WRC 2010: Runners and riders

Sebastien Loeb

Nationality: French
Age: 35
Co-driver: Daniel Elena
Team: Citroen Total World Rally Team
Car: Citroen C4 WRC
WRC starts: 113
WRC wins: 54
WRC titles: 6

When Loeb won last year's snow rally in Norway - an event Ford had considered a banker and Loeb's first victory on snow in five years - it looked like he already had the title in his pocket. Going on to dominate the first five rallies of 2009 reiterated that impression.

But then Loeb's campaign fell apart amid mistakes, misfortune and distracting Formula 1 talk, and his 19-point lead turned into a five-point deficit to Hirvonen going into the last two rounds. Loeb still won both rallies and the championship, but it had been a worrying wobble. His challenge for 2010 is to show that was just a blip and not evidence that he is no longer head and shoulders clear of the opposition - and despite the events of 2009, he still starts this year as title favourite.

Dani Sordo

Nationality: Spanish
Age: 26
Co-driver: Marc Marti
Team: Citroen Total World Rally Team
Car: Citroen C4 WRC
WRC starts: 59
WRC titles: 0

Sordo has grown into an ideal number two for Citroen - helping Loeb deliver back-to-back manufacturers' titles for its team in '08 and '09, and beating his Ford counterpart Latvala to third in the drivers' standings in both years.

What he still hasn't done is win a WRC round, and Loeb could've done with Sordo denying Hirvonen a few victories during the tough times of last summer. If Hirvonen keeps getting better and Latvala starts delivering consistent results, Citroen is going to need more from Sordo - hence the Spaniard's recent Arctic Rally outing to try and boost his snow pace. But the squad doesn't want him to get so quick he starts challenging Loeb and causing an awkward team status dilemma...

Mikko Hirvonen

Nationality: Finnish
Age: 29
Co-driver: Jarmo Lehtinen
Team: BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team
Car: Ford Focus RS WRC 09
WRC starts: 96
WRC wins: 11

The doubters have been proved wrong: Hirvonen does have the skill to lead Ford and take the fight to Loeb. His summer winning streak last year had Loeb on the ropes and admitting that his current rival was proving even tougher than double champion Gronholm had - which is pretty high praise.

Loeb still beat Hirvonen in the end, but the Finn had made his point. He reckons he has pinpointed the moments of on-stage caution and service park indecision that allowed Loeb to pip him in 2009 and is determined to make amends in 2010.

Winning the Monte Carlo Rally in Ford's new S2000 car was a handy warm-up for that quest. Hirvonen's improvements bring pressure too, though: he's no longer considered an underdog and is now expected to push Loeb from the outset.

Jari-Matti Latvala

Nationality: Finnish
Age: 24
Co-driver: Miikka Anttila
Team: BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team
Car: Ford Focus RS WRC 09
WRC starts: 55
WRC wins: 2

There were some dark, dark moments for Latvala in 2009. Rolling 12 times down a cliff while leading in Portugal was a dramatic mistake, but it was when he threw away a certain second with a tiny lapse on the final superspecial in Poland that a tearful Latvala said he wouldn't blame Ford for sacking him on the spot.

Exasperated team boss Malcolm Wilson kept the faith because he knows that when Latvala keeps it together, his speed is breathtaking, although all the confidence-sapping mistakes last year affected his pace at times too.

Latvala has promised a disciplined season of being Hirvonen's dutiful wingman, and he needs to deliver this because he is running out of second chances. He is fast enough to win multiple titles - but it's hard to score points from the bottom of a ravine.

Khalid Al-Qassimi

Nationality: Emirati/Abu Dhabian
Age: 27
Co-driver: Michael Orr
Team: BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team
Car: Ford Focus RS WRC 08
WRC starts: 23
WRC wins: 0

Having done most of his rallying in the Middle East - where he is a multiple champion - Al Qassimi can't be expected to get near Loeb's pace on asphalt or Hirvonen's speed through Finnish forests and Swedish snow.

The team's Abu Dhabi backing brings Al Qassimi into the works Ford line-up, but he is under no pressure to do anything but learn steadily. He's stuck to that so far, finishing every rally he has contested for the team and scoring in four of last year's more high attrition events.

Marcus Gronholm

Nationality: Finnish
Age: 42
Co-driver: Timo Rautiainen
Team: Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team
Car: Ford Focus RS WRC 08
WRC starts: 133
WRC wins: 30
WRC titles: 2

Gronholm never wanted to give up rallying - he just didn't want the grind of full seasons anymore. He might have made a comeback with Subaru had it not pulled out last year, and he still turned up for Portugal with one of its Imprezas and battled for the lead before crashing.

Now he's popping in again for Sweden - a rally he won five times in the 2000s, including his first ever WRC victory - with Stobart Ford. He surely won't be at his absolute peak now that he's not competing full-time, and in any case Ford needs Hirvonen, not Gronholm, to win this weekend.

But having 'Bosse' back on the WRC stages is still a hugely exciting prospect. And if it goes well, perhaps he'll be tempted to make a few more appearances...

Henning Solberg

Nationality: Norwegian
Age: 37
Co-driver: Ilka Minor
Team: Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team
Car: Ford Focus RS WRC 08
WRC starts: 80
WRC wins: 0

When he's on a surface he likes - and this weekend's snow definitely falls into that category - and in a car he's happy with, the elder Solberg brother is a definite podium contender, and might even be capable of a shock victory.

But if he's not happy with the set-up, Henning can disappear from view. He also tends to take a few stages to warm up before delivering his true pace. He hopes his break with long-time co-driver Cato Menkerud in favour of a new partnership with Ilka Minor might be the shake-up he needs to start achieving his potential more often.

Matthew Wilson

Nationality: British
Age: 23
Co-driver: Scott Martin
Team: Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team
Car: Ford Focus RS WRC 08
WRC starts: 61
WRC wins: 0

Stepping straight from circuit racing into a WRC Ford as a teenager meant Wilson has done a lot of very public learning, