Betting Rally Croatia to Win: Drivers Betting Analysis

WRC Croatia Rally: We are 3 races into the new WRC season, and it is already clear that things are a little different

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Given that both Sebastian Ogier and Kalle Rovanpera are racing on a part-time basis, the door is open for other drivers to step in and make their mark. While it is certainly still very early in the new season, we are seeing some real parity, with 3 different drivers winning across the opening 3 races of the season. The question now is whether one driver can take a stranglehold on the proceedings and open up a lead at the top, or whether the championship race is going to be tight all the way to the end. The next opportunity to test out those theories comes this weekend with the running of the Croatia Rally. Let’s look at some of the full-time drivers that might be in the hunt in this one.

2024 WRC Rally Croatia Info

When: Thursday 18 to Sunday 21 April 2024, Round 4
Where: Croatia
Streaming/TV: rally.tv

Thierry Neuville

The Belgian driver saw his season get off to the best possible start with a win in the opening race of the season in Monte Carlo. While he hasn’t been awful in the 2 races since that one, he has not found his way back to the podium, although he did finish in the top 5 in both. Even though he did not finish in the top 3 in those last 2 races, he has picked up enough points to be on top of the driver standings, although his lead is a mere 6 points. He will be looking for better this weekend in Croatia, and I tend to think he will be in the mix. He had an awful run there in 2023, but he finished in the top 3 in the 2 years prior to that.

WRC Betting Thierry Neuville to Win
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Elfyn Evans

Evans has very much been knocking on the championship door for some time now, finishing 2nd overall in 3 of the last 4 WRC seasons. He is back in his familiar spot this time around, picking up 61 points through the opening 3 races of the season to be sitting just off the pace set by Neuville. He has been no worse than 4th through those opening races, landing on the podium twice during that stretch. There is reason to believe that he might do even better this weekend given that he came out on top in Croatia last season. Could this be the week where Evans achieves #1 status?

WRC Betting Elfyn Evans to Win
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Adrien Fourmaux

We are not quite ready to call this a 2-horse race for the championship just yet, but there is a gap opening up between the top 2 and the rest of the pack in the early going. Fourmaux is sitting in 3rd and is already 15 points behind Evans, although that is not an insurmountable gap. He does have back-to-back podium finishes coming into this one, so perhaps he can make an impact this weekend.

WRC Betting Adrien Fourmaux to Win
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Ott Tanak

Given that he won the 2019 WRC World Championship, we perhaps set the bat a little higher for Tanak. To this point in the season, he is not really coming anywhere near that bar, especially after a disastrous showing in Sweden. He has yet to land on the podium this season, but he did finish 2nd in each of the last 2 seasons in Croatia, so perhaps he can pick up some much-needed points with a strong showing this weekend.

WRC Betting Ott Tanak to Win
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2024 WRC Rally Calendar

Rally de Portugal	9-12 May	www.rally.tv
Rally Italia Sardegna	30 May-2 June	www.rally.tv
Rally Poland	27-30 June	www.rally.tv
Rally Latvia	18-21 July	www.rally.tv
Rally Finland	1-04 August	www.rally.tv
Rally Greece	5-08 September	www.rally.tv
Rally Chile	26-29 September	www.rally.tv
Central European Rally	31 October-3 November	www.rally.tv
Rally Japan	21-24 November	www.rally.tv

Top 3 Driver Standings
1	Thierry Neuville	67 points	Hyundai
2	Elfyn Evans	61 points	Toyota
3	Adrien Fourmaux	46 points	Ford

Manufacturer Standings
1	Toyota	131 points
2	Hyundai	127 points
3	Ford	72 points

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2023 Croatia Betting Analysis

This season in the WRC, we will have a total of 13 races to look forward to. There are already 3 of them in the books, with the battle for top spot just about as close as it can possibly be. The leader of the pack is a bit of an anomaly, which is something that we will get to in a moment. This weekend, we will see the action shift to Croatia for the 4th round of racing, with the chasing pack looking to make things even closer at the top, if that is even possible. This should be another exciting rally, and there are several drivers that need to be considered potential winners, so let’s take a look at who they might be to consider in your WRC Rally betting.

2023 Croatia Analysis and Preview | WRC Betting Picks

When: Sunday, April 23 at 9:00 am ET
Where: Zagreb, Croatia
Streaming: WRCplus.com / redbull.com

Sebastien Ogier

We said a moment ago that the leader was a bit of a strange one, although we also need to say that it is not totally unexpected. Ogier dominated this sport for close to a decade, winning the World Championship in 8 of 9 seasons before announcing his retirement after the 2021 season. He reversed that decision somewhat, running in a few races last year and still managing to finish 6th overall. He has plans to do the same this season, but even though he skipped the Swedish Rally, he is still on top after winning the 2 other races he started this season. He won the last time he raced in Croatia in 2021.

Thierry Neuville

There are few drivers who have been as consistent as Neuville during his time with the WRC. In fact, had it not been for the dominance of Ogier, the Belgian would probably have a championship or two of his own. As it is, he is still looking for that elusive first World Championship, but if Ogier does indeed skip races as planned, this might well be the year for Neuville. He has landed on the podium in all 3 races this season, and we can probably expect more of the same in Croatia, where he finished 3rd in each of his last 2 races there.

Kalle Rovanpera

As we mentioned at the top of this piece, things are tight in the driver standings right now, with just 4 points separating the top 3 drivers at the moment. Rovanpera is currently sitting in 3rd place on 52 points after the opening 3 races of the season. Of all the drivers in the WRC, he is probably under the most pressure, as he comes into the 2023 season after winning it all last year. He has yet to pick up his first win of the season, but given that he won in Croatia last year, maybe this is the weekend he breaks that goose egg.

Ott Tanak

It seems like a long time since Tanak upset the apple cart and stopped Ogier’s run of championship by winning it all in 2019. He has not been back to the top perch since then, but he is consistently in the mx all the way to the end. It looks as though it might be more of the same again this season, with Tanak currently sitting in 4th overall. A win in Sweden certainly helped his cause, and with a 2nd place finish in Croatia last year, we can probably expect him to challenge again this weekend.