MOTORSPORT: Flying start to WRC for Ford

Ford has reaped instant reward for its increased commitment to world rallying, with Sebastien Ogier winning the Monte Carlo Rally by almost a minute in M-Sport's latest Fiesta.

Toyota took the other podium positions with its Yaris; Estonian Ott Tanak placed second on his debut with the Japanese manufacturer. Citroen and Hyundai rounded out the four makes in the top five finishers.

Frenchman Ogier and his countryman co-driver Julien Ingrassia best mastered the challenging conditions, including snow and ice, to win The Monte for the sixth time - and the fifth year in a row.

"The Monte is a special event for me - my home rally - but we always face tough conditions and this year they were really extreme," Ogier said after the triumphant start to his quest for a sixth straight world title.

"I've never struggled so much with the tyre choices.

"It was all about trying to minimise mistakes, and I managed to make fewer than the others.

"It was almost impossible to have the perfect drive.

"Luckily we only had some small mistakes and once we had a good gap it was just a case of trying to manage it - but that is never easy in these conditions.

"The competition will be huge this year. It's wide open - and I'm looking forward to it."

The global director of Ford Performance Motorsport, Mark Rushbrook, said it had been "the perfect start to the season".

"The team did a great job battling the adverse stage conditions," Rushbrook said.

"The work that Malcolm Wilson (M-Sport principal) and his team have done over the [northern] winter break is clearly paying dividends and we'll be working hard with M-Sport to ensure the good results continue throughout the year."

Ogier made greater Ford input a condition of him remaining with M-Sport after delivering a world title to the team last year. He joined M-Sport after Volkswagen folded its dominant team. Ogier began the final day 33.5 seconds ahead of former teammate Tanak, but immediately stretched the advantage by 11.5 seconds and eventually won by 58.3 seconds.

Finn Jari-Matti Latvala was another 53.7sec back in third place in another Yaris, finally banishing the bad memories of his Power Stage accident that cost him second place on last year's season-ending Rally Australia at Coffs Harbour.

The Monte's Power Stage was dominated by Ulsterman Kris Meeke, whose five points for winning it salvaged some consolation for Citroen at the end of a troubled weekend. He finished in fourth place, almost three minutes behind Latvala.

Toyota's younger Finn, Esapekka Lappi, had been on course for that fourth place, but a mistake on the last stage dropped him behind Meeke, Hyundai's Belgian Thierry Neuville and Welshman Elfyn Evans in another M-Sport Fiesta.

Neuville recovered strongly after losing four minutes when he became stuck on the opening night, while Norwegian Andreas Mikkelsen in another Hyundai i20 Coupe was out of contention early after an alternator problem the next morning, and Spaniard Dani Sordo crashed out on Saturday.

Although Hyundai won six stages to Ogier's four, and Neuville and Mikkelsen were second and third on the Power Stage, Michel Nandan, team principal of the Korean manufacturer's squad said: "We leave here with little to show for our efforts."

Hyundai was expected to be Ford M-Sport's main challenger this season, but instead it is Toyota equal on points with M-Sport Ford in the manufacturer standings after The Monte.

The second round of the World Rally Championship is in Sweden on February 15-18, where New Zealander Hayden Paddon will be in the third Hyundai instead of Sordo.