KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand round has always been one of the more popular events with teams and drivers on the World Rally Championship calendar.
The wide open roller coaster ride through the sweeping countryside not only challenges the drivers but when, or if, they get a chance to glance
either left or right, the scenic vista is outstanding.
"I have always enjoyed the rally here ever since my first time in 2002," said Citroen's four-time world rally champion Sebastien Loeb.
"The backdrops to the stages are magnificent.
"The stages are very fast and demanding but the cars don't suffer much."
The 11th round of the 2008 FIA championship brings competitors and teams down under for Repco Rally New Zealand, starting today, with Loeb back at the top of the drivers' points table.
The lead in this year's title chase has changed hands six times between Loeb and Ford driver Mikko Hirvonen and with only five rounds to go after New Zealand, one of these two will be ready to make their move. They have a buffer of 30-odd points over the rest of the field who will be fighting it out for the minor places.
Now the rally is back on gravel, after the tarmac of Germany, it should be a good old ding-dong between Daniel Sordo, Jari-Matti Latvala and Chris Atkinson for third place on the points table.
"I lost a lot of points early in the season and I think third place is now maximum position to finish," said Sordo.
"It's not easy with Jari-Matti [Latvala] and [Chris] Atkinson right there.
"Jari-Matti is very, very fast on gravel so I'll have to be careful."
The 39th Rally of New Zealand is the oldest WRC event in the Southern Hemisphere and organisers have confirmed a 65-car field, with Loeb starting first in his C4.
"If it's wet and muddy it's not so much of a problem to go first but if it is dry and heavy with gravel it can be difficult," said Loeb.
"We'll just have to wait and see what the weather is like."
As well as the Fords of Hirvonen and Latvala, four more have arrived for Francois Duval - who is replacing the injured Gigi Galli - Matthew Wilson, Federico Villagra and Henning Solberg.
The Subaru World Rally Team is hoping for their first win since Mexico in 2005 to mark the 15th anniversary of Subaru's first WRC win, when Scottish driver Colin McRae won here in 1993.
Regular drivers Petter Solberg and Chris Atkinson are in the new-shape hatchback Subaru.
This weekend coincides with the McRae Gathering, a world record-challenging 32km-long convoy of more than 1300 Subaru road cars that will travel from McRae's home town of Lanark in Scotland to Subaru's headquarters in Banbury, southern England. McRae died in a helicopter crash last year.
The 14-strong WRC field is rounded out by Suzuki's first WRC appearance in New Zealand with Toni Gardemeister and one of the WRC's rising stars, two-time junior world champion, Per-Gunnar Andersson.
Storm damage has meant the long 44km Waitomo stage (SS2 and SS24) has had to be modified for today's action. Due to a land slip the stage will now be run in two parts, up to the landslide, a distance of 26km, with part two starting on the other side for a blast of 18km to the end. All WRC drivers will be using Pirelli's hard-compound Scorpion tyre. The rules state teams are not allowed to hand-carve additional cuts into the rubber but each car can carry two spares.
This will be the last chance for rally fans to see the world's best for two years as the Southern Hemisphere round now alternates with Australia.
So here's hoping there'll be a repeat of last year's record-breaking finish when just 0.3 of a second separated eventual winner - and now retired - Marcus Gronholm and Loeb.
Loeb leads with 76 points from Hirvonen on 72 points followed by Sordo on 43 points, Atkinson on 40 points and Latvala on 34 points.
