The Cumbrian squad lived up to its pre-Monte billing as one of the favourites to challenge for the win given that their Rally1 test and development programme commenced earlier than both Toyota and Hyundai respectively last year. In the hands of nine-time World Rally champion Sebastien Loeb, the petrol-electric-powered Puma won the Tarmac classic by 10.5 seconds from Sebastien Ogier who saw his hopes of making it a ninth Monte victory dashed by a jump start penalty on the last stage. M-Sport pulled off a similar feat in the hands of Ogier in 2017; that season also ushered in a new set of regulations and at the same World Rally Championship round, victory went to their way with the Fiesta...
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