World Rally Championship

Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo is the oldest event in the FIA World Rally Championship calendar and the longest running event in all rally sport. In 2008 it celebrated its 76th anniversary. The event is famous for its narrow asphalt roads and a tricky mix of weather and road conditions. Cold temperatures in the mountains mean patches of ice and snow are never far away and with tyre choices made sometimes hours before stages are run, drivers who can tackle dry asphalt and ice on the same rubber have the upper hand. Experience counts here, and drivers with a good understanding of the specialist conditions can be a serious threat to the established WRC stars. The rally name is something of a misnomer because very little of the event is actually based in Monte Carlo. While it ends with a spectacular Superspecial stage on part of Monaco's Formula 1 circuit, the majority of the rally is based hundreds of kilometers away in the Vercors and Ardeche regions of France. Since 2007 the rally has been based in the city of Valence, a convenient location right in the heart of the twisty mountain roads that characterize the event. The event follows a unique itinerary; starting on Thursday evening with stages run in darkness, it remains based in Valence for Friday and Saturday, before the whole service area re-locates to Monaco - enabling drivers to tackle the legendary snowy roads of the Turini region in the Alpes Maritimes on the final day. As a result, the Monte has become the only four-day rally in the WRC.

In 2007, the Uddeholm Swedish Rally was paired with Rally Norway to provide a double dose of snow action, but in 2008 it was back as the only true winter rally in the WRC. Based from the city of Karlstad in central Sweden, the rally takes place on wintry gravel roads in the forests of the Varmland region and includes remote services in the towns of Sunne and Hagfors. Temperatures can drop well below -25 degrees Celsius and if there is a wind the weather can be treacherous. But the special challenge of the frozen roads means the event is one of the most popular among drivers. As with the fast gravel roads of Finland and the asphalt of Corsica and Spain, local talent prevails here, and the winners' list looks like a Scandinavian phone book. To succeed in Sweden, you need a sublime combination of commitment, fingertip feel and lightning reactions. If you can win here, you're halfway to becoming a true rallying great. Despite the lack of traction on the ice and snow-covered stages, speeds are still frighteningly quick thanks to skinny studded tyres which penetrate the snow in search of grip below, as well as snow banks, which drivers use as a soft barrier on which to 'lean' their cars. There are plenty of hazards, though. Hit a snow bank at the wrong speed, and it sucks the car into the snow, resulting in drivers reaching for the snow shovels, as well as potential radiator and consequent engine damage. Exposed patches of bare gravel road can also rip studs from the tyres, leading to a lack of grip on icy sections.

Mexico made an eagerly-awaited debut on the World Rally Championship schedule in 2004 and has quickly proved to be a popular addition to the calendar, with a compact series of well-organised, high-speed gravel stages through the Sierra de Lobos and Sierra de Guanajuato mountains and plains around the cities of Guanajuato and Leon. The FIA’s new event rotation system was going to cause the event to be missed this year but it unexpectedly re-entered the series because organisers wished to be in the world calendar again in 2010, the country’s foundation anniversary year. The high-altitude stages make for spectacular viewing as they climb over one peak, down through a flat, open valley and then back up a hill the other side. The altitude has downsides, though, as the engines struggle to breathe in the thin air and suffer a drop in power of about 20 percent. The road surface is dry and sandy, but rocks can get on the road, so drivers have to balance high speeds with caution. All-in-all, Mexico is a great event for rallying fans. Leon - located about 400km north-west of Mexico City - is one of the more modern towns in the country, although there's still plenty of genuine local colour for tourists to enjoy. This year Corona Rally Mexico will feature a more condensed route of 839km, with 43 percent of the distance as competitive stages. The new route is even shorter than last year’s, which was then the shortest in the history of the world championship rally, so this year Mexico promises to break another record! Though it may still be winter in North America at the time of the event, this event counts as the first clear-condition rally of the season.

The trip to Argentina may be long for European fans, but, when you combine a land of spectacular scenery with a nation of people always up for a party, you have the ideal location for a World Rally Championship event. It's always a highlight of the season. The rally will be based in Villa Carlos Paz - a small resort town near the stately city of Cordoba but this year there will be no trip to the superspecial held at the River Plate Soccer Stadium in the capital city of Buenos Aires on the Thursday. Also, there will be no superspecial inside Cordoba stadium; instead this year's spectator stage will be built on the area just outside the stadium. The high altitude of the stages, just as in Mexico, can sap the cars of power as they struggle for breath in the thin air. The blend of high speeds and bumpy terrain place extra stresses on the suspension, and the bodywork can take a pounding. More hazards are provided by the numerous watersplashes, but the sight of a World Rally Car plunging through a water-filled ford is one of the highlights of the season. The weather can also be highly unpredictable and because this year the rally is to be held in the rainy season, the rally route will avoid the most severe water crossings. In the wet, the loose gravel surface can become greasy, catching out the unwary.