Hyundai driver Neuville had previously overshot a tight corner on the La Bréole stage during the morning loop, damaging his car’s suspension in the process. That same corner proved costly again at the end of the day when the stage was run a second time.
Neuville once more went off at the turn, this time attributing the mishap to a puncture.
“I was punctured far before, front left from the beginning. We tried to go as far as possible, but at some point the tyre just went and we went straight. I don’t know if we should have stopped to change, but we didn’t know how much it would last,” Neuville explained.
Neuville lost over two minutes to Sebastien Ogier’s stage-winning time and dropped to ninth overall, nearly four minutes off the lead.
Toyota driver Ogier ended Friday as the overall leader. The Frenchman holds a 12.6-second advantage over teammate Elfyn Evans.
“That’s a good end of the day. I had to fight for that because earlier in the day I didn’t have a mega feeling. Now I adjusted my driving approach slightly,” Ogier said at the final stage’s finish.
Adrien Fourmaux, making his Hyundai WRC debut, currently sits third and is closely chasing Evans. Meanwhile, Kalle Rovanperä in fourth is now just over half a minute adrift of the lead.
“This one is again pretty difficult. Not the best conditions and not where we want to be pace wise. Maybe it would be best to swap drivers, but that’s not possible,” Rovanperä quipped.
Hyundai’s Ott Tänak remains in fifth place, followed by M-Sport Ford’s Gregoire Munster and Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta. Toyota’s Sami Pajari holds eighth position.
The Rally Monte-Carlo continues on Saturday with six stages. The event concludes on Sunday.
Rally Monte-Carlo standings after SS9/18:
| POS | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | 1:27:00.6 |
| 2. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +12.6 |
| 3. | Adrien Fourmaux | Hyundai | +14.2 |
| 4. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | +38.5 |
| 5. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +47.3 |
| 6. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +1:33.7 |
| 7. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +1:37.7 |
| 8. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +3:32.9 |
| 9. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +3:58.6 |
| 10. | Yohan Rossel | Citroen | +5:04.0 |
| 11. | Nikolay Gryazin | Skoda | +5:25.4 |
| 12. | Josh McErlean | Ford | +5:51.0 |
Itinerary, Rally Monte-Carlo (CET):
Wednesday 22.1.
16.01 Shakedown: Route de la Garde (3,28 km)
Thursday 23.1.
18.05 SS1: Digne-les-Bains / Chaudon-Norante 1 (19.01 km)
19.53 SS2: Faucon-du-Caire / Bréziers (21.18 km)
21.06 SS3: Avançon / Notre-Dame-du-Laus 1 (13.97 km)
Friday 24.1.
09.31 SS4: Saint-Maurice / Aubessagne 1 (18.68 km)
10.34 SS5: Saint-Léger-les-Mélèzes / La Bâtie-Neuve 1 (16.68 km) *CANCELLED
11.42 SS6: La Bréole / Selonnet 1 (18.31 km)
15.23 SS7: Saint-Maurice / Aubessagne 2 (18.68 km)
16.26 SS8: Saint-Léger-les-Mélèzes / La Bâtie-Neuve 2 (16.68 km)
17.34 SS9: La Bréole / Selonnet 2 (18.31 km)
Saturday 25.1.
08.59 SS10: La Motte-Chalancon / Saint-Nazaire 1 (27.00 km)
10.05 SS11: Aucelon / Recoubeau-Jansac 1 (20.85 km)
11.08 SS12: La Bâtie-des-Fonts / Aspremont 1 (15.48 km)
14.59 SS13: La Motte-Chalancon / Saint-Nazaire 2 (27.00 km)
16.05 SS14: Aucelon / Recoubeau-Jansac 2 (15.48 km)
17.08 SS15: La Bâtie-des-Fonts / Aspremont 2 (17.85 km)
Sunday 26.1.
06.39 SS16: Avançon / Notre-Dame-du-Laus 2 (13.97 km)
08.32 SS17: Digne-les-Bains / Chaudon-Norante 2 (19.01 km)
12.15 SS18: La Bollène-Vésubie / Peïra-Cava (17.92 km) *Power Stage
