Monte Entry List - 19 WRC cars

[Zytek_Fan]

Originally Posted by Crash.net

The organisers of the Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo have released the provisional entry list for their event, the opening round in the 2007 FIA WRC and it includes 49 crews in total.

Nineteen of those 49 drivers will be in World Rally Cars, and currently it looks as if there will be six 'manufacturer' teams in action.

Citroen Sport will return with the new C4, fielding cars for Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Sordo, after taking a sabbatical from the sport in '06, while BP Ford will be represented by Marcus Gronholm and Mikko Hirvonen and Subaru will have Petter Solberg and Chris Atkinson - all as expected.

The OMV Kronos Citroen WRT will be represented by just one car, driven by Manfred Stohl – and in all likelihood unable to score 'manufacturer' points, while Henning Solberg, Jari-Matti Latvala and Matthew Wilson will all be entered under the Stobart banner, although the latter looks likely to be in the 'third car', as he won't be a priority 1 driver.

Toni Gardemeister and Khalid Al Qassimi will compete with the Mitsubishi Lancer WRC 05 cars, while other notable WRC car drivers' include: Francois Duval and Jan Kopecky, both in Skoda Fabia's, as they were in '06 - and Gareth MacHale and Eamonn Boland, both using 05 spec Ford Focus'. Three Peugeots will enter the event, with Jean-Marie Cuoq and Philippe Roux in 307s and Frederic Romeyer in a 206.

Of the rest 19 will take part in Group N cars, most noticeably Red Bull's Andreas Aigner and Riccardo Errani, while four will be in A7 cars and seven will be entered under the A6 category. The most significant to enter the event in a S1600 car is Martin Prokop, who took the JWRC win on the Rally Catalunya last year.

As the Rallye Monte Carlo will not count towards the Junior Rally Championship or the Production Car World Rally Championship this year, no points' will be up for grabs in either category.

The draft entry list, subject to FIA approval, is as follows:


1. Sebastien Loeb Citroen Total WRT C4 WRC M*
2. Daniel Sordo Citroen Total WRT C4 WRC M*
3. Marcus Gronholm BP Ford Focus RS WRC 06 M*
4. Mikko Hirvonen BP Ford Focus RS WRC 06 M*
5. Manfred Stohl OMV Kronos Citroen Xsara WRC M*
7. Petter Solberg Subaru WRT Impreza WRC 2006 M*
8. Chris Atkinson Subaru WRT Impreza WRC 2006 M*

Henning Solberg Stobart M-Sport Ford Focus WRC 06 M*
Jari-Matti Latvala Stobart M-Sport Ford Focus WRC 06 M*
Matthew Wilson Stobart M-Sport Ford Focus WRC 06 M
Khalid Al Qassimi MMSP Ltd Lancer WR05 M*
Toni Gardemeister MMSP Ltd Lancer WR05 M*

Francois Duval First Skoda Fabia WRC *
Jan Kopecky Czech RT-Skoda Kopecky Fabia WRC
Gareth MacHale Ford Focus WRC
Eamonn Boland Ford Focus WRC
Jean-Marie Cuoq Peugeot 307 WRC
Frederic Romeyer Peugeot 206 WRC
Philippe Roux Peugeot 307 WRC

Andreas Aigner Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX N4
Patrick Artru Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII N4
Jerome Aymard Mitsubishi Lancer Evo N4
Jean-Paul Ayme Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX N4
Miguel Baudouin Mitsubishi Lancer VII N4
Claude Carret Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX N4
Luc Dewinter Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX N4
Riccardo Errani Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX N4
Richard Frau Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX N4
Andrzej Mancin Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII N4
Pierre Marche Mitsubishi Lancer Evo N4
Chris Marti Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX N4
Frederic Sauvan Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX N4
Olivier Burri Subaru Impreza N4
Joan Font Subaru Impreza N4
Jerome Galpin Subaru Impreza N4
Alain Machard Subaru Impreza STi N4
Stephane Vouillon Subaru Impreza STi N4
Laurent Nicolas Subaru Impreza N4
Marc Amourette Citroen C2 R2 A6
Luca Betti Renault Clio A6
Fabiano Lo Fiego Citroen C2 A6
Lilian Vialle Renault Clio A6
Angelo Villa Fiat Punto A6
Alain Pellerey Citroen Saxo kit car A6
Martin Prokop Citroen C2 A6

Flavio Castegnaro Peugeot 206 RC A7
Arnaud Monnet Peugeot 206 RC A7
Daniel Holczer Renault Clio A7
Marc Dessi Renault Clio RS A7


Key:

* denotes priority 1 driver
M denotes Manufacturer team.


