Forty-three crews are gearing up to do battle on Rally of Turkey, round four of the FIA World Rally Championship.
Eleven World Rally Cars, led by the Citroen C4 of Sebastien Loeb, head the entry as Turkey returns to the WRC schedule for the first time since 2008.
Loeb, the winner of the last two WRC events, will be joined, as ever, by long-term co-driver Daniel Elena in the French Citroen Total World Rally Team. The Franco-Monegasque pairing have now won 56 of the 128 world championship rallies they have started.
Joining them in the factory Citroen squad will be Spaniards Dani Sordo and Marc Marti, currently sixth in the standings.
Two further C4 WRCs will be entered under the Citroen Junior Team banner for Sebastien Ogier and ex-Formula One world champion Kimi Raikkonen, while Norwegian Petter Solberg will campaign a privately-entered C4 alongside British navigator Phil Mills.
Ford’s challenge is fronted by Finns Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala, currently third and second in the title race following round three in Jordan.
Their Ford Focus RS WRC 09s are prepared by works Ford team M-Sport, which also runs the sister machines of Matthew Wilson, Henning Solberg, Federico Villagra and Ken Block. As ever, American Block will carry his favoured number 43 on the side of his Focus.
The FIA Junior World Rally Championship gets underway in Turkey with eight young stars of the future lining up to do battle in their two-wheel drive machines. Germany’s Aaron Burkart, third in last year’s standings, heads the list in his Suzuki Sport Europe-run Swift Super 1600. He is likely to enjoy a close fight with Dutchman Kevin Abbring and Bulgaria’s Todor Slavov, who will both pilot Renault Clio R3s.
Turkey also marks the first event of the season for the five Pirelli Star Drivers, Nick Georgiou, Peter Horsey, Hayden Padden, Alex Raschi and Ott Tanak. They will use identical Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution Xs as they begin their six-event campaign.
A cluster of Super 2000 machines will also be taking part in Turkey with Istanbul-based Burcu Cetinkaya, a TV presenter and former model, expected to create a flurry of interest in her Peugeot 207. The host nation will also be represented in the class by Yagiz Avci, who will drive a Ford Fiesta S2000. Avci finished second overall on this event last year, when it ran as the Istanbul Rally.
Follow this link to see the complete entry list.
Source: WRC
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