The fight to topple Sebastian Vettel from his current number one status in the Castrol EDGE Rankings begins in earnest this week as the World Rally Championship welcomes the Monte Carlo Rally back into its fold after a four year absence.
Leading the charge is Sebastien Loeb, a record eight-time champion in the WRC and a five-time winner of the world famous race. The Frenchman moved up to third in the Rankings, and came within 3,000 points of displacing Vettel at the top, following last year’s WRC season-opener in Sweden.
This year however, Loeb will start his bid for a ninth crown with his position as the top-ranked rally driver under threat. Crashes in Australia and Great Britain – and a mechanical retirement in his home rally of France – dropped him to an all-time low of ninth in the Rankings at the end of 2011.
That puts him within reach of his new stable-mate and long-term rival Mikko Hirvonen (13) and Castrol EDGE backed Ford World Rally Team driver Jari-Matti Latvala (17).
Hirvonen and Latvala are the drivers hardest on Loeb’s heels. The former’s switch from Ford to Citroen, the home of his long-term rival Loeb, could prove a critical factor in the outcome of the 2012 championship. The Finn will not only need to adapt to new machinery but also to a new team – and he will need to do so quickly if he is to maintain a title challenge.
Latvala meanwhile could profit from Hirvonen’s departure from Ford, having aided his team-mate’s title bid at the end of 2011. Both drivers face a difficult start to their bid to overhaul Loeb in the Rankings however. While Loeb finished sixth in the 2011 Rally Sweden – the round which will be dropped under the rollover system – Hirvonen won and Latvala finished third, meaning the Frenchman stakes the lowest total of all three heading into Monte Carlo.
He also stakes a lower total than Petter Solberg, who could be this year’s surprise package after signing to partner Latvala at Ford. A troubled end to 2011 caused Solberg to slide down to 66th in the Rankings, his lowest position for more than a year. The 37-year-old Norwegian could therefore make significant progress as the season progresses, and could well pass his current all-time high of 18th.
Whether any of the WRC’s finest can challenge Vettel, however, remains a different proposition. If the German can match his 2011 form he could prove – as he did last year – to simply be unstoppable. Should such form slide, however, he will find a queue of drivers hoping to end his 22-month spell at the top of the Castrol EDGE Rankings.