The new year is upon us, which means a new World Rally Championship season is upon us. Below I will cover every team’s driver lineup for the 2023 WRC season.
Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team
Kalle Rovanperä
Kalle Rovanperä will once again drive full-time for the Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team. This comes after Rovanperä won the 2022 Drivers Championship to become the youngest world rally champion ever. This will be Rovanperä’s fourth season in the WRC, all of which have been with Toyota.
Elfyn Evans
Eflyn Evans will once again join the Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team as a full-time driver in his 10th WRC season. This will be Evans’ fourth season with Toyota after joining them in 2020. Evans’ move to Toyota came after six full seasons and one part-time season with M-Sport. Evans’ would place second in Portugal, Kenya, Belgium and Estonia in 2022. Evans’ last WRC win would come at the 2021 running of Rally Finland.
Sebastien Ogier
Sebastien Ogier will once again join the Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team as a part-time driver. Ogier joined Toyota at the start of the 2020 season. This came after a departure from Citroen. Ogier would go on to win his seventh and eighth Drivers title with Toyota, before switching to a part-time role last season. Ogier will share the third Toyota Yaris Hybrid with Toyota’s rising star Takamoto Katsuta.
Takamoto Katsuta
Takamoto Katusa will be promoted to the Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team this season. This comes after Katsuta’s superb performance in 2022 for the Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team Next Generation. This will be Katsuta’s fourth season in the WRC after joining Toyota in 2020. Katsuta will share the third Toyota Yaris with Sebastien Ogier. However, Katsuta will race the full WRC season, splitting time between the third and fourth Toyota. Katsuta was consistently in the top five in 2022, finishing 6 of the 13 events in the top five. Along with finishing all but one event in the top 10.
Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team
Thierry Neuville
Thierry Neuville will take sole possession of the number-one driver role at Hyundai this season. After having to battle with Ott Tänak for the honours last season. Neuville will look to improve on his third-place finish last season and potentially take home his first driver’s championship.
Esapekka Lappi
Esapekka Lappi will join Hyundai after departing Toyota this off-season. Lappi will join Hyundai as the second full-time driver behind Thierry Neuville. Last season Lappi shared Toyota’s third car with Sebastien Ogier. Meaning Lappi would drive at seven events. Lappi’s highest finish last season came at Rally Sweden where he finished third overall.
Dani Sordo
Dani Sordo will once again join the Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team as a part-time driver. Sordo has been a driver for Hyundai since the 2014 season. With some seasons being full-time while others he was only a part-time driver. His highest finish with Hyundai came in 2016 when he finished fifth in the championship. Sordo gives Hyundai a reliable driver to gain Manufacture points. As well as a driver that can create a buffer between Neuville and other championship competitors.
Craig Breen
Craig Breen will return to the Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally team after a disastrous 2022 season with M-Sport. Breen left Hyundai at the end of the 2021 season to join M-Sport as their full-time number-one driver. Unfortunately, Breen wouldn’t be able to keep up with Toyota or Hyundai and only finished top five four times. Breen’s exit from M-Sport was expected after he would crash out of five of the final seven events. Breen will only be a part-time driver for Hyundai. As he will share the third Hyundai i20 Hybrid with Dani Sordo.
M-Sport Ford World Rally Team
Ott Tänak
Ott Tänak was the biggest free agent this off-season. This came after Tänak’s departure from Hyundai at the end of Rally Japan. There was lots of speculation on where Tänak would race in the 2023 season, or if he would race at all. But at the end of it all Tänak chose to go back to the place it all started, the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team. The team that first signed him to a WRC deal in 2012. Tänak would remain with M-Sport until the end of the season when he was subsequently let go. Tänak would rejoin the WRC in 2014 and he would once again drive an M-Sport-built Fiesta. This time it was run under DMack, however. Tänak would alternate between M-Sport and DMack until the end of the 2017 season. When he left M-Sport to join Toyota.
Tänak joining M-Sport now gives M-Sport a full-time top-tier driver to chase a driver’s championship. As well as a driver who can push the Puma Rally1 to its limit. This is something Sebastien Loeb was able to do when he raced the car at select events.
Pierre-Louis Loubet
Pierre-Louis Loubet will join Tänak as a full-time driver at M-Sport this season. Loubet joined M-Sport for the 2022 season to race at select events. Loubet’s highest finish came at EKO Acropolis Rally Greece and Rally Italia Sardegna where he placed fourth in both events. This will be Loubet’s first full World Rally Championship season. As he has previously raced as a part-time driver for 2C Competition and M-Sport.
My name is Joe Moore. I am a writer for Belly Up Hockey, Belly Up Racing, and Belly Up Sports. You can find me on Twitter.
