Tanak takes early advantage at Rallye Monte Carlo

Top 15 classification after SS2 at Rallye Monte Carlo

Ott Tanak’s victory on the opening stage of Rallye Monte Carlo set up his early charge to the front for Toyota ahead of reigning World Rally Champion Sebastien Ogier.

The Toyota Gazoo Racing driver secured the win on the opener before consolidating his advantage with third place on the tricky second stage. Tanak leads by 9.1 seconds with Ogier slotting into second place for Citroen.

Thierry Neuville rounded out the top three, the same trio who fought for the 2018 WRC title, 14.3s off Tanak after winning SS2 for Hyundai.

Esapekka Lappi holds fourth place for Citroen but over 30 seconds behind Neuville with a slender 1.2s advantage on fellow Finn Jari-Matti Latvala for Toyota.

Elfyn Evans leads the M-Sport Ford charge in sixth place 1.8s off Latvala.

Kris Meeke endured a frustrating night on his Toyota debut when a puncture on the second stage stalled his charge as dropped from second to seventh place in the overall running.

Loeb, fresh from the Dakar Rally, also had a tough debut at Hyundai and blamed studded tyres for his slow SS2 which saw him drop to eighth place but kept ahead of teammate Andreas Mikkelsen with M-Sport Ford debutant Pontus Tidemand rounding out the top ten.