Toyota will enter no fewer than five GR Yaris Rally1 cars in the season opener of the World Rally Championship: Neuville will start for the first time with car number 1
70 teams will compete in the 2025 World Rally Championship (WRC) season opener, the Rally Monte-Carlo, from January 23 to 26, with ten of them in the top category, Rally1. This is according to the entry list published on January 3, 2025.
Half of the Rally1 field is provided by Toyota alone, with all five drivers competing. As expected, part-time driver Sebastien Ogier will not miss the opportunity to compete in his home rally. Ogier is the record winner of the Monte Carlo Rally with nine victories.
In addition to the Frenchman, Elfyn Evans, Takamoto Katsuta, Kalle Rovanperä and newcomer Sami Pajari will also be competing in a Toyota GR Yaris Rally1. Evans, Rovanperä and Ogier have been nominated for the manufacturers’ championship.
The starting field will be led by new world champion Thierry Neuville, who will compete in one of the three Hyundai i20 N cars. He will be joined by the 2019 world champion Ott Tänak and Hyundai newcomer Adrien Fourmaux. Neuville will be the first to wear the starting number 1, which has not been used in the World Rally Championship since 2022. Hyundai plans to launch a completely revised version of the i20 N later in the season.
M-Sport-Ford is entering two Ford Puma Rally1. Luxembourg’s Gregoire Munster will continue to represent the team in 2025, while newcomer Josh McErlean is moving up from WRC2 and will contest his first season in the top rally category with start number 55.
The Rally1 cars will compete without hybrid drive this season due to a change in the technical regulations for 2025. In addition, Hankook is a new tire supplier to the series for the first time.
A strong field of 24 cars has been entered in the WRC2 category. Among the most prominent names are two title contenders from last year: Yohan Rossel and Nikolai Gryazin, who is switching from Citroen to Skoda.
Oliver Solberg, runner-up in the WRC2 in 2024, will compete in a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 from Printsport, but will not be eligible for WRC points.
