Being the reigning world champions, Citroen was granted the first two numbers in the championship – 1 and 2 – while Ford received the No 3&4 competition numbers for the season. Five-time champion Sebastien Loeb will have the No 1 number on his car for the entire duration of the season, while last year's runner-up Mikko Hirvonen will undergo the same procedure with his No 3 entry.
As far as the two drivers' teammates are concerned, Dani Sordo (Citroen) and Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford) will initially be allocated the No 2 and No 4 entries respectively. However, throughout the WRC events this season, the two will switch competition numbers depending on their overall position in the drivers' standings.
The former M2 competition – now known as the 8-event Manufacturer Team classification – currently includes 2 teams: the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team and the new Citroen Junior Team (both second teams for the championship's leading manufacturers Ford and Citroen). Although they announced fielding more than 2 cars per event in 2008, the two teams were granted the No 5&6 (Stobart) and 7&8 (Citroen Junior) entries for the upcoming season.
The WRC officials are expecting two other entries for the new season – namely the Adapta World Rally Team and the Munchi’s World Rally Team – as the subscription period will end on March 1st. The two outfits are yet to name their driver's lineup or reveal their WRC programme for 2009.
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