WRC: Rally Norway Preview

The 2009 World Rally Championship season commenced on the water-covered asphalt of Rally Ireland, and now the contenders will assemble again to showcase their talent in the frigid snow of Rally Norway.

The WRC Rally Norway begins next Thursday evening in Oslo, the country's capital, with the remainder of the event will take place over the three following days. A total distance of 1,218.72 kilometers will be competed upon, of which 375.04 are timed runs.

On Friday, the action intensifies as the competitors will take face eight challenging stages with eight more on Saturday.  Sunday will conclude the event with six more routes, including the Valer stage: the longest of Rally Norway at 30 kilometers in length.

The cars should reach the rally finish Sunday,  mid-afternoon, at which time the winner of the WRC's Norwegian round will be crowned.

Four teams will be fighting for WRC manufacturer points starting as was the case in Ireland. Ford and Citroen each have their official works entry, with Stobart M-Sport Ford and the Citroen Junior Team each contributing to both manufacturers' efforts as well.

Sebastien Loeb will be looking to continue his supremacy of the sport that has led to a record five consecutive WRC Championships.  Loeb’s dominant win at last week's Rally Ireland was no surprise as he is well known as a Tarmac master. 

If Ford’s Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala are going to mount a serious challenge for the title this year, then Norway is where we will see it.  

Loeb’s teammate, Dani Sordo, will also be defending Citroen's honor and is a serious threat to win his first WRC rally.  

The surprise of the Rally Ireland, Urmo Aava, will be teamed up with Matthew Wilson and Henning Solberg at the Stobart Ford outfit, the latter competing on his home event at the controls of his Ford Focus.  Aava has led in Ireland in his first WRC drive in a competitive car.

The Citroen Junior Team will be represented by the trio of Conrad Rautenbach, Sebastien Ogier and Evgeny Novikov, who will be replacing Chris Atkinson for this event.

In Norway, most eyes will be on local hero Petter Solberg, the 2003 WRC titleholder.  Left without a season-long drive following Subaru's pullout, Solberg will be taking on the stages with his own team in a Citroen Xsara WRC.