Preview: Rally Ireland.

Following the long-haul trip to Japan at the end of last month, the FIA World Rally Championship now returns to Europe for the Rally Ireland, the penultimate round of the season.

A new addition to the WRC calendar, this year is the first that Rally Ireland has been run as a World Rally Championship round.

This cross-border event includes speed tests in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Essentially an asphalt rally, the tight and twisty roads are bumpy and narrow - often little more than the width of a car - with many surface changes.

The more northerly special stages close to the border are used by farmers on a daily basis and will be dirty. With rain likely at this time of the year, they could quickly turn muddy and become treacherously slippery so a more gravel-based car set-up is likely to work better than a traditional smooth asphalt specification.

Special notes:

There are only 18,000 inhabitants in the small west coast town of Sligo, home to Rally Ireland's HQ and the service park.

It is located approx 200km from Belfast, which plays host to the event-opening Super Special in the grounds of Stormont castle.

The last asphalt outing of the year, the stages are unusually bumpy, quite unlike any other sealed surface rally and will make for a unique challenge.

Second hand World Rally Cars are prolific in Ireland, and no fewer than 36 of these cars are on the entry list.

The weather in November is as you might expect - unpredictable with the ever-present chance of rain. The surface is usually damp, and a mix of asphalt and gravel, meaning the cars are setup in a totally different way to any other asphalt event. Tyre choice will be critical with the changing conditions, and the very narrow routes and high speed mean it will be easy to make mistakes. Despite the fact that dusk will fall at around 1630hrs, the short spectator stage in Belfast will be the only stage that the lead WRC cars will start in the dark.

A pilot event was run last year that featured stages winding through similar areas to this year's route, however the exact stages have not been rallied before.

Totally new is the spectator Super Special stage in Stormont, Belfast which starts the rally on Thursday evening. The second section of leg one, the trickiest of the rally, commences from Sligo on Friday.

Although the total liaison distance is only 853.91km (excluding travel to Belfast for SS1), the event route takes in eight counties, both to the north and the south of the island, and crosses between Ulster and the Republic of Ireland, making it a very diverse event.

FIA World Rally Championship news:

Marcus Gronholm remains in the lead in the 2007 FIA World Rally drivers' championship following the event in Japan at the end of last month - after he and Sebastien Loeb both failed to score.

Mikko Hirvonen meanwhile increased his tally to 84 points after winning in 'The Land of the Rising Sun', while Daniel Sordo further consolidated fourth with his runners-up spot.

In the Manufacturers' championship there was no change at the top - although the BP Ford WRT did increase its lead over Citroen from 32 points to 34 - and with only 36 pointS left up for grabs the 'Blue Oval' is now virtually assured of the title.

As for the Production Car World Rally Championship, Toshi Arai will have to wait and see if he has done enough to take the title, as Gabriel Pozzo's win in Japan leaves him 17 points adrift and now in within a chance as, unlike Toshi, he still has two of his nominate events to come.

Mark Higgins also remains in contention. If the Englishman wins the final two events, he would end the year with the same amount of points as Arai, but would take the title courtesy of 3 wins to 2.

Since that event it has been relatively quiet on the WRC news front, although the entry list for the Rally GB has been confirmed and just like in 2006, the Welsh round again leads the way with the most competitors for a single event in the WRC.

Only two other events have managed to break into three figures this season, namely Finland and Germany, but GB betters both with 121 set to start the event, which runs from November 30 to December 2. MotoGP super star, Valentino Rossi unfortunately though will not be one of them.

The other big news concerned the Rallye Monte Carlo and its route. This year Monte Carlo set a new precedent for modern WRC events by including night stages on the Thursday, however the 76th edition looks set to be just as controversial with four-days of 'proper' stages planned - something that goes against the current regulations, which requires WRC organisers to stick to a three-day format.

Indeed under the itinerary for the 2008 event, which will run from January 24-27, the Monaco Grand Prix circuit super special on the Sunday will be replaced by two 'proper' stages in Turini, each run twice.

News from the Manufacturers' teams:

Citroen Total WRT:

[Sebastien Loeb, car #1 and Daniel Sordo, car #2]

Loeb: It is imperative we win.

Sebastien Loeb will have only one target this coming weekend in Ireland and that's to come out top and take the maximum ten points.

The Frenchman failed to score in Japan last month after his co-driver, Daniel Elena called out the wrong pace-note. It was a bitter blow for Seb, especially as Marcus Gronholm had gone out on day 1 and as such he was well placed to re-take the lead in the drivers' championship.

As it is Loeb heads to Ireland now still four points behind and with only two events left, still has it all to do.

