
Drivers face marathon day in Sardinia
Italy’s round features daunting 200km leg
Eighth in the rally in 2013 and sixth last year, the 29-year-old (pictured above) is the top seeded local driver on the entry list and joins a strong line-up of 14 World Rally Car crews. Like in 2014, Guerra will drive a Ford Fiesta RS WRC but this year it will be run by Motorsport Italia and not M-Sport.
Elsewhere, the manufacturer teams will each field their regular drivers, with Dani Sordo resuming his position at Hyundai after missing Rally Sweden to recover from a mountain biking accident. One withdrawal is Henning Solberg, who was listed as an entry for the Adapta Motorsport team but will not compete.
Twelve drivers have entered the WRC 2 support category, including several making their first appearance of the season.
Topping the list is 2014 champion Nasser Al Attiyah, who will begin his title defence alongside new co-driver Matthieu Baumel. He will go up against tough opposition including Stephane Lefebvre, winner of this year’s opening round in Monte-Carlo, and Jari Ketomaa, who won the most recent round in Sweden.
Also making his season debut in WRC 2 is Yurii Protasov. The Ukrainian was the WRC 2 class winner in Mexico last year and will switch to a Fiesta RRC after two events in World Rally Cars. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari, who finished runner-up to Robert Kubica in the 2013 title race, lines up in a Fiesta RRC, while Peru’s Nicolas Fuchs will drive a Fiesta R5.
The third round of the WRC, and the first gravel round of the year, is based in Leon from 5 - 8 March.