2022 Monte Carlo Rally Odds: Who Will Win the Season Opener?

Image source: Bildagentur Kräling, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The 2022 World Rally Championship starts this weekend with the Monte Carlo Rally held between 20-23 January. Sebastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia are the defending champions, but Ogier will race along with a new co-driver this season. The French 8-time champion is one of the top favorites to win on home soil according to the 2022 Monte Carlo Rally odds. 

This is the 90th season of the World Rally Championship, which will begin this weekend at the magnificent location of Monte Carlo. This year the race will start from the Casino Square in Monaco instead of the usual starting point of Gap in the Alps. 95% of the route has been modified as well compared to the previous versions. Just like the racing cars, which are hybrid now and run on 100% sustainable fuel. So even the more successful drivers like Sebastien Ogier will face new challenges. Ogier won the world title for the eighth time last season, but he will race only on selected races this season along with a new co-driver, Benjamin Veillas. Nine-time world champion Sebastien Loeb will also race in the season opener just like other top drivers. Including last year’s runner-up, British driver Elfyn Evans and Finnish talent Kalle Rovanpera. 

2022 Monte Carlo Rally Odds Mention Several Favorites

Sebastien Ogier has won the Monte Carlo Rally for a record eight times including last year’s race. No wonder he is one of the top favorites of online sportsbooks in France with the odds of 4.20. But as we mentioned, this year the race has a brand new route, featuring 17 special stages and covering a total distance of 296km. The cars have gone through a huge change as well and become hybrid. In addition, Ogier will drive the third car of Toyota along with a new co-driver following Julien Ingrassia’s retirement. Still, Ogier is the most successful driver at this race and a huge favorite. 

The 2022 Monte Carlo Rally odds offer the same chances, the odds of 4.20 for the victory of last year’s runner-up, Elfyn Evans. The Toyota driver finished on the podium in the last two years in Monte Carlo. He can get his first win now which would be also his sixth WRC victory in his career. As the number one driver for Toyota, Evans will drive the world champion car along with his co-driver, Scott Martin. Their teammates, Finnish Kalle Rovanpera follows the main favorites closely with the odds of 4.33. The 21-year-old driver got his first win in the category last season and finished fourth in the overall standings. Snowier surface might have favored him more, but Rovanpera can still cross the finish line first at the weekend. 

Can Loeb return with a victory?

Hyundai driver Ott Tanak has the odds of 4.50 on bet365 to win the first race of the new season. The 2019 world champion only finished fifth in 2021 in a disappointing year. He also had to retire in Monte Carlo in the last season. But Tanak got three podium finishes from previous years, making him another favorite. Along with his teammate, Thierry Neuville who won the race here in 2020. The Belgian driver is still chasing his first world title after finishing as a runner-up five times already. Now with the retirement of the French classics, it might be finally his season.

But he would need to perform well from the beginning in order to get the title. Neuville lives in Monaco so it will be almost a home race for him with the odds of 5.00. The most successful driver of the sport, nine-time champion Sebastien Loeb will also compete in some of the races. Like in Monte Carlo where he has won seven times so far. Now Loeb drives for M-Sport Ford along with a new co-driver, Isabelle Galmiche. It will be interesting to see how he could regenerate after the Dakar rally which finished only last week. Anyway, online gambling sites in France offer the odds of 11.00 for his victory. 

Click here to visit the bet365 Sportsbook