MONACO • Sebastien Loeb will be aiming for an unprecedented ninth World Rally Championship (WRC) title when the 2012 season kicks off Wednesday with the return of the Monte Carlo Rally.
After three years on the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) circuit, the Monte Carlo Rally is back in the WRC and set to provide a spectacle with seven world champions and five former winners of the race in the field.
Loeb heads the lineup in his Citroën DS3 and is the overwhelming favourite for the season’s curtain-raiser, having recorded five victories in seven attempts in the principality, and the Frenchman was delighted to see the event return to the WRC.
“For me, it’s a no-brainer — the Rallye Monte Carlo has to be in the World Championship,” Loeb insists.
“It is the world’s most famous rally; you just can’t have a world championship without it!
The Frenchman is not the only driver to have triumphed in Monte Carlo, however, with Francois Delecour, Sebastien Ogier, Mikko Hirvonen and Bryan Bouffier also having celebrated victories in the event.
New Citroën recruit Hirvonen, winner of the 2010 edition when it was part of the IRC circuit, admits the unpredictable winter conditions that are a staple of the opening rally make it one of the toughest on the calendar.
The course includes 430 kilometres of timed sections over 18 stages, with drivers departing from Valence on Wednesday and passing through the Ardeche, Haute-Loire, Vercors and Alpes-Maritimes regions before arriving in Monaco on Sunday.
