The 29-year-old Rossel has consistently delivered strong results in the WRC2 category, particularly on tarmac and slower gravel rallies. Despite holding a WRC3 title from 2021 and a WRC2 bronze medal a few years later, opportunities at the top level have remained out of reach.
After the 2024 season, Rossel’s name came up as a potential Rally1 driver when it was revealed that compatriot Adrien Fourmaux was moving from M-Sport Ford to Hyundai. However, M-Sport is well-known for requiring drivers with deep pockets, and once again, Rossel’s dream remained unfulfilled.
“It (ruomours) made me smile quite a bit. The only contact I had with them was to find out how much I could put in. The entry ticket was €500,000 to €600,000, and that was only for a partial program. The discussions for 2025 didn’t really get off the ground in the end,” Rossel said, referencing the M-Sport rumours in an interview with the French site Rallye-Sport.
“On the other hand, it’s nice to see that people are talking about me in Rally1, because it shows that my performances are recognised and that it’s in everyone’s logic to see me move up to this category. But the WRC is in a pretty catastrophic situation.”
Rossel pointed out the situation of his former competitor Andreas Mikkelsen. The Norwegian returned this year to share Hyundai’s third car in WRC but struggled to make an impact despite being a two-time WRC2 champion.
“There are very few seats, and what’s more, the transition from Rally2 to Rally1 seems very complicated. And as you have very few tests, it doesn’t help. We saw that with Mikkelsen. He’s not an (Sebastien) Ogier or a (Sebastien) Loeb of course, but he’s still a very good driver,” Rossel noted.
“Besides that, WRC2 is growing enormously and the budgets have exploded. The situation with Stellantis suits me perfectly and we’ll have an additional challenge this year with the new tyres. I know that I can still improve.”
Rossel’s rally programme for the upcoming season won’t differ much from previous years, as he plans to stick to familiar territory.
“My programme will be broadly the same as in 2024 with the Canaries added. So Monte Carlo, Canaries, Portugal, Sardinia and Greece. We will then take stock to know where to ride, maybe Paraguay or Chile,” Rossel revealed.
“I also want to do Finland, because if you want to be world champion one day, you have to be able to ride with the best there. I have given myself three years to succeed in this rally and I hope that will be the case. I would also like to set up a little something for Sweden to do the reconnaissance,” Rossel added.
