There are no Finnish drivers in the top class for the Rally Poland. As anticipated, both Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä and Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi are skipping the fast gravel rally in Poland.
Among Toyota’s part-time drivers, Sebastien Ogier will be competing in his fifth WRC rally of the season in Poland. Hyundai’s third car will be driven by Andreas Mikkelsen, who won in Poland in 2016.
The Hyundai team also includes another Rally Poland winner, as Thierry Neuville took the top spot in 2017, the last time WRC points were contested in Poland. Ott Tänak, driving for Hyundai this year, has also had success on Poland’s gravel stages, having reached the podium twice with Ford in the 2015-16 seasons.
Alongside Ogier, Toyota’s Rally1 cars will be driven by Takamoto Katsuta and Elfyn Evans. M-Sport Ford will have three cars on the line for the first time in a while, with Adrien Fourmaux, Gregoire Munster, and Latvian prospect Martins Sesks. However, Sesks, who celebrated an ERC win in Poland last year, will not have a hybrid unit in his car.
A total of 44 crews have registered for the Rally Poland, with nine Rally1 cars. There are 23 Rally2 cars on the entry list. Among those competing for WRC2 points are Oliver Solberg, Sami Pajari, Nikolay Gryazin, Gus Greensmith, Pierre-Louis Loubet, and Teemu Suninen.
The Rally Poland kicks off on Thursday, June 27th, with a shakedown stage. The main competition starts the same evening with the traditional Mikolajki super special stage. The rally features a total of 19 special stages, covering a distance of 304 kilometers.