WRC: Tension before the start to the Monte 🎥
Traditionally, the Rally Monte Carlo marks the start of the World Rally Championship. The biggest change concerns the switch of world champion Sébastien Ogier to Citroën. This means that Sébastien Ogier is returning to the team where his career began. Together with the Finn Esapekka Lappi, who came from Toyota, he forms the Citroën World Rally Team. With this duo [...]
Sébastien Ogier is thus returning to the team where his career began. Together with the Finn Esapekka Lappi, who came from Toyota, he forms the Citroën World Rally Team. With this duo, the French finally want to have a serious say in the WRC title again.
Ogier's previous team, M-Sport Ford, will be weakened. The 30-year-old Welshman Elfyn Evans has only won one WRC race in his career, namely at home in Great Britain in 2017. Finn Teemu Suninen and Swede Pontus Tidemann have also yet to break any thick ropes at the highest level. So Ford is certainly not one of the favorites at the "Monte" and in the WRC.
Loeb's premiere at Hyundai
For this, many eyes are on Hyundai. The German-based team is doing everything it can to finally become world champion. To this end, Sébastien Loeb is competing in six preferred WRC rounds as the third force alongside regular drivers Thierry Neuville and Andreas Mikkelsen. Loeb has scored all of his 79 WRC victories to date exclusively on Citroën WRC models, the most recent in the fall of 2018 on the C3 in Spain.
The ambition of the soon-to-be 45-year-old record world champion is undiminished and his eighth victory at the Rally Monte Carlo is not unrealistic on the basis of his experience alone, although he still lacks practice at the wheel of the Hyundai i20 Coupé WRC. The duel between him and Ogier, who has already won six times in the Principality, is a first major highlight of the season.
The following video shows how the three Hyundai drivers see their chances:
As defending champions in the one-make championship, Toyota Gazoo Racing will again compete with Estonian Ott Tänak and Finn Jari-Matti Latvala. A third Yaris WRC, starting at the Monte, is sporadically entrusted to Northern Irishman Kris Meeke. Citroën had withdrawn its confidence in him after various accidents.
16 long special stages
The 87th edition of the Rally Monte Carlo begins on Thursday at 10 a.m. with the shakedown in Gap, where the official start takes place in the evening at 6:50 p.m.. Afterwards, the action really gets going with two 20-kilometer stages in the dark.
After four stages with a total of 16 special stages (324 kilometers), the first WRC round of 2019 will come to an end shortly after midday on Sunday.
Tireless Olivier Burri
The only Swiss in the field is Olivier Burri. The Bernjurassier is competing in this classic for the 21st time. As in the previous year, Burri will be driving a Skoda Fabia R5, which he finished in an excellent third place in the R5 classification and in twelfth place overall as the best privateer.
As the winner of the 2018 Clio R3T Alps Trophy, Olivier Courtois from Alsace will also be able to take part in the 2019 Rally Monte Carlo at the expense of Renault Switzerland, Renault Sport and Michelin Motorsport. The same main prize beckons this year's overall winners.
As a foretaste of the season opener, here is the official teaser with the highlights of 2018:
WRC - Excited for the first stage of the 2019 @OfficialWRC season ? Here is the trailer of Monte Carlo coming in two weeks 🇲🇨 pic.twitter.com/9slpwMeIRD
- FIA (@fia) January 11, 2019
