A grand total of sixty-eight crews will be taking to the stages in Zagreb for the World Rally Championship’s next round, WRC Croatia (22-25 April), according to the entry list revealed on the 9 April.
The field features a dozen crews in the marquee WRC class, with nine of those competing in the manufacturer’s championship. Three of those crews will be for Toyota Gazoo Racing featuring their stellar driving talent of Sebastien Ogier (the reigning champion looking to regain his form after a difficult last outing), Elvyn Evans (in need of a spark after a quiet fifth place in the last event) and young Finn Kalle Rovanperä (who enjoyed a great podium in his home country last time out).
As always, Toyota Gazoo Racing will go toe to toe with Hyundai Motorsport with Ott Tänak (winner of the last round), Thierry Neuville (third place last time out) and Craig Breen (who is having a mixed opening to the season).
Battling it out with Hyundai and Toyota will be M-Sport Ford with Gus Greensmith (who is keen to improve his form) and WRC newcomer Adrien Fourmaux. Meanwhile, 2C Competition will be fielding the Hyundai i20 WRC for Pierre-Louis Loubet.
Rounding out the twelve WRC cars and outside of Manufacturers competition are two private entrants using the Ford Fiesta WRC, Armando Pereira and Niko Pulic, as well as Takamoto Katsuta in the Toyota Yaris WRC.
Rally2 cars feature heavily on the entry list once again, with thirty-two crews fighting it out in this machinery. Seven of them will battle for WRC2 honours with Tom Kristensson beginning his season with M-Sport. His team-mate Teemu Suninen will also be driving the Ford Fiesta Rally2 as he continues to alternate between the WRC and WRC2 categories this year.
Toksport also has some highlight Rally2 competitors in Andreas Mikkelson (who makes his third start and will look to stretch his WRC2 championship lead) and his team-mate Marco Bulacia Wilkinson driving in the Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo. Movisport will enter the driving pair of Nikolay Gryazin (Volkswagen Polo GTI R5) and Enrico Brazzoli (Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo). Piloting a Citroen C3 Rally2 for TRT World Rally Team is Mads Ostberg.
The WRC3 class features fifteen crews for WRC Croatia, among them asphalt specialists Yohan Rossel & Nicolas Ciamin, both at the wheel of a Citroen C3Rally2. Making their first starts are Kajetan Kajetanowicz, Emil Lindholm and Chris Ingram.
Also making its debut is the Ford Fiesta Rally3 at the hands of Hungarian Zoltán László, you can read about this exciting foray into the Rally3 category right here at The Checkered flag!
A further eighteen crews are entered in the Rally4 category, eight of whom will be battling for Junior WRC honours, among them are Martins Sesks (Ford Fiesta Rally4) & Sami Pajari (Ford Fiesta Rally4), who are considered big favourites for the JWRC title win.
An exciting entry list full of title challengers, debutants and up and coming talents ready to tackle the first-ever WRC appearance in Croatia. Stay tuned to The Checkered Flag throughout 22-25 April to see who comes out on top!
