The 94th edition of the Rallye Monte-Carlo, the opening round of the WRC championship, proved to be a vintage year with exceptional conditions combining dry roads, rain, snow, and ice.
On only their second participation at Monte-Carlo, Léo Rossel and Guillaume Mercoiret claimed victory in WRC2 after a flawless performance at the wheel of the C3 Rally2.
This opening round of the WRC also marked the major return of Lancia to the World Championship. The two Lancia Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale cars showed a very high level of performance, as demonstrated by fastest times set in 8 special stages.
In Rally4, victory went to Andrea Spatato at the wheel of one of the five Peugeot 208 Rally4 cars entered. It should be noted that five Lancia Ypsilon Rally4 HF cars were also entered in this category, highlighting the attractiveness of Stellantis Motorsport Customer Racing products.
“These were certainly the toughest stages of my career, and I am happy and surprised to be in such a good position,” said Léo Rossel at the end of the first day.
The following days confirmed the French driver’s ease in sometimes extreme conditions. Leading WRC2 in the C3 Rally2 from Friday onwards, Léo Rossel and Guillaume Mercoiret held onto the lead with maturity, confidence, and reliability.
For Léo, competing for the first time with Team 2C Competition, this victory follows in the footsteps of his brother Yohan Rossel, winner of the previous three editions, also in a C3 Rally2.
Léo claimed victory with 2:09.5 seconds/minutes in hand at the end of a rally where snow was abundant.
“It was an incredible race from start to finish. There were impressive twists and turns throughout the entire rally. We were the least experienced crew in the WRC2 Top 5, yet we didn’t make mistakes. I’m very proud of that. The conditions were particularly difficult, but we tried to stay calm and focused, and it paid off.”, declare Léo Rossel
Lancia’s return to the WRC
Attention was also focused on the two Lancia Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale cars. The crews Yohan Rossel / Arnaud Dunand and Nikolay Gryazin / Konstantin Aleksandrov received a warm welcome from the thousands of enthusiastic spectators celebrating Lancia’s return to the WRC. Although both crews lost any chance of victory following minor off-road excursions, both managed to set fastest stage times.
The Rally4 category was made up exclusively of Stellantis Motorsport Customer Racing cars. A total of 10 cars were entered, including five Peugeot and five Lancia.
Andrea Spatato and Alessia Muffolini took victory in a Peugeot ahead of Paolo Vigo and Matteo Canobbio in a Lancia.
François Wales (Customer Racing Director)
“A beautiful victory for the Stellantis Motorsport Customer Racing team, confirming both the performance and reliability of our products, with the Citroën C3 Rally2 being driven to victory.
We are also extremely pleased with the first competitive outing of the Lancia Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale, which immediately demonstrated top‑level competitiveness.”
