Top 10 best WRC drivers

[Danny0405]

Hello,
As we will enter a 2-month break in WRC, I would be interested to see opinions from the forum on the best drivers all-time in WRC (and not a WRC.com polls). No necessity to rank them if you don’t want to but it can be interesting to match the opinions.

My personal top10 (tough decision for 1-2, 3-4, 6-8 and for sure 10th):

1. Loeb, difficult to decide with Ogier but I see him as a more «*pure*» rally driver than Ogier; maybe last Monte Carlo has an influence. But clearly a questionable choice.

2. Ogier, they are almost 1-2 in all records rankings in WRC, he wins with multiple brands (which reduces a little Kankkunen and Sainz performance)

3. Kankkunen, tough call with Sainz as they both have quite a lengthy career (14 years between first and last win) and successes with multiple manufacturers. I would put the Finnish ahead but I don’t know really why; maybe more efficiency in title contention.

4. Sainz for the reason explain ahead. Also a big versatility with the grounds he took his win. Could have been higher but bad luck and bad career choices limits his record (like Alonso in F1 from a certain perspective).

5. Makinen, the definition of a winner in his era; but Loeb and Ogier did even better. And his career at the highest level was a little short compared with Kankkunen and Sainz.

6. McRae, close call again with 7th and 8th. It’s always difficult to separate the hype from the real level (a little like Jonah Lomu in rugby, he was a little overrated at an era where the media star system has skyrocketed). But still, he was a big driver, able of everything.

7. Gronholm, Loeb’s main competitor. His career at high-level was a little short (especially because he obtains a top job quite late) to be higher.

8. Auriol; Quite underrated driver for me, 20 wins against some of the best drivers all-time and quite a long span (13 years between 1st and last win and with 4 brands even if he was often in the best car). Probably that his difficult period after Toyota’s disqualification in 1995 has not helped his legacy.

9. Röhrl, quite a strange character but a great driver, his Monte Carlo performances were among the best. Not versatile enough to be higher in my opinion even if it was clearly less common in his era to have the versatility of the current drivers (and he was not awful for non-fast gravel rallies). A little short in terms of time span at the highest level also.

10. Alen, always difficult to choose a last one (Mikkola was my main competitor). His large time span at a good level (19 years between 1st and last Finland podium) and his versatility compared with others was the main factor to pick him.

Question mark on Richard Burns: wouldn’t have been top 3 I think but without what we know, he could have been on top 10.