François Delecour’s decision to use studded tyres on Thursday afternoon’s loop of stages proved inspired after the 48-year-old Frenchman claimed his first stage victory on the centenary edition of Rallye Monte-Carlo.
Driving a privateer Peugeot 207, Delecour, who won Rallye Monte-Carlo in 1994, leaped from eighth to second on the overall leaderboard, 28.7s behind Peugeot France driver Bryan Bouffier.
Bouffier survived two spins to complete the snow-covered 24.13-kilometre stage with the second fastest time and will head into the final day of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge qualifier in first place.
Guy Wilks has moved into fourth overall behind Freddy Loix. Stéphane Sarrazin slipped to fifth with former leader Juho Hänninen dropping to a distant sixth in his factory Škoda Fabia S2000, 2m36.0s off the lead.
Team-mate Jan Kopecký lost more ground and is down to ninth, while former Swiss champion impressed with the third fastest time in his Subaru Impreza.
Ex-Formula One driver Alex Caffi also shone in the treacherous conditions to move up to 12th overall.
Overall positions after SS8
| Pos. | Team | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BOUFFIER Bryan/PANSERI Xavier | Peugeot 207 S2000 | 2h14m38.1s |
| 2 | DELECOUR François/SAVIGNONI Dominique | Peugeot 207 S2000 | +28.7s |
| 3 | LOIX Freddy/MICLOTTE Frederic | Skoda Fabia S2000 | +1m06.3s |
| 4 | WILKS Guy/PUGH Philip | Peugeot 207 S2000 | +1m21.2s |
| 5 | SARRAZIN Stéphane/RENUCCI Jacques-Julien | Peugeot 207 S2000 | +1m41.8s |
| 6 | HANNINEN Juho/MARKKULA Mikko | Skoda Fabia S2000 | +2m36.0s |
| 7 | SOLBERG Petter/PATTERSON Chris | Peugeot 207 S2000 | +3m49.8s |
| 8 | VOUILLOZ Nicolas/VEILLAS Benjamin | Skoda Fabia S2000 | +5m31.7s |
| 9 | KOPECKY Jan/STARY Petr | Skoda Fabia S2000 | +7m52.4s |
| 10 | GARDEMEISTER Toni/TUOMINEN Tomi | Peugeot 207 S2000 | +7m53.4s |
| 11 | BASSO Giandomenico/DOTTA Mitia | Peugeot 207 S2000 | +9m16.6s |
| 12 | CAFFI Alex/PEROGLIO Roberto | Skoda Fabia S2000 | +9m24.1s |
| 13 | GONON Florian/ARLETTAZ Sandra | Subaru Impreza STI | +10m11.7s |
| 14 | MAURIN Julien/URAL Olivier | Ford Fiesta S2000 | +10m43.9s |
| 15 | BURRI Michael/REY Stéphane | Citroën DS3 R3 | +17m55.8s |