Sebastien Loeb has begun the defence of his 2007 World Rally Championship with an emphatic win in Monte Carlo.
But Loeb and co-driver Daniel Elena, who will start their 100th event together this weekend, may not have it all their own way in the mud and snow ofRally Sweden, as Loeb won't be on his preferred tarmac surface.
Mikko Hirvonen will be putting up a fight as he knows he has to win this one if he wants to stay in the hunt for the 2008 drivers title.
After finishing second to Loeb in the Rallye Monte Carlo, Hirvonen is already two points behind the four-time world champion and knows he can't let the Frenchman build on his lead.
Hirvonen must capitalise on the snowy conditions, and he won the championship's last winter event in Norway last year, and his best result in Sweden was in 2007 when he finished second.
Norwegian Henning Solberg takes on what is essentially his home event, for the 10th time in his career. With five consecutive Norwegian Rally Championships to his name, Solberg and co-driver Cato Menkerud will be the ones to watch as they look to improve on their fourth last year.
Newcomers to the championships Suzuki proved they are capable of setting top six stage times and head to Sweden with aim of getting both SX4 cars into the points.
Rally Sweden sees the start of the Production Class World Championship, featuring the Ralliart New Zealand Neil Allport Motorsport-prepared Mitsubishi of Juho Hanninen.
Ralliart NZ is hoping to have a home-grown driver by 2009.
Among the leading contenders are the two most recent champions, Toshi Arai (2007) and Nasser Al Attiyah (2006). A total of 17 nationalities are represented.
