19 WRCars for Monte Carlo

Nineteen of the 49 drivers in next year's Monte Carlo Rally (the first round of the WRC) will be in World Rally Cars.

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, 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, 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.

Leading entries are:

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

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