Tänak beat the rest of the leading pack by a clear margin, being 0.7 seconds faster than Toyota’s Finnish driver Kalle Rovanperä on the 3.28-kilometre stretch.
-It felt quite wet, to be honest. It seems like it’s going to be a pretty difficult rally. The grip is very unpredictable, Tänak commented after his first run.
Rovanperä, on the other hand, doubted that he could match the pace of the leaders in the upcoming rally due to his starting position. Since Rovanperä only competed in a partial WRC season last year, his starting position on the road is seventh, based on his championship standings. This is a challenging situation in a tarmac rally, as a lot of dirt is brought onto the road.
– It is getting really dirty quickly. The Thursday and Friday when we are not in a good starting place will be really tricky with the pollution, Rovanperä noted.
The third-fastest time in the shakedown was set by Rovanperä’s teammate Sebastien Ogier, who was just one-tenth of a second behind. Toyota’s Elfyn Evans was 0.9 seconds off the lead, while Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville trailed by only a second.
Toyota’s Japanese driver Takamoto Katsuta, who finished sixth, had a slightly larger gap to the top, 2.4 seconds behind. Adrien Fourmaux, who switched to Hyundai this season, came in seventh, 3.9 seconds adrift of Tänak.
Ford drivers Joshua McErlean and Grégoire Munster occupied eighth and ninth positions, respectively. The slowest Rally1 driver was Toyota’s Sami Pajari, who was 7.1 seconds off the lead. Pajari encountered an issue during his first shakedown run when deer were on the road, costing him significant time.
In the WRC2 class, Oliver Solberg, who switched to Toyota machinery, showed dominant pace, at least based on the shakedown. Nikolay Gryazin was second in the class, ahead of Gus Greensmith.
The Monte Carlo Rally officially begins on Thursday with three stages run in the dark. The rally concludes on Sunday.
Results of Rally Monte-Carlo Shakedown:
| POS. | Driver | Car | Time |
| 1. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | 2:09.8 |
| 2. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | +0.7 |
| 3. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | +0.8 |
| 4. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +0.9 |
| 5. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +1.0 |
| 6. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +2.4 |
| 7. | Adrien Fourmaux | Hyundai | +3.9 |
| 8. | Joshua McErlean | Ford | +4.6 |
| 9. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +5.8 |
| 10. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +7.1 |
| 11. | Oliver Solberg | Toyota | +7,4 |
| 12. | Nikolai Grjazin | Skoda | +10.6 |
| 13. | Gus Greensmith | Skoda | +10.7 |
Itinerary, Rally Monte-Carlo:
Wednesday 22.1. 16.01 Shakedown: Route de la Garde (3,30 km) Thursday 23.1. 18.05 SS1: Digne-les-Bains / Chaudon-Norante 1 (19,00 km) 19.53 SS2: Faucon-du-Caire / Bréziers (21,20 km) 21.06 SS3: Avançon / Notre-Dame-du-Laus 1 (14,00 km) Friday 24.1. 09.31 SS4: Saint-Maurice / Aubessagne 1 (18,70 km) 10.34 SS5: Saint-Léger-les-Mélèzes / La Bâtie-Neuve 1 (16,70 km) 11.42 SS6: La Bréole / Selonnet 1 (18,30 km) 15.23 SS7: Saint-Maurice / Aubessagne 2 (18,70 km) 16.26 SS8: Saint-Léger-les-Mélèzes / La Bâtie-Neuve 2 (16,70 km) 17.34 SS9: La Bréole / Selonnet 2 (18,30 km) Saturday 25.1. 08.59 SS10: La Motte-Chalancon / Saint-Nazaire 1 (27,00 km) 10.05 SS11: Aucelon / Recoubeau-Jansac 1 (20,90 km) 11.08 SS12: La Bâtie-des-Fonts / Aspremont 1 (17,90 km) 14.59 SS13: La Motte-Chalancon / Saint-Nazaire 2 (27,00 km) 16.05 SS14: Aucelon / Recoubeau-Jansac 2 (20,90 km) 17.08 SS15: La Bâtie-des-Fonts / Aspremont 2 (17,90 km) Sunday 26.1. 06.39 SS16: Avançon / Notre-Dame-du-Laus 2 (14,00 km) 08.32 SS17: Digne-les-Bains / Chaudon-Norante 2 (19,00 km) 12.15 SS18: La Bollène-Vésubie / Peïra-Cava (Power Stage) (17,90 km)