NB: Competition numbers still to be confirmed

Will anyone on UCP be attending?

[Ferrer]

Only 49 cars, that's really sad.

[Zytek_Fan]

Originally Posted by Ferrer

Only 49 cars, that's really sad.

That's because no points will be awarded to JWRC and PCWRC cars at Monte this year...bit unfortunate...

[Ferrer]

Originally Posted by Zytek_Fan

That's because no points will be awarded to JWRC and PCWRC cars at Monte this year...bit unfortunate...

In the olden days where no such stupidities existed there used to be way more than 100 cars entered for the Montecarlo. Peak was about 400 cars one year, IIRC. However since FIA decided to mess with rallying, it has gone downhill every year to the pathetic state in which it is now.

[Zytek_Fan]

It's an okay entry list for WRC, but what about the second OMV Kronos car?

[drakkie]

Quite curious to see how the new C4 will fare. I'll have a good laugh if the trusty old Xsara beats the crap out of it

[henk4]

Originally Posted by drakkie

Quite curious to see how the new C4 will fare. I'll have a good laugh if the trusty old Xsara beats the crap out of it

the real potential of the Xsara was already shown during Loeb's absence at the final 4 rallyes......they were nowhere....

[Zytek_Fan]

Originally Posted by drakkie

Quite curious to see how the new C4 will fare. I'll have a good laugh if the trusty old Xsara beats the crap out of it

The C4 has been testing for almost 2 years, so I think it'll be a battle between the Fords, Citroens, and Subarus just like the good old days (minus Peugeot )

[Zytek_Fan]

Originally Posted by henk4

the real potential of the Xsara was already shown during Loeb's absence at the final 4 rallyes......they were nowhere....

Dani was new to almost every rallye and Xavi just sucks.

[henk4]

Originally Posted by Zytek_Fan

The C4 has been testing for almost 2 years, so I think it'll be a battle between the Fords, Citroens, and Subarus just like the good old days (minus Peugeot )

Subaru will have a lot to improve if they really want to mess with the big boys...

[henk4]

Originally Posted by Zytek_Fan

Dani was new to almost every rallye and Xavi just sucks.

also Colin McRae did not work...

[Zytek_Fan]

Originally Posted by henk4

also Colin McRae did not work...

Which was a bit surprising, although being out of WRC for so long probably explains it...Colin was so strong with Skoda at the Aussie rally in 2005...

[Ferrer]

Originally Posted by Zytek_Fan

Dani was new to almost every rallye and Xavi just sucks.

I don't think that's a very fair judgement on them.

Xevi Pons might not be the fastest or most talented rally driver in the world, but it isn't the most experienced either. He has made some mistakes, but has provided plenty of points for Citroen, and in fact helped Loeb get the title earlier during his absence. If he can refine his driving tecnique further he could be a good constant and reliable points-scorer.

Dani Sordo could be the next big thing in rallying, but still needs to improve a lot. He made a lot of big mistakes (leading to big accidents) in the mid sesaon when Citroen decided to make him eligible for manufacturer points and he was under presure. On the last rallyes of the season Pons outperfomed him on most too. he of course needs to gain experience too.

And regarding Colin McRae, in this year's rally with the Citroen team you can see the difference between a good rally driver and truly great one (for instance Sainz in his two-rally season in 2005 with Citroen, where he was almost flawless).

[Zytek_Fan]

Originally Posted by Ferrer

I don't think that's a very fair judgement on them.

Xevi Pons might not be the fastest or most talented rally driver in the world, but it isn't the most experienced either. He has made some mistakes, but has provided plenty of points for Citroen, and in fact helped Loeb get the title earlier during his absence. If he can refine his driving tecnique further he could be a good constant and reliable points-scorer.

Dani Sordo could be the next big thing in rallying, but still needs to improve a lot. He made a lot of big mistakes (leading to big accidents) in the mid sesaon when Citroen decided to make him eligible for manufacturer points and he was under presure. On the last rallyes of the season Pons outperfomed him on most too. he of course needs to gain experience too.

And regarding Colin McRae, in this year's rally with the Citroen team you can see the difference between a good rally driver and truly great one (for instance Sainz in his two-rally season in 2005 with Citroen, where he was almost flawless).

Xavi just needs time to improve himself, and Dani will be better in 07 since he was a rookie this year.