While Sebastien Ogier is aiming for his tenth victory at the 2024 Rally Monte-Carlo, world champion Kalle Rovanperä will not be competing in the season opener
The Rally Monte-Carlo (January 25-28), the season opener of the 2024 World Rally Championship (WRC), will take place without reigning world champion Kalle Rovanperä. As expected, Sebastien Ogier will be at the wheel of the third Toyota. This is according to the list of participants published by the FIA on Monday.
Ogier and Rovanperä, who will not contest a full season after his second WRC title this year, will share Toyota’s third works car in 2024. Ogier is the record winner of the rally around his birthplace of Gap and has the chance to claim his tenth victory this year.
In the Hyundai works team, where a total of three drivers share the third car, returnee Andreas Mikkelsen will take precedence over Esapekka Lappi and Dani Sordo at the Rally Monte-Carlo.
There are no surprises in the rest of the field of just eight Rally1 cars. With Elfyn Evans and Takamoto Katsuta (both Toyota), Thierry Neuville and Ott Tänak (both Hyundai) as well as Adrien Fourmaux and Gergoire Demoustier (both M-Sport), the confirmed regular drivers will be on the grid.
The field of Rally2 cars is significantly larger, comprising no fewer than 24 vehicles, 22 of which are registered for the WRC2 classification. The race debut of the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 will be an exciting one.
Four of the Japanese cars will compete in the Rally Monte-Carlo. They will be driven by Stephane Lefebvre and Bryan Bouffier, among others, two drivers who have already competed in the WRC’s premier class in the past.
A total of 70 cars are registered for the 2024 WRC season opener. The Rally Monte Carlo begins on Thursday, January 25, with two night special stages. After 17 special stages covering a total of 324.44 kilometers, the rally ends on 28 January with the Power Stage, which leads to the famous Col de Turini pass.
