Marcus Gronholm won his 19th career win by taking the victory at the 2006 Monte Carlo Rally, his first at the Principality. A well-deserved win for the Finn in his first race at the wheel of the Ford Focus WRC 06.
With Gronholm the winner of the race and his teammate Mikko Hirvonen in seventh position, Ford takes the lead of the Manufacturers` Championship.
Sebastien Loeb – who led the first part of the race until going off the road – made a great charge through the field to finish in second place, moving ahead of Toni Gardemeister in the very last stage.
Gardemeister drove a consistent race and gets a very good result for his first race with the Peugeot 307.
OMV Peugeot Norway driver Manfred Stohl set the pace in the last two stages of the race and finishes the event at a fine fourth position. A very good season start for the Austrian who secures six points in the Drivers` Championship.
Subaru drivers Stephane Sarrazin and Chris Atkinson follow in fifth and sixth places respectively. The Frenchman brings five points to his team in the Manufacturers` Championship.
The top ten in the Monte Carlo Rally is completed by Dani Sordo (8th), Xavier Pons (9th) and Gilles Panizzi (10th).

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