Jan 24 (Reuters) – Eight-times world rally champion Sebastien Ogier is still hungry for success, even as a Toyota part-timer, as he starts a new season chasing a record-extending 10th Monte Carlo Rally win this weekend.<\/p>\n
The oldest and most evocative round of the championship is based in the south-eastern town of Gap, the 40-year-old French driver’s birthplace, and he knows the treacherous mountain roads as well as anyone.<\/p>\n
“Numbers are never my main motivation, but if I could get a 10th win on this event it would be something very special,” last year’s winner said in the build-up to an asphalt rally notorious for ice and snow.<\/p>\n
“I think it\u00b4s the rally that you need to respect more than any other as the conditions can be so challenging, which means that nothing is guaranteed.”<\/p>\n
Team mate and reigning champion Kalle Rovanpera is taking time out this season, driving selected events, with Welshman Elfyn Evans Toyota’s main title contender after finishing overall runner-up three times in the past four years.<\/p>\n
Evans has yet to win in Monte Carlo, finishing second in 2021.<\/strong><\/u><\/p>\n Estonia’s Ott Tanak, returning to Hyundai after a year away at M-Sport Ford, led the way in Wednesday’s short and dry shakedown ahead of Evans and real casino online for real money<\/a> Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville with Ogier fourth.<\/p>\n “It\u00b4s always a difficult challenge,” commented Tanak. “Even if I’ve been here before, it’s still a little bit unknown.”<\/p>\n The big change in the championship for this season is a new scoring system aimed at providing more excitement on the final day.<\/p>\n Points will now be allocated at the end of Saturday’s action on a scale of 18-15-13-10-8-6-4-3-2-1 and providing the crews complete the rally on Sunday, with the final day providing more points on a 7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.<\/p>\n The final Power Stage offers up to a further five bonus points.<\/u><\/i><\/p>\n The rally proper starts with two evening stages on Thursday, with three stages run twice each on Friday and again on Saturday before the finish on Sunday and official prize-giving in Monaco’s Casino<\/a> Square. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Pritha Sarkar)<\/p>\n