Citroen team driver Sebastien Ogier reverted to Peugeot rallying when he drove a 207 Super 2000 to victory in the Monte Carlo Rally. He headed a Peugeot 1-2-3, outdistancing the established stars of IRC competition, though an even greater sensation was the appearance of the Skoda Fabia Super 2000 cars. The car was making its competition debut after homologation, and led the event for half the distance in the hands of Juho Hanninen. When Monte Carlo was controversially dropped from the WRC calendar this year it was hard to see how it would survive, but in fact it proved itself more popular and exciting than ever. Eight different drivers in three makes of cars won special stages and two different makes of cars led the event. This event had all the ingredients which made the event popular in the past, with excellent television visuals as well.

It may not have qualified this year for the world rally championship but the 77th Rallye Monte Carlo was held in full glory as the opening round of the IRC and as the oldest rally in the world. This year it was a three day, mid-week event run in the classical way the organiser wanted, with few of the constraints that the WRC demanded. There were night stages at Turini, a run over to the Ardeche stages, and to make it unforgettable there was some snow and a lot of ice. World Rally Cars are forbidden by IRC rules so this was to be a battle between Super 2000 cars, with the added ingredient of the newly homologated Skoda Fabia Super 2000 cars. It was exactly ten years ago that Skoda entered the World Rally Car scene with the Octavia model, a debut which proved to be a debacle. What a difference! By the second stage a Fabia Super 2000 was in the lead, by stage eight the two Fabias scored 1-2 on a special stage. It wasn't to be a full fairy tale, as Hanninen lost the lead when he punctured and then one stage later went off the road, while number two driver Kopecky lost a lot of time on day 1 with power steering failure. The winner was not to be the Finn but another driver who had never rallied his type of car or competed on this event before, Sebastien Ogier.

The expanse of France which had to be covered made this a long drawn-out event and there were only three stages on day 1. IRC champion Nicolas Vouilloz (Kronos team Peugeot) led stage 1 but then punctured, Peugeot works driver Stephane Sarrazin won stage 2 and despite a sudden snowfall on stage 3 Kris Meeke (Peugeot UK entry, who had never rallied on snow before) was fastest. Two major challengers disappeared on stage 1, victims of ice on the same stretch of road.. Out already were Didier Auriol(now a Fiat driver who had already spun three times before he crashed for good) and Luca Rossetti who went off into a house and whose car burst into fire outside the garage doors. In time-honoured Monte Carlo fashion, good tyre choices and sound advice of "ouvreurs" (course checking drivers) were invaluable, Tyre compromises won the day, Juho Hanninen led the rally without winning a stage. Alen fell back firstly with a puncture, one of many to afflict the drivers, and then a disastrous tyre choice gamble. Gardemeister dropped to eighth with a puncture.

Day two was spent in the Ardeche region with the St Bonnet-le-Froid stage showing a classic snowy scene. Hanninen led through the day till the final stage when he punctured, but . behind him there was continued drama. Meeke rose to second until he punctured dropping to fourth, Sarrazin went off the road for four minutes. In the afternoon Vouilloz went off the road and wrecked his suspension. Ogier led the rally a half minute ahead of Loix, while Hanninen was in front of Meeke and Gardemeister. Jereb retired his Fiat with engine failure. There was just one stage in the third morning, but Hanninen and Meeke both crashed and retired, while the privately run Astra team Fiat of Gardemeister was up to second in front of Loix and Sarrazin. The climax of the rally were the our stages in the Turini area on Friday night. After the first of these stages Gardemeister disappeared, victim of a failed alternator while Kopecky was chasing Sarrazin hard for third place. Gardemeister's Astra teammate Maurin retired when he went off the road and damaged the suspension. Alen was slowed by engine problems but now held sixth place behind Fiat teammate Basso.

Traditional Group N cars were off the pace. Among the Mitsubishi drivers young Austrian Franz Wittmann Junior was the highest placed before he retired on day 3, while Monte Carlo veteran Richard Frau had stopped the day before, both with turbocharger failure. The two wheel drive category was led for nearly all the rally by Luca Betti in a Renault Clio R3 but Renault is not registered at the IRC so the championship leader in this series is Manuel Villa in a Fiat Punto S1600. Ogier's victory was remarkable, for this Citroen team driver was never meant to take part at all. When entries officially closed, car number 9 had no names against it. It was entered by BF Goodrich for a celebrity to drive and he would be selected nearer the rally by French rally journalists and experts. And the new Sebastien won in a measured style. He only scored one stage all rally and he put his illustrious namesake to shame. When asked why he did not plan to enter the rally, five times world champion Sebastien Loeb was reported to say he wanted to be able to win .... Next IRC event is Rally Curitiba in Brasil between 5 – 7 of March.

Post Scriptum: Anton Alen never reached the finish of Rallye Monte Carlo.  The clutch of his Abarth Grande Punto S2000 failed on the road section from the end of the final stage back to the finish. The provisional results of the event had shown him in sixth place

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Final classification
1 Ogier/Ingrassia        Peugeot 207 Super 2000         4h40m45.7s
2 Loix/Smets             Peugeot 207 Super 2000         4h42m29.3s
3 Sarrazin/Renucci       Peugeot 207 Super 2000         4h43m07.3s
4 Kopecky/Stary          Skoda Fabia Super 2000         4h44m03.0s
5 Basso/Dotta            Abarth Grande Punto Super 2000 4h45m13.7s
6 Romeyer/Fournel        Mitsubishi Lancer Evo          5m01m16.0s
7 Burri/Gordon           Abarth Grande Punto S2000      5h02m08.7s
8 Betti/Mattioda         Renault Clio R3                5h04m50.5s

IRC standings
Drivers: Ogier 10, Loix 8, Sarrazin 6, Kopecky 5, Basso 4, Romeyer 3, Burri 2, Betti 1
Constructors: Peugeot 18, Abarth/Fiat 7, Skoda 5, Mitsubishi 2