| 2010 Monte Carlo Rally | |
| Native Name: | 78ème Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo |
| Round: | 1 |
| Championship: | 2010 Intercontinental Rally Challenge season |
| Next Round: | 2010 Rally International of Curitiba |
| Country: |  Monaco |
| Rallybase: | Monte Carlo |
| Startdate: | January 19 |
| Enddate: | 23 2010 |
| Surface: | Tarmac and Ice |
| Driver1: |  Mikko Hirvonen |
| Team1: |  M-Sport Ltd. |
| Teamsstart: | 63 |
| Teamsfinish: | 36 |
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.
The rally started in Valence on Tuesday 19 January covering 1668km (1,036miles) including 405km (252miles) on fifteen special stages. New to the IRC Championship, a 9km (06miles) 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.[1] The event saw the debut of the Ford Fiesta S2000 rally car. A total of 63 crews entered the rally including nineteen S2000 cars.
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.[2] [3]
| 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 | 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 |
| 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 | align=left rowspan=15 | Mikko Hirvonen |
| SS2 | 12:59 | St-Pierreville – Antraigues | 45.17 km | Sébastien Ogier | 30:54.2 | 87.70 km/h | |||
| SS3 | 15:02 | Burzet – Lachamp-Raphaël | 27.27 km | Mikko Hirvonen | 15:49.7 | 103.37 km/h | |||
| SS4 | 16:10 | St-Pierreville – Antraigues | 45.17 km | Sébastien Ogier | 30:45.9 | 88.09 km/h | |||
| 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 | ||
| 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 | |||
| SS7 | 12:20 | Lamastre – Gilhoc – Alboussière | 21.92 km | Mikko Hirvonen | 14:43.0 | 89.37 km/h | |||
| SS8 | 15:28 | Labatie d'Andaure – St-Pierre sur Doux | 25.30 km | Juho Hänninen | 16:36.8 | 91.37 km/h | |||
| 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 | |||
| SS10 | 18:05 | Lamastre – Gilhoc – Alboussière | 21.92 km | Sébastien Ogier | 15:03.0 | 87.39 km/h | |||
| Leg 3 (22 Jan) | SS11 | 09:23 | Montauban sur l'Ouvèze – Eygalayes | 30.42 km | Sébastien Ogier | 23:18.5 | 78.31 km/h | ||
| SS12 | 19:15 | Peïra-Cava – La Bollène-Vésubie | 18.42 km | Sébastien Ogier | 13:23.4 | 82.54 km/h | |||
| SS13 | 19:48 | Lantosque – Lucéram | 19.13 km | Stéphane Sarrazin | 14:12.9 | 80.75 km/h | |||
| SS14 | 23:20 | Peïra-Cava – La Bollène-Vésubie | 18.42 km | Juho Hänninen | 13:52.3 | 79.67 km/h | |||
| SS15 | 23:53 | Lantosque – Lucéram | 19.13 km | Stéphane Sarrazin | 14:40.2 | 78.24 km/h |