January 22, 2017 – Sebastien Ogier secured victory in the opening round of the 2017 World Rally Championship in Monte Carlo after four days of competition and in his first race with M-Sport.
The Frenchman inherited the lead from Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville, whose car stopped in SS13 yesterday, and cruised to the win on the fourth and final day, which consisted of 4 special stages.
Ogier’s M-Sport Ford team-mate Ott Tanak suffered engine problems in SS14 today and lost 2nd place overall to Toyota’s Jari-Matti Latvala as a result.
Today’s opening stage (SS14) was won by Dani Sordo, who completed the event in 4th place overall, behind Ott Tanak and ahead of 5th place finisher Craig Breen in the Citroen.
Citroen’s Stephane Lefebvre picked up a stage win in SS15, while SS16 got cancelled on safety grounds as too many spectators were in the wrong places and SS17 (power stage) honors went to Neuville.
Final overall classification after 17 stages:
| Pos | # | Driver | Time | Diff Prev | Diff 1st |
| 1. | 1 | S. OGIER | 4:00:03.6 | ||
| 2. | 10 | J. LATVALA | 4:02:18.6 | +2:15.0 | +2:15.0 |
| 3. | 2 | O. TANAK | 4:03:01.4 | +42.8 | +2:57.8 |
| 4. | 6 | D. SORDO | 4:03:39.4 | +38.0 | +3:35.8 |
| 5. | 14 | C. BREEN | 4:03:51.4 | +12.0 | +3:47.8 |
| 6. | 3 | E. EVANS | 4:06:48.6 | +2:57.2 | +6:45.0 |
| 7. | 31 | A. MIKKELSEN | 4:09:36.3 | +2:47.7 | +9:32.7 |
| 8. | 32 | J. KOPECKY | 4:13:01.7 | +3:25.4 | +12:58.1 |
| 9. | 8 | S. LEFEBVRE | 4:14:47.4 | +1:45.7 | +14:43.8 |
| 10. | 40 | B. BOUFFIER | 4:16:13.0 | +1:25.6 | +16:09.4 |
