Munster showed brilliant pace in the morning, benefiting from an excellent tyre choice to be the fastest driver throughout the loop. Although a puncture in the afternoon cost him some time and dropped him to sixth place, he was still just a minute and a half off the lead.
Unfortunately, his superb day came to a halt on the final road section back to service. A sudden electrical issue meant Munster never made it to the service park. This forced him to retire for the day and dashed any hope of a strong final result.
Munster will restart the rally on Saturday, but he has now dropped to 19th overall after receiving a 10-minute penalty for failing to reach service. He’ll start first on the road for Saturday’s stages.
Saturday will be the longest leg of the rally, featuring over 120 kilometers spread across six stages. The event wraps up on Sunday with three more stages.
Leading the rally is Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier, who has already claimed nine Monte-Carlo wins. His teammate Elfyn Evans is 12.6 seconds back in second, with Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux in third and Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä close behind in fourth.
