It wasn’t quite the dominance the overall results might suggest though; the leader won none of the stages today, which were each taken by a different driver: Kubica, Loeb and Meeke. However, Ogier seemed to be pacing himself. He started the day with a 1m45s lead over Latvala and by the time they finished the final stage of the day and began the long road trip to Monaco, was still 42.8s ahead of his Finnish team-mate.
Mikkelsen held on to third, just over a minute further back but importantly, 53s ahead of fellow Norwegian Mads Ostberg in the only – yet ironically, not points-nominated – Citroen DS3 WRC still effectively in the running. Due to the time loss for Elfyn Evans following his suspension damage, Dani Sordo climbed to fifth in the first of the Hyundais, just ahead of team-mate Thierry Neuville.
The crews now head for Monaco and straight into parc ferme with the teams performing the traditional end of leg 45-minute service tomorrow morning instead, before the day’s action begins. This gives them time to travel from Gap and set up the service park on the harbour-front in Monte Carlo tonight.