger was going to win the race until a late-stage puncture gave precious seconds and the race victory to Sebastien the Elder – as Loeb won by 10.5 seconds thanks to Ogier’s late puncture. Ireland’s Craig Breen finished third at the Monte Carlo rally.
Toyota’s Ogier was dominating the race ahead of Loeb and was set to win before suffering the puncture on the penultimate stage – which evaporated his approximate 20-second lead over Loeb and gave Loeb an extra 10 seconds of winning cushion. Breen was a distant third – another one minute, 40 seconds behind Ogier.
The next scheduled WRC event is Rally Sweden on February 24-27, 2022.
