There is only one strict rule in the selection of numbers: only the current champion can choose number 1. However, the champion is not required to compete with number 1 – for example, Kalle Rovanperä has retained his number 69 even as the world champion.
But how did the drivers come up with their numbers? Star drivers explain the stories behind their numbers in a video published on the official YouTube channel of the WRC, which you can watch below.
Rovanperä debuted in the main class with Toyota in the 2020 season. The Finnish driver chose number 69, which attracted a lot of attention.
Rovanperä has previously offered an explanation for the number, saying that it looks the same even when the car is upside down. However, in a recent video, he provides another explanation.
“There are many reasons why I chose 69. One of them was that my dad was driving rallycross with number 69 and we still have the crashed door in our garage with the number 69 on it. I always saw it when I was smaller, and then when I had to choose the number, it was clear I would take that one,” Rovanperä explains.
“And also, it’s a good one; everybody remembers that one,” the champion smiles.
Eight-time world champion Sebastien Ogier competes with number 17. There is also a family story behind this number.
“For me, there was only one person in motorsport in my family when I was a kid. It was my uncle. He was doing autocross racing with number 17. So it has always been a number I liked, and I was also born on the 17th of December. So it was a simple choice,” who got into motorsport thanks to his uncle who passed away earlier this year.
For Hyundai’s Ott Tänak, number 8 came about somewhat by chance. Tänak moved to Toyota for the 2018 season, and the number 8 was put on his car door.
“Next year we got the opportunity to choose, and as my number before was 8, we continued as eight. I was told it’s kind of a lucky number in some places and for me also kind of infinity. Somehow it felt good.”
Others have chosen their current numbers for practical reasons.
“33 is quite simple – it’s ‘EE’ backwards. Not very creative, but that was the best I could come up with,” Toyota driver Elfyn Evans laughs.
“Number 4 reminds me a lot of the character ‘A,’ and since my surname has an ‘A,’ we invented the hashtag ‘L4PPI.’ That’s the only reason actually why we chose four,” reveals Hyundai driver Esapekka Lappi.
Watch the video below where the drivers share the stories behind their numbers.
