As the 2017 WRC season kicks off this weekend, we have two WRC's headline category two months ago, heading the WRC2 field in Monte-Carlo.

Andreas Mikkelsen won November’s season finale outright in Australia to finish third in the final standings. But, in a bizarre twist of circumstances, he starts the four-day encounter in the French Alps as favourite to win the principal support category.

Volkswagen’s unexpected withdrawal from the WRC left Mikkelsen without a full-time drive for 2017. Instead the Norwegian will make a guest appearance in a Fabia R5 for Skoda Motorsport, the team for whom he won the Intercontinental Rally Challenge in 2011 and 2012.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been in the car but we had some time in it before Christmas and also two days testing last week. Hopefully it won’t take too long before I find the new rhythm. We’ve worked hard with our preparations so I feel we are ready,” said Mikkelsen.

Returning to WRC 2 after a year in the top flight is Eric Camilli. After a disappointing debut World Rally Car season with M-Sport, the Frenchman nevertheless hoped to retain his seat. However, the British team’s signing of Sébastien Ogier ended that chance and he is back in a Ford Fiesta R5.

Skoda also fields Czech champion and asphalt expert Jan Kopecký and Pontus Tidemand, who is not eligible for points. All three Fabias will be adorned with the same blue and red stripes (main picture) that Václav Blahna’s Skoda 130 RS carried when he won the class here 40 years ago.

Other leading contenders include French quartet Bryan Bouffier (Fiesta R5), who won the rally outright in 2011, Quentin Gilbert, who has switched from a Citroën DS 3 R5 to a Fiesta, Yoann Bonato (DS 3 R5) and Quentin Giordano (Peugeot 208 R5).

German Armin Kremer (Fabia R5) finished second here last year and 2016 Italian champion Giandomenico Basso (Fiesta R5) makes his WRC 2 debut on only his third WRC start in more than 12 years.

Citroen Racing boss Yve Matton plans different tactics for his drivers Kris Meeke and Stephane Lefebvre, as the french manufacturer comes back to full WRC season at Rallye Monte-Carlo this week.

After presiding over a year’s sabbatical to develop Citroën’s new C3 World Rally Car to 2017’s exciting new regulations, team principal Matton will blend the experience of three-time WRC event winner Meeke with the less experienced Lefebvre on the car’s debut.
The C3 has impressed in testing and while Matton stopped short of targeting a debut victory for Meeke, who led last season before retiring with a mechanical problem, he clearly expects the Northern Ireland driver to be challenging at the front.
“Our crews will have two different approaches,” he said. “Kris showed last year that he has the ability to win this rally. But of course, we need to differentiate between driving throughout a day on a test run and completing a four-day rally with only two passes on the stages in recce.
“We’ll need to be defensive at the start of the race, to see where the competition lies and then look ahead to the rest of the rally.”
Lefebvre finished a career-best fifth in 2016 but Matton foresees a more measured approach for the 24-year-old Frenchman.
“It will be different for Stéphane. We want to take him to a level where he can challenge for race wins. But before that, there will still be a period of learning, especially in the first half of the season.
“He needs to aim for a points finish and ensure he makes it to the end. We only have two cars here, which means that there’s no backup option or safety net,” added Matton.
Craig Breen drives a 2016-specification DS 3 WRC and while he can score driver points, he is not eligible for points in the manufacturers’ championship.

WRC defending world champion Sebastian Ogier sees the lack of seat time behind the wheel of the new Ford Fiesta would push him for a "pragmatic approach", in his bids to secure his fourth consecutive Rallye Monte-Carlo victory this week.

The Frenchman has won the rally for the last three years in a Volkswagen Polo R but faces a new challenge after Volkswagen's exit prompted a last-minute switch to the M-Sport squad.

Just five weeks after the move was confirmed, Ogier acknowledged that there was a lot to take in.

“It’s a new season in every sense of the word – a new era, a new car and a new team," he explained.

"We all know that experience is an important factor in rallying and it would have been nice to have had more time with the team, but we have learnt a lot over the past month."

“Over the years, I have learnt to be pragmatic in my approach and to focus on the job in hand. That is exactly what we plan to do this week. We’ve not had a lot of preparation, but we go to this first event determined to do our best."

Ogier has had little opportunity to test M-Sport's 2017-spec Fiesta since his arrival at the team but hopes his successful record on the wintry asphalt event will stand him in good stead.

“We had two days of testing in typical Monte conditions last week and we all know the secret to doing well at this event – it’s all about making the right tyre choice, anticipating the conditions and judging the grip levels. If we can do all of that whilst continuing to grow as a team then I think we could be in a good position," he said.

“I’ve had a lot of success at Rallye Monte-Carlo, but I never fail to feel humbled in the face of such a historic and challenging event. It is an event like no other, and if you do well there then you know that you have delivered your best.”

Team boss Malcolm Wilson agreed that Ogier's late arrival had left him little time to get used to the car - but warned against writing him off.

Wilson said: “You always want more time, but in our case that is especially true. Sébastien is a class-act, but with so little seat time in the Fiesta we have to admit that he will be starting at a disadvantage. That said, if anyone can succeed when the odds are stacked against them, it’s Sébastien Ogier."

TOMMI MÄKINEN HAS GIVEN TOYOTA'S NEW WRC TEAM THE TARGET OF GETTING TWO CARS TO THE FINISH OF ITS DEBUT EVENT, RALLYE MONTE-CARLO - AND DOING SO WITHIN 60 SECONDS OF THE WINNER.

Mäkinen, a four-time world champion and quadruple Rallye Monte-Carlo winner, will be in charge of Toyota's all-new squad when it makes it's eagerly anticipated WRC return next week (19 - 22 January) after a 17 year absence.

The team will field two Yaris WRC cars, built to this year's new technical regulations. At the wheel will be Toyota's long-time test driver Juho Hänninen and VW refugee Jari-Matti Latvala.

Mäkinen stressed that the team would prioritise car development and learning over outright results this year, and he wanted to collect maximum benefit from the event's wintry, mountain roads.

"Our target is to get good mileage from this rally, so I will be happy if we have both cars at the finish and arrive in the same minute as the leaders. That would be a fantastic way to continue our development, which is always an ongoing process," he said.

"The most important thing is to go to Monte-Carlo with a relaxed and open attitude. It depends so much on the conditions there and everything can change in a split second. It’s hard for me to say at the moment where we really are in terms of performance and it’s unlikely that Monte-Carlo will give us any definite answers either, as it is such a different rally to everywhere else."

Meanwhile, Latvala declared himself ready for his Toyota debut, despite joining the team only last month in the wake of Volkswagen's WRC exit.

He said: "Two months ago, I would never have imagined that I would be starting Rallye Monte-Carlo with Toyota, so that’s really exciting. In total I’ve done 12 days of testing: four days on snow, one day on gravel, and seven days on asphalt. That’s a good amount of testing and we’ve made some useful steps in that time.

"The car feels very strong but in terms of performance it’s difficult to say, as everyone comes with a new car. In any case this year is all about development: For Monte I would like to finish the rally well, then maybe towards the middle of the season we can start to think about podiums."