The 2008 World Rally Championship will visit 14 countries in a season that lasts 10 months. It's hectic, fast, dangerous but insanely impressive and it all kicks off this weekend with the most famous rally of them all: the Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo. There's a real buzz about this year's WRC. All the teams will be using control tyres from Pirelli and some will fare better than others, especially in the early rounds. We may even see a surprise winner at the Monte. The aim of the control tyre is to take away one of the biggest variables in the WRC. Just one asphalt-type tyre is available for both wet and dry conditions, and the teams will be looking for Pirelli to come up with virtually puncture-proof rubber following the banning of run-flat mousse inserts.
There's a new team tackling the WRC this year, too. Suzuki is fielding a pair of butt-ugly SX4s for Finnish driver Toni Gardemeister and Per-Gunnar Andersson from 
Sweden. Expect strong results come the second WRC rally of the year in snowy Sweden. Subaru is talking up its 2008 chances after a lacklustre time of late, and Prodrive boss David Richards is taking a more active role in the team now his F1 dream is over.
There's also the exciting prospect of new works Ford driver Jari-Matti Latvala going balls out to beat WRC über-guru Sebastien Loeb. Latvala's astonishing run of 10 stage victories out of 17 on the last round of 2007 at Rally GB suggests big things for Gronholm's replacement at Ford. Latvala's team-mate, and number one at Ford, is Mikko Hirvonen. The Finnish driver must not be beaten by Latvala this year; the intra-team battle at Ford will be fascinating.
As for the others, Italian Gigi Galli is one to watch out for as Matthew Wilson's new team-mate in the Stobart Ford squad, and Aussie Chris Atkinson is looking like he's ready for his first WRC victory after a number of stage wins last year in his Scooby. But Citroen's Sebastien Loeb starts as favourite once again. The 33 year old has already amassed four consecutive titles and is the WRC's most successful driver. An inspired Gronholm challenged Loeb all the way last year, but Seb on form is untouchable. Only bad luck could interrupt Loeb's progress towards a fifth title.