Monte Carlo Rally 20-22 January 2017

The much-anticipated entry list for the Monte Carlo Rally has been published and confirms the worse kept secret that Elfyn Evans will drive for the M-Sport World Rally Team in the opening WRC event in the number three Ford Fiesta WRC; on DMACK tyres, alongside team-mates Sebastien Ogier and Ott Tanak who will run on Michelin. Is this the highest position a Welshman has ever started the iconic Monte Carlo Rally?

Ogier and co-driver Julien Ingrassia are listed on the entry at number one, interestingly, the first time an M-Sport car has started the season in that position. Hayden Paddon, Thierry Neuville and Dani Sordo drive the Hyundai i20 Coupe WRCs numbered four, five and six and under the new regulations, the top two finishers from those three registered drivers can score manufacturer points.

Citroen and Toyota field two 2017 cars each, with Kris Meeke and Stephane Lefebvre taking the wheel of C3 WRCs and Jari-Matti Latvala and Finnish countryman Juho Hanninen drive Toyota Yaris WRCs. Irishman Craig Breen will tackle the season opener in a 2016-spec DS 3 WRC run by the Citroen Total Abu Dhabi Team and is expected to make his debut in the 2017 car at next month's Rally Sweden.

Skoda is back in the WRC2 series, with Andreas Mikkelsen leading its attack, with Jan Kopecky as his team-mate in the second factory Fabia R5. Eric Camilli is demoted to a Fiesta R5, confirmed by M-Sports WRC2 entry for the Frenchman on the Monaco and Gap-based rally.

Greek driver Jourdan Serderidis is the only FIA WRC Trophy entrant in a DS 3 WRC and this year's FIA R-GT Cup is boosted by three Fiat 124 entries, including one from former Monte winner Francois Delecour whos main class rival will be the Porsche 911 of race driver Romain Dumas.

Monte Carlo Rally leading entries

1 Sebastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia Ford Fiesta WRC
2 Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja Ford Fiesta WRC
3 Elfyn Evans/Dan Barritt Ford Fiesta WRC
4 Hayden Paddon/John Kennard Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
5 Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
6 Dani Sordo/Marc Marti Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
7 Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle Citroen C3 WRC
8 Stephane Lefebvre/Gabin Moreau Citroen C3 WRC
10 Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila Toyota Yaris WRC
11 Juho Hanninen/Kaj Lindstrom Toyota Yaris WRC
12 Craig Breen/Scott Martin DS3 WRC

3rd January, 2017