Ogier beat Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville by 0.9 seconds, extending his overall lead over the Belgian to more than five seconds.
“It’s a tricky one. Much more inconsistent than the first one. A bit too cautious, at the end specially. At the start it’s new so hard to be committed,” Ogier explained.
“Much more dirty than expected. Much more. Probably spectators walked over the road many times and there was mud there. Some places the ice is forming, we had good weather info. Visibility was horrible. The atmosphere is nice, but in many places the fire is near the road and you don’t see anything,” Neuville added.
Toyota’s Elfyn Evans remains third, 12.6 seconds off the lead. Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux follows in fourth, just two-tenths of a second behind Evans.
Hyundai’s Ott Tänak is fifth, 19.9 seconds adrift. Meanwhile, Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä has had an even tougher start to the rally. The Finn lost over 20 seconds on SS2 and is now sixth overall, trailing the leader by nearly 40 seconds.
“It’s hard to say what’s going wrong. It’s okay on clear sections, but it’s really difficult in the mud,” Rovanperä remarked.
One more stage remains for Thursday evening in the Rally Monte-Carlo. The event concludes on Sunday.
Rally Monte-Carlo standings after SS2/18:
| POS | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | 22:41.8 |
| 2. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +5.3 |
| 3. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +12.7 |
| 4. | Adrien Fourmaux | Hyundai | +12.9 |
| 5. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +19.9 |
| 6. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | +38.5 |
| 7. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +39.8 |
| 8. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +42.3 |
| 9. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +45.2 |
| 10. | Nikolay Gryazin | Skoda | +1:39.1 |
| 11. | Yohan Rossel | Citroen | +1:45.4 |
| 12. | Josh McErlean | Ford | +1:59.7 |
Itinerary, Rally Monte-Carlo (CET):
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)
