73 entrants for the 56th RallyRACC, 11th and penultimate round of the FIA WRC

23/09/2021

A total of 73 crews appear on the official entry list for the 56^th RallyRACC Catalunya-COSTA DAURADA, Rally de España 2021, 11^thand penultimate round of the FIA World Rally Championship. After a generally difficult 2020 season for motorsport, the World Rally Championship is showing great sporting health as shown by this excellent entry. And all of this with the championship just three races away from its conclusion.

The weekend of 1-4 October will see the second to last round of the WRC, the second race this year in Finland, which will be followed by the Spanish race in Salou, at the Costa Daurada and in the PortAventura World theme park from 14-17 October.

Although current leader Sébastien Ogier has a good lead over his pursuers, it should not be forgotten that so far there have been five different winners in the nine races held: Ogier, Elfyn Evans and Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota Yaris WRC), and Thierry Neuville and Ott Tänak (Hyundai i20 Coupé WRC), so that anything is possible. Meanwhile, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT and Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT are also in a tight duel for the manufacturers' title, which will certainly not be decided until the end of the season.

The superb entry for the Spanish event is headed by 12 RC1-WRC cars, 9 of them scoring points for the manufacturers' championship: 5 Hyundai i20 Coupé WRC, 4 Toyota Yaris WRC and 3 Ford Fiesta WRC. The current world championship leading crew, Sébastien Ogier-Julien Ingrassia (Toyota), heads the list in which none of the favourites are missing, including the Spanish crew formed by Dani Sordo-Cándido Carrera (Hyundai).

The RC2-Rally2 class boasts an extraordinary 31 cars, eight of them participating in the WRC2 section. A handful of Spanish teams are entered with these vehicles, with two of them able to compete with the world championship protagonists: the current Spanish Champion Pepe López-Borja Odriozola (Skoda Fabia Evo) and the former Junior World Champion, Jan Solans-Rodrigo Sanjuan (Citroën C3).

As for the RC4-Rally 4 vehicles, 24 units are registered, 6 of them participating in the JWRC and another 15 in the Peugeot Rally Cup Ibérica and Beca Rallye Team Spain Júnior, a category full of Spanish crews. There is a large Spanish representation in the 56 RallyRACC, 21 to be precise, in addition to two Spanish co-drivers who will be taking part with foreign drivers.

To this magnificent list we must add another 15 crews participating in the Suzuki Swift Cup, which due to technical regulations cannot be included in the published list and will be included in a complementary list to be published shortly.