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New lineups debut on Monte entry

The Monte is the traditional opening round of the World Rally Championship and next month's edition, which runs from 24 - 27 January, will kick off an expanded 14-round season. 

Rally organisers, the Automobile Club de Monaco, confirmed the leading competitors shortly after entries closed on Friday (21 December).

Sébastien Ogier, winner of the rally for the last five years, heads the list as a new member of the Citroën Racing team. The reigning champion will begin his title defence at the wheel of a C3 WRC with a second car for his new team-mate Esapekka Lappi. 

The Toyota Gazoo Racing squad will field Yaris World Rally Cars for Jari-Matti Latvala, Ott Tänak and new arrivals Kris Meeke and co-driver Sebastian Marshall. 

Elfyn Evans, Teemu Suninen and Pontus Tidemand will drive Ford Fiesta WRCs for the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team. The event will mark the championship debut for two new co-driver pairings, when Scott Martin joins Evans and Marko Salminen partners Suninen. Tidemand is yet to announce his Monte co-driver. 

Hyundai Motorsport have also registered a trio of entries, with i20 World Rally Cars for Thierry Neuville, Andreas Mikkelsen and new team signing, seven-time Monte winner Sébastien Loeb. 

In the support categories, Yoann Bonato (Citroën C3) and Gus Greensmith (Ford Fiesta) are registered in the new WRC 2 Pro Championship. WRC 2 entries include Ole Christian Veiby and Nicholas Ciamin, both in VW Polos, and Guillaume De Mevius (Citroën C3) and Adrien Fourmaux (Ford Fiesta). 

Other notable entries include Kalle Rovanperä (Skoda Fabia R5) and former Subaru World Rally Team driver Stephane Sarrazin (Hyundai i20 R5).

Zdroj: wrc.com