# 2010 Monte Carlo Rally

The 2010 Monte-Carlo Rally, officially 78ème Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo, was the first round of the 2010 Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) season. The rally took place over January 19–23, 2010.

## Introduction

The rally started in Valence on Tuesday 19 January covering 1,668 km (1,036 mi) including 405 km (252 mi) on fifteen special stages. New to the IRC Championship, a 9 km (5.6 mi) prologue was held on Tuesday evening to determine the starting order for Wednesday's stages. Stages were run both during the day and at night and included the famous Col de Turini.
Entrants for the event included the current IRC Champion Kris Meeke who was seeded at number 1, Formula One driver Robert Kubica, WRC stars Mikko Hirvonen and Toni Gardemeister and Rally Scotland winner Guy Wilks. The event saw the debut of the Ford Fiesta S2000 rally car. A total of 63 crews entered the rally including nineteen S2000 cars.

## Results

Finn Mikko Hirvonen driving the Ford Fiesta in competition for the first time and making his debut in the IRC, led the event from start to finish.

### Overall

| Pos. | Driver | Co-driver | Car | Time | Difference | Points |
| 1. | Mikko Hirvonen | Jarmo Lehtinen | Ford Fiesta S2000 | 4:32:58.5 | 0.0 | 10 |
| 2. | Juho Hänninen | Mikko Markkula | Škoda Fabia S2000 | 4:34:49.9 | 1:51.4 | 8 |
| 3. | Nicolas Vouilloz | Benjamin Veillas | Škoda Fabia S2000 | 4:36:17.6 | 3:19.1 | 6 |
| 4. | Stéphane Sarrazin | Jacques-Julien Renucci | Peugeot 207 S2000 | 4:40:24.0 | 7:25.5 | 5 |
| 5. | Jan Kopecký | Petr Starý | Škoda Fabia S2000 | 4:41:47.2 | 8:48.7 | 4 |
| 6. | Guy Wilks | Phil Pugh | Škoda Fabia S2000 | 4:42:23.0 | 9:24.5 | 3 |
| 7. | Bruno Magalhães | Carlos Magalhães | Peugeot 207 S2000 | 4:42:43.9 | 9:45.4 | 2 |
| 8. | Jean-Sébastien Vigion | Stéphane Prevot | Peugeot 207 S2000 | 4:46:32.0 | 13:33.5 | 1 |

### Special stages

| Day | Stage | Time | Name | Length | Winner | Time | Avg. spd. | Rally leader |
| Prologue (19 Jan) | SSS | 18:38 | Lente – Col de Gaudissart | 8.83 km | Toni Gardemeister | 6:54:2 | 76.75 km/h | none* |
| Leg 1 (20 Jan) | SS1 | 11:51 | Burzet – Lachamp-Raphaël | 27.27 km | Mikko Hirvonen | 16:01.4 | 102.11 km/h | Mikko Hirvonen |
| Leg 1 (20 Jan) | SS2 | 12:59 | St-Pierreville – Antraigues | 45.17 km | Sébastien Ogier | 30:54.2 | 87.70 km/h | Mikko Hirvonen |
| Leg 1 (20 Jan) | SS3 | 15:02 | Burzet – Lachamp-Raphaël | 27.27 km | Mikko Hirvonen | 15:49.7 | 103.37 km/h | Mikko Hirvonen |
| Leg 1 (20 Jan) | SS4 | 16:10 | St-Pierreville – Antraigues | 45.17 km | Sébastien Ogier | 30:45.9 | 88.09 km/h | Mikko Hirvonen |
| Leg 2 (21 Jan) | SS5 | 10:13 | Labatie d'Andaure – St-Pierre sur Doux | 25.30 km | Nicolas Vouilloz | 17:38.5 | 86.05 km/h | Mikko Hirvonen |
| Leg 2 (21 Jan) | SS6 | 10:55 | St-Bonnet-le-Froid – St-Julien-Molhesabate – St-Bonnet-le-Froid | 25.67 km | Sébastien Ogier | 17:19.7 | 88.88 km/h | Mikko Hirvonen |
| Leg 2 (21 Jan) | SS7 | 12:20 | Lamastre – Gilhoc – Alboussière | 21.92 km | Mikko Hirvonen | 14:43.0 | 89.37 km/h | Mikko Hirvonen |
| Leg 2 (21 Jan) | SS8 | 15:28 | Labatie d'Andaure – St-Pierre sur Doux | 25.30 km | Juho Hänninen | 16:36.8 | 91.37 km/h | Mikko Hirvonen |
| Leg 2 (21 Jan) | SS9 | 16:10 | St-Bonnet-le-Froid – St-Julien-Molhesabate – St-Bonnet-le-Froid | 25.67 km | Sébastien Ogier | 15:51.1 | 97.16 km/h | Mikko Hirvonen |
| Leg 2 (21 Jan) | SS10 | 18:05 | Lamastre – Gilhoc – Alboussière | 21.92 km | Sébastien Ogier | 15:03.0 | 87.39 km/h | Mikko Hirvonen |
| Leg 3 (22 Jan) | SS11 | 09:23 | Montauban sur l'Ouvèze – Eygalayes | 30.42 km | Sébastien Ogier | 23:18.5 | 78.31 km/h | Mikko Hirvonen |
| Leg 3 (22 Jan) | SS12 | 19:15 | Peïra-Cava – La Bollène-Vésubie | 18.42 km | Sébastien Ogier | 13:23.4 | 82.54 km/h | Mikko Hirvonen |
| Leg 3 (22 Jan) | SS13 | 19:48 | Lantosque – Lucéram | 19.13 km | Stéphane Sarrazin | 14:12.9 | 80.75 km/h | Mikko Hirvonen |
| Leg 3 (22 Jan) | SS14 | 23:20 | Peïra-Cava – La Bollène-Vésubie | 18.42 km | Juho Hänninen | 13:52.3 | 79.67 km/h | Mikko Hirvonen |
| Leg 3 (22 Jan) | SS15 | 23:53 | Lantosque – Lucéram | 19.13 km | Stéphane Sarrazin | 14:40.2 | 78.24 km/h | Mikko Hirvonen |
* * The super-special set the running order for the first leg with the top ten running in reverse order from where they finished.