Sébastien Ogier wrote rally history in the early hours of Saturday morning by winning the notoriously difficult Monte Carlo Rally at the conclusion of the ice and snow-covered Lantosque-Lucéram stage.

The reigning Junior World Rally Championship titleholder, designated by the BFGoodrich Drivers Team as their invited competitor for the French round of the IRC, returned the vote of confidence by delivering the team its first-ever Intercontinental Rally Challenge victory. The tyre manufacturer could not have asked for a better scenario on such a classic event.

Ogier has now added his name to the winner's list of the world's most famous rally in quite remarkable fashion.

"Super! It's an extraordinary sensation, it's wonderful to win this Monte Carlo," exclaimed Ogier at the finish line. "We operated on a very good strategy which consisted of reaching the finish above all. The tactic paid off and I want to thank BFGoodrich and the Kronos Racing team."

The Peugeot Belgium-Luxemburg's team Freddy Loix claimed second place overall, and considering that Ogier was a guest driver and will not be competing in the entire IRC season, Loix had only one thing on his mind: "This is an excellent result for the championship!"

Stéphane Sarrazin secured the third step of the podium at the controls of the official Peugeot Sport car, a very good result indeed, yet the Frenchman felt he had missed an opportunity considering his five stage wins: "I took a lot of risks and I went off twice on this rally. That's how it is, that's the game!"

With Ogier, Loix and Sarrazin finishing as the top three drivers, French manufacturer Peugeot sees three 207 Super 2000s taking control of the entire IRC podium with Kronos Racing-prepared machines.

Final stage details to come...