Sébastien Ogier will make his first start since his record-extending 10th Monte Carlo Rally win at next month’s Rally Islas Canarias.
A brand-new event on the World Rally Championship, the Gran Canaria-based event is round four of the 2025 season, running on April 24-27.
Ogier and co-driver Vincent Landais missed the previous two events in Sweden and Kenya, but are still fourth in the world championship standings following their 33-point haul at the Monte.
The eight-time champion is part of a five-strong Toyota lineup for round four, joining championship leader Elfyn Evans, two-time champion Kalle Rovanperä, Takamoto Katsuta – who’ll not score manufacturer points – and Sami Pajari who’ll represent the TGR WRT 2 outfit.
Hyundai runs an unchanged lineup of reigning world champion Thierry Neuville, 2019 champion Ott Tänak and Adrien Fourmaux – the only Rally1 driver to have previously won Rally Islas Canarias.
M-Sport Ford will field just two cars for Grégoire Munster and Josh McErlean, with local driver José Antonio Suárez’s attempt to drive a Ford Puma Rally1 not proving fruitful.
Over 30 drivers will battle for WRC2 honors, with Yohan Rossel and his brother Léo topping the entry behind the unregistered Oliver Solberg.
Several drivers will start their seasons in the Canaries, including 2022 champion Emil Lindholm (back in a Škoda after a spell in a Hyundai), Fabio Schwarz (Toyota), Mathieu Franceschi (Toyota) and Alejandro Cachón (Toyota), while other notable names include 2022 ERC champion Efrén Llarena (Citroën) and island local Luis Monzón (Citroën) among a hoard of competitive Spaniards.
In total, 63 crews will take the start of the event.