He will take encouragement though from the Citroen C4 WRC's form this year on the 'black stuff' and his pre-event preparations for this event, which included taking in and winning the Donegal Rally in Ireland back in the summer and the Cork '20' International Rally in September.

"We have no alternative [but to try and take the victory this weekend]. I start every event with the intention of winning and that's especially true this time," he noted.

"Our visits to Ireland earlier in the year, Citro?n's experience of asphalt and the Citro?n C4 WRC's proven competitiveness on sealed surfaces should all help us and I hope Dani [Sordo] and Marc [Marti] succeed in finishing ahead of Marcus [in the #2 C4]. We're still very much in with a shout, but we have very little margin for manoeuvre."

Asked what he learned from his two outings in Ireland earlier this year, Seb added that they taught him this event will be far from easy.

"It's important to point out too that the Donegal and Cork Rallies don't take place in the same region as Sligo and the roads there might be different to what we've already seen," he continued.

"Taking part in these two events was a new experience but Citro?n has good experience of asphalt. That said, Rally Ireland promises to be like no other event I know. I would perhaps liken it to the French Championship's Rallye du Touquet, only faster in places. The bumpy, narrow stages make it a very difficult cocktail and it will call for a special feeling. It will doubtlessly be close but we'll give it everything we've got!"

Citroen team boss, Guy Frequelin meanwhile believes that this event could be critical in deciding whether it is Loeb or Gronholm who ends up taking the 2007 drivers' title.

"Ireland promises to be a turning point," Frequelin stated ahead of the penultimate round in the WRC. "It isn't possible to predict all the potential scenarios, of course, but the fact remains that Seb and Daniel [Elena] trail Marcus by four points, with two events remaining to attempt to bridge that gap.

"If they manage to win in Ireland, the final outcome will be influenced of course by the result Gr?nholm achieves in Sligo. If he comes second, Seb will still have a deficit of two points to make up on the championship's final round in Wales."

BP Ford WRT:

[Marcus Gronholm, car #3 and Mikko Hirvonen, car #4 [and Khalid Al Qassimi, car #17 - not nominated for manufacturers' points]]

We can't taken anything for granted, says Gronholm.

Marcus Gronholm has said that he is feeling 'really excited' ahead of the final two rounds in the WRC.

Gronholm currently leads the race for the drivers' title, however he is only four points up on arch rival, Sebastien Loeb and with twenty points still up for grabs the Finn knows that he will need to keep his focus.

"I'm really excited about the end of season. Fighting for world titles in both the drivers' and manufacturers' series is a great position to be in and to win both would be the most fantastic way to end my career," he noted.

"Of course, it's not that easy and things change quickly in this sport so nobody in the team is taking anything for granted. There are two rallies remaining and we have to be as strong and professional as we have been all season."

This weekend's Rally Ireland meanwhile will be new to both Gronholm and his team-mate, Mikko Hirvonen.

Gronholm took in the Galway Rally in Ireland in February as preparation for this WRC event but the dry and sunny weather that blessed that weekend could be far removed from the conditions this week.

"That rally provided an insight into the type of roads used for rallying in Ireland," Marcus added.

"However, until I make the recce I won't know how similar these stages are. I've been told the roads will be fast but unforgiving and difficult to read, so ensuring the pace notes are 100 per cent accurate will be vital during the recce."

Mikko also completed a 'practice' event for Rally Ireland when he tackled the Cork '20' International Rally in September.

"After what I saw there, I think this will be the most difficult rally of the season," he continued. "Nobody knows what the weather will do. It could be cold overnight so a combination of ice and narrow, bumpy roads would be extremely difficult."

For the record, Gronholm and Hirvonen will be joined on the event by Abu Dhabi's Khalid Al Qassimi, who returns to the BP Ford WRT set-up for his fourth and final outing of the season.

OMV Kronos Citroen WRT:

[Manfred Stohl, car #5]

Stohl wants to add to 12-point tally.

OMV Kronos Citroen's Manfred Stohl believes that changeable conditions could help him break into top-eight and score points on the Rally Ireland this weekend.

Stohl managed to finish sixth overall in Japan last month, the first time he has managed to score points since the Acropolis Rally at the start of June.

The 35-year-old is now keen to try and maintain that momentum and finish the year with a bit of a flourish.

"After quite some time, we scored points in Japan once again. We want to repeat that in Ireland," he confirmed. "The harder the conditions the easier this could be for us.

"But we will nevertheless have to attack from the first kilometre. Each place we move up in the WRC intermediate standings means a better starting position at the Wales Rally GB. That is what we have to focus on."

Stohl meanwhile took in and won the OMV Rally Waldviertel last weekend - the latest round in the Austrian Rally Championship - and while he didn't use a WRC car there, he believes the mileage accumulated in the gas-driven Mitsubishi Lancer Evo will be of use.

