Rallying-Neuville starts the season with a win and points full Monte

Neuville, with co-driver Martin Wydaeghe, won Sunday's first two stages to stretch the gap to 13.5 seconds going into the final Col de Turini Power Stage and completed the hat-trick to finish 16.1 clear of Ogier and take the maximum 30 points. The win, in the 92nd edition of the most atmospheric event on the calendar, was also a career 20th for a driver whose first Monte Carlo win was in 2020.

Hyundai's Thierry Neuville made a perfect start to the season by winning the Monte Carlo Rally for a second time on Sunday after a close battle with Toyota's eight-times world champion Sebastien Ogier.

The two started the final day just 3.3 seconds apart, with Belgian Neuville leading and Ogier chasing a record-extending 10th Monte Carlo win on his tricky home asphalt roads in the French Alps. Neuville, with co-driver Martin Wydaeghe, won Sunday's first two stages to stretch the gap to 13.5 seconds going into the final Col de Turini Power Stage and completed the hat-trick to finish 16.1 clear of Ogier and take the maximum 30 points.

The win, in the 92nd edition of the most atmospheric event on the calendar, was also a career 20th for a driver whose first Monte Carlo win was in 2020. "I don't have the words, to be honest," said the 35-year-old. "It was just so great this weekend, I felt so comfortable in the car."

Ogier, who is competing only part-time this season, said it had been a nice battle but revealed also he had been fighting his own personal struggle after the death of his uncle on Monday. "Well done to him, he has been really fast this weekend," he said of Neuville. "For me, it's been a rollercoaster of emotions. I struggled a lot on Friday especially.

"It was hard to say goodbye on Monday to a person who was very important to me, who launched my career in motorsport and bought me my first kart." Elfyn Evans, Toyota's main title contender in the absence of reigning world rally champion Kalle Rovanpera who is taking time out, completed the podium after suffering hybrid problems on Saturday.

Estonia's 2019 world champion Ott Tanak marked his return to Hyundai after a year away at Ford with fourth place. M-Sport Ford's Adrien Fourmaux was fifth and Hyundai's Andreas Mikkelsen finished sixth. The championship's scoring system has changed this year, with the leader on Saturday evening -- Neuville -- banking 18 points providing he finished on Sunday.

Neuville then took a further seven points for the final day and a bonus five for winning the Power Stage. The second round of the season is in Sweden on Feb. 15-18.