So the first round of the WRC is upon us this weekend, with a different looking calendar this year (I think this is the start of the 2 year calendar - see below) so it begins in Ireland.

Citroen have retained Loeb and Sordo and also have a Junior team of C4's consisting of Chris Atkinson, Conrad Rautenbach and 2008 JWRC champion Sebastien Ogier (who was the winner of the first round of the IRC at Monte Carlo last weekend). Atkinson and Rautenbach are nominated point scorers this weekend.
Ford have retained Hirvonen and Latvala and the Stobart VK Team have brought on board Urmo Aava (an impressive young talent last season) to join Henning Solberg and Matthew Wilson.

Stormy weather is predicted this weekend, so expect wet, slippery and muddy surfaces. Hirvonen was quickest in shakedown today.

I'm looking forward to the season, it's just a shame that the snowiest Monte Carlo for years wasn't graced by the WRC this year, still, looks as though there should be some interesting new rallies to look forward to.

1 1 Feb Ireland
2 15 Feb Norway
3 15 Mar Cyprus
4 5 Apr Portugal
5 26 Apr Argentina
6 24 May Italy
7 14 Jun Greece
8 29 Jun Poland
9 2 Aug Finland
10 6 Sep Australia
11 4 Oct Spain
12 25 Oct Great Britain

^I'm assuming Norway will be a snow lover's dream...

I'm not too happy about the lack of diversity in the field, but I'll give'r a shot.

I think this will be a fascinating season so long as you're driver-focused, not manufacturer-focused.

Is there any chance its being broadcast in North America by anyone?

Nope, get on the internet and download that shiz.

Being as there are only 12 rounds this year, it should make things a lot closer. I'm interested to see how Atkinson and Ogier do in the C4s and Aava in the VK Ford.

poo, i guess I'll have to start doing that. I need to get back into WRC

Aside from the Australian's performance, kinda an anticlimactic day.

Too bad the nighttime rounds were canned, although based on what I saw from watching the first runners in stage one, the rain and lamp pods make watching the coverage difficult.

Have the rules requiring the cars to use FIA supplied aero kits come into effect? I was under the impression that this year's cars would look vastly different...

EDIT, i just remembered, weren't the day recaps supposed to be an hour long this year? The one's I'm downloading are only 1/2 hour still.

No I think the Super 2000 rules come into effect next season.
Yeah I thought they were going to be an hour this year too - maybe the new promoter (ISC) will sort that out.

A pretty straightforward rally for Citroen, as usual on tarmac. Was good to see that Atkinson seemed to get to grips with the C4, albeit with a few mistakes, he had some speed. I knew Citroen had made a mistake in nominating Rautenbach instead of Ogier for manufacturers points - still he picked up 1 point.

I think that Henning Solberg was the star of the rally - his best result on tarmac and he might have even won that 4th place back from Atkinson on speed alone being on the different tyres in that last stage. His tyre gesture to Atkinson on the way out of the service park was excellent and good to see that sort of character in the WRC.

That was a joke that phix posted last year.

Fuck, why did I think that was real considering the rest of his post was complete fiddle-faddle?

I thought this rally unfolded pretty much as it should of, considering how last year ended. I agree that Henning was brilliant, and thought he deserved the "Spirit of the Rally" award over Atkinson, who I thought finished where he did due to shear luck...if the people behind him hadn't gone off, that foray of his into the pole would have put him much further down. Although I guess that is one of the nuances of motorsport...some people are lucky.

I'm hoping the Ford team learned something from this rally...Where the fuck was quality control in regards to Hirvonen's car...power steering failure and a light pod coming loose...that's the kind of avoidable shit that hamstrings a potentially championship winning team.