Solberg, Rossel, Greensmith… What will the WRC2 championship look like in 2024?

As in 2023, the WRC2 championship should be very exciting to follow in 2024. The “second division” of the rally world class is asserting itself from year to year with an ever tougher and more extensive line-up, far from the difficulties experienced by the premier category... First stage of this 2024 season: the legendary Monte-Carlo Rally (January 25-28). Although the entry list has not yet been made official, many drivers have already announced their presence at the event. alpine... but also their commitment to the WRC2 championship.

As a reminder, drivers registered for the WRC2 championship can participate in all rallies WRC scheduled on the calendar, but will only be able to score points on only seven of them. Only the six best results are counted. Therefore, teams, drivers and co-drivers must indicate on the registration form for each rally whether they intend to designate it as one of their events counting towards the WRC2 championship.

In 2024, barring any surprises, the WRC2 field should be made up of five Rally2 mounts, namely the Citroën C3, the Hyundai i20 N, the Ford Fiesta, the reigning champion Skoka Fabia RS and the all-new Toyota GR Yaris.

Skoda: life without Mikkelsen

At Skoda, if the reigning WRC2 champion Andreas Mikkelsen flew to Hyundai in Rally1, the other two big names from the previous season remain at home: Oliver solberg et Fergus Greensmith will continue the adventure with the Czech manufacturer. After his unsuccessful experience at M-Sport Ford in Rally1, Pierre-Louis Loubet will go down a level and will return to WRC2 with Skoda and Toksport. A fourth Fabia RS will be entered for the WRC2 championship with ACI Team Italia and the Roberto Daprà crew – Luca Guglielmetti, vice-Junior Champion ERC last season with a Peugeot 208 Rally4.

Citroën: Rossel faithful to the post

Citroën has unveiled three official drivers for this 2024 season: Yohan Rossel has remained faithful to the chevron brand and will be accompanied by Nikolay Gryazin within the Belgian team DG Sport Competition. Marco Bulacia, who is now supported by Daniel Elena in his career, will also drive a C3 Rally2, with the Sports and You team.

Toyota: Pajari to lead the project

Toyota will debut in the category in 2024 with the new GR Yaris Rally2. Currently, three drivers have announced their participation in the 2024 championship: Sami Pajari with the Printsport Racing team, Jan Solans with the Teo Martín Motorsport team and Roope Korhonen with Team Rautio Motorsport. Let us also remember that Bryan Bouffier will participate in the Monte-Carlo Rally on board the Japanese car, but the latter specified to our colleagues at France Bleu that he was not committing full-time to the WRC2 championship.

Hyundai: Ciamin there

At Hyundai, alone Nicolas Ciamin confirmed his presence for the 2024 season in order to compete for the WRC2 title. The Frenchman will first participate in the Monte-Carlo Rally and the Croatian Rally before defining his full calendar, with the 2C Competition team. The Korean manufacturer should also be represented by Emil Lindholm this year: the Finn, who joined Hyundai in 2023 with the aim of moving up to Rally1, should try to recover the WRC2 title, which was crowned in 2022.

Ford: Creighton alone on board?

For a long time, no one had confirmed its presence for the WRC2 championship with the Ford Fiesta Rally2, driven last year by Adrien fourmaux and Grégoire Munster in particular. This is now done, since M-Sport has announced promoting 2023 JWRC champion William Creighton, in the category. The Irishman will contest a minimum of seven rounds in 2024 and will compete for the title with the British-American mount, supported by M-Sport Poland and the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy.

WRC2 – The 2024 grid

Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 : Gus Greensmith – Oliver Solberg – Pierre-Louis Loubet – Roberto Daprà
Citroën C3 Rally2 : Yohan Rossel – Nikolay Gryazin – Marco Bulacia
Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 : Sami Pajari – Jan Solans – Roope Korhonen
Hyundai i20 N Rally2 : Emil Lindholm – Nicolas Ciamin
Ford Fiesta Rally2 : William Creighton

(article updated January 19, 2024)

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