"One obviously can't compare the CNG Mitsubishi to a WRC car but still, each SS-kilometre counts," he explained.

"I furthermore expect similarly slippery conditions in Ireland even though we'll compete on tarmac there. We are in a good racing-rhythm, in any case - and that counts for a lot."

Subaru WRT:

[Petter Solberg, car #7 and Chris Atkinson, car #8 [and Xavier Pons, car #14 - not nominated for manufacturers' points]]

Petter to give 110 per cent.

Petter Solberg is excited to be driving in front of 'rally-mad' Irish fans for the first time as he heads to the emerald isle for the inaugural Rally Ireland.

Following a disappointing season in the Subaru Impreza, Solberg is still currently battling over fifth place in the driver standings with his brother Henning after the Stobart Ford driver pulled back some ground with third place on the Rally Japan.

Nonetheless, the Norwegian driver is confident of a good result in Ireland, despite the fact he has never driven in the country before.

"I have never rallied in Ireland before so it will be very new for me, but I am looking forward to it. The fans in Ireland are rally-mad which is really good. It's always nice to drive in front of people who are really into it.

"It would have been good to do a few rallies earlier in the year to get a feel for the surface, but still we prepare and focus 110 per cent. It will be very interesting I think, especially with the chance that the 2007 championship can be decided there."

Subaru too are anticipating a good event, because while they haven't competed there as of yet, the success customer teams using the Impreza have had over the years should work to their advantage.

"We haven't had the opportunity to test in Ireland this year, but we have the benefit of knowledge gained by the many customer cars that are running and winning in Ireland," added SWRT managing director Richard Taylor.

"We know it's going to be a great challenge with very different tarmac roads to any other round and we're looking forward to it. It will be very exciting that there will likely be more Subaru WRC cars than at any other World Championship rally. I hope that we and all the other Subaru entries will put on a strong performance for the fans."

Stobart M-Sport Ford Rally team:

[Jari-Matti Latvala, car #9, Henning Solberg, car #10 [and Matthew Wilson, car #16 - not nominated for manufacturers' points]]

New co-driver for Henning, Latvala and Wilson Jr both have prior experience.

Henning Solberg will have a new co-driver for the Rally Ireland, as his regular co-pilot, Cato Menkerud has had to sit-out this event as he and his wife, Charlotte, are awaiting the imminent birth of their child. As such Swedish co-driver G?ran Bergsten has been drafted in to fill the void.

The event will be a tough one though for the new pairing and like the previous three WRC events it will be another step into the unknown for Henning, who will be tackling the Irish roads for this first time in his career.

This time though many of his rivals will be in the same position and following a confidence boosting third place finish last time out in Japan, Solberg is keen to try and get his first ever points finish on asphalt.

"Again I really don't know what to expect of this rally as it is another new one for me. I have been told it can be a very difficult rally, very narrow, twisty and fast and if the weather is bad it can be extremely slippery. It is going to be a hard event but we have had some experience of tarmac this year which will help," he noted.

"I will be looking to just get in the points here. We have been so close to the points on all the tarmac rallies this year so I will try my best for one in Ireland.

"The podium in Japan was another great moment and one in Ireland would be amazing but I don't want to make mistakes as this rally could be in the WRC again so it will be important to complete the event for experience, hopefully inside the top-eight."

Unlike Henning, Jari-Matti Latvala and Matthew Wilson though will have a bit of experience to draw on as they have both previously competed on Irish tarmac events. Wilson also won the Rally Ireland candidate event in 2005.

"I'm really looking forward to this event but I also know how tricky it can be," added the Englishman. "There are a lot of unknowns here for everybody which is going to make things very interesting throughout the pack.

"When we won here in 2005 it was quite surprising because it was a mixed-surface event and we thought we would have the advantage on gravel and be behind on tarmac but after the opening, tarmac day we were over a minute ahead against some very quick Irish competitors.

"A couple of the stages are in the same area so for me it will help to have this prior knowledge of the roads and especially of the tricky surface. These final two events are essentially both home rallies for me and I can't wait to have another go at Irish roads before heading back for the final round in Wales," he summed-up.

Munchi's Ford WRT:

[Luis-Perez Companc, car #11 and Federico Villagra, car #12]

Not in action in Ireland.

The Munchi's Ford WRT will miss this coming weekend's Rally Ireland as the event is not part of their ten-event campaign.

The final event for Luis-Perez Companc and Federico Villagra will be the Rally GB.

Both drivers' will head to the event in Wales though boosted by their form in Japan. The Munchi's squad celebrated a breakthrough result there after getting both of its cars to the finish line in the top eight.

"What a weekend. This has been a fantastic personal result for me and also for the Munchi's team," said Luis after finishing in fifth in Japan. "This is by far my best result and for Federico to back it up and pick up points [with P7] is also amazing.

"We started well and were careful not to make any mistakes. It's been very good work by the team and a fantastic weekend."

Production Car WRC:

Pozzo and Higgins to make Arai sweat?

Gabriel Pozzo and Mark Higgins both need to do well this weekend in Ireland to keep their slim hopes of taking the FIA Production Car World Rally Championship title alive.

Toshi Arai currently leads, but cannot add to his 39 point tally as he has taken in all of his six nominated events.

Pozzo currently trails the Japanese driver by 17 points, while Higgins is 20 adrift. As such both need very good results to stay in contention - the latter has to win, while the former has to finish in at least second.

"I don't know too much about what to expect," said Pozzo. "I have no experience of this rally - but then again, nobody does - but as well, I don't know too much about driving on asphalt.

"I've done some asphalt WRC rounds before, but not too many and certainly none that sound anything like Ireland. All I can do is look forward. I'm not thinking about the championship at all. I want to win the rally this week - that's enough for me to think about."

Higgins will take a similar approach, although he does have experience of the roads in Ireland, having competed in this season's Irish Tarmac Championship.

"It's fantastic to be in the position to have a shot at the world championship, that's not something which happens every year. But, that's not to underestimate the scale of the task which stands before me," he added.

"Winning a round of the Production Car WRC is really not an easy task, no matter where you are in the world.

"The combination of very difficult, twisty, bumpy and narrow roads and what is bound to be some fairly wet weather is going to make Rally Ireland one of the hardest rallies of the season. Let's just see what happens."

Of the rest, Fumio Nutahara, Nasser Al-Attiyah, Araujo Armindo should all be strong contenders, as should Niall McShea and 'wild cards' Colm Murphy and Alan Ring.

In total, 16 drivers' will be able to score PWRC points in Ireland.

PWRC regulars such as Toshihiro Arai, #31 - already mentioned - as well as Loris Baldacci, #33, Juho Hanninen, #36, Fabio Frisiero, #44 and Martin Rauam, #51 will skip this event as it is not one of their nominated rounds.

Other significant entries:

Around 90 crews are due to start.

All the manufacturer teams will attend the Rally Ireland - with the exception of the Munchi's Ford World Rally Team.

In total 36 WRC cars are entered, more than a third of the entry, with Britain's Guy Wilks and Kris Meeke both included in Subaru Impreza WRC cars, while four-time Irish Tarmac Rally champion, Eugene Donnelly will compete in a Skoda Fabia WRC.

Francois Duval was listed in a Citroen Xsara WRC car, but he has since had to pull out.

In addition to that and the 16 drivers' competing for the PWRC win, another 25 or so will be entered in the Group N category - including Martin Prokop, who finished third in this year's JRC.

The only female driver taking part is Emma McKinstry - daughter of Irish rally legend Kenny McKinstry. Emma has competed in the 2006 Rally Ireland candidate event and is a regular on national and international rallies.

In total 21 countries are represented on the entry list, with competitors coming from as far as Qatar, Japan and the USA, and an impressive entry of 53 competitors from the island of Ireland itself.

Route:

The rally is based in the small town of Sligo, in the north-west of the Republic of Ireland, which also hosts the single service park. Even for those drivers who competed in the candidate event here last year, there will be little advantage as more than two-thirds of the route is new and only one stage is unchanged.

The rally begins on Thursday evening with a super special stage at Stormont, Northern Ireland's Parliament buildings in Belfast.

The opening day is the longest and is based entirely in the Republic, taking in fast moorland and mountain roads east of Sligo The second leg's stages cover narrow farm roads in the Fermanagh lakelands, across the border in Northern Ireland. The final day includes both countries, ending with a picture postcard test on the coast at Mullaghmore, which will be covered live on television, before the afternoon finish in Sligo.

Drivers face 20 stages covering 342.34km in a total route of 1196.25km. Of the 14 stage locations, six are in Northern Ireland and eight in the Republic.

Last year:

The Rally Ireland was not apart of the FIA World Rally Championship in 2006. The 'candidate' event though was won by Irish tarmac champion, Eugene Donnelly.

Donnelly took the victory by nearly two minutes in his Toyota Corolla WRC, after Gareth MacHale, who had led early on and who had only lost the lead on the final stage on Saturday, went off the road on stage eight.

Eamon Boland took the runners-up spot, while Daniel Carlsson battled his way from sixth to third on day two, passing Subaru World Rally team works driver, Chris Atkinson, in the penultimate test. Patrick Elliott and Aaron MacHale rounded out the top six.