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A peerless drive throughout this weekend's Monte Carlo Rally saw world champion Sébastien Loeb extend his domination of the event by securing his third win in successive outings in the Principality. This perfect start in the defence of his drivers' crown saw Loeb bring his Citroën Xsara WRC car home some three minutes ahead of second place Toni Gardemeister in a Ford Focus RS WRC.


Citroën's flying start to the 2005 rally season continued in the Junior World Rally Championship which saw the first win for the Citroën C2 Super 1600, with British driver and Colin McRae protégé, Kris Meeke winning a thrilling battle with Suzuki Ignis driver, Kosti Katajamaki by 14.5 seconds. Going into the final day, Meeke trailed in his Kronos Racing C2 by over 13 seconds, but two stage wins on the final day were sufficient to turn around the deficit and ensure Meeke and the C2 both enjoyed their maiden JWRC wins.



Loeb's mastery of the tricky Monte Carlo was underlined by his remarkable achievement of setting 9 fastest times out of the 15 special stages which saw treacherous conditions varying from dry to wet with plenty of ice thrown in for good measure.

“This was the perfect rally for us, very much like last year. It was a difficult event and lots of drivers made errors, but fortunately we didn't. It's very motivating to start the season with ten points,” said Loeb.




The second Citroën Xsara WRC, driven by Francois Duval making his debut for the team, unfortunately crashed out on day two whilst running in second position. Despite felling a telegraph pole neither Duval nor co-driver Stephane Prevot were badly hurt and are expected to be fit for the next round, the Uddeholm Swedish Rally.




2005 Monte Carlo Rally Classification


WRC


1. S. Loeb/D. Elena (Citroën Xsara) 4 h 13 m 05,6 s

2. T. Gardemeister/J. Honkanen (Ford Focus) + 2 m 58,3 s

3. G. Panizzi/H. Panizzi (Mitsubishi Lancer) + 3 m 40,1 s

4. M. Märtin/M. Park (Peugeot 307) + 5 m 27,7 s

5. M. Grönholm/T. Rautiainen (Peugeot 307) + 7 m 33,8 s

6. M. Stohl/I. Minor (Citroën Xsara) + 8 m 08,9 s

7. H. Rovanperä/R. Pietilainen (Mitsubishi Lancer) + 8 m 29,3 s

8. R. Kresta/J. Tománek (Ford Focus) + 9 m 18,1 s

9. A. Bengué/C. Escudero (Skoda Fabia) + 10 m 32 s

10. A. Warmbold/D. Connelly (Ford Focus) + 15 m 09,1 s




FIA World Rally Championship after round 1 - Manufacturers


1. Citroën, 10 points

2. Ford, 10 pts

3. Mitsubishi, 9 pts

4. Peugeot, 9 pts

5. Skoda, 1 pt.




FIA World Rally Championship after round 1 - Drivers


1. S. Loeb, 10 points

2. T. Gardemeister, 8 pts

3. G. Panizzi, 6 pts

4. M. Märtin, 5 pts

5. M. Grönholm, 4 pts

6. M. Stohl, 3 pts

7. H. Rovanperä, 2 pts

8. R. Kresta, 1 pt

JWRC


1. Kris Meeke / Chris Patterson (Citroën C2) 3 h 51 m 26,1 s
2. Kosti Katamayaki / Timo Alanne (Suzuki Ignis) + 16 s
3. Alan Scorcioni / Silvio Stefanelli (Suzuki Ignis) +1m 33,9s
4. Daniel Sordo / Marc Marti (Citroën C2) + 2 m 47,6 s
5. Luca Betti / Giovanni Agnese (Renault Clio) + 3 m 32,4 s
6. PG Andersson / J. Andersson (Suzuki Ignis) + 4 m 37,1 s
7. Pavel Valousek / Pierangelo Scalvini (Suzuki Ignis) + 4 m 40,3 s
8. G. Wilks / Phil Pugh (Suzuki Ignis) + 5 m 27,1 s
9. Martin Prokop / Petr Gross (Suzuki Ignis) + 7 m 17,4 s
10. M. Baldacci / G. Bernacchini (Fiat Punto) + 12 m 14,5 s



FIA Junior World Rally Championship Classification


1. K. Meeke, 10 pts

2. K. Katamayaki, 8 pts

3. A. Scorcioni, 6 pts

4. D. Sordo, 4 pts

5. L. Betti, 3 pts

6. PG Andersson, 2 pts

7. P. Valousek, 1 pt


Results subject to FIA confirmation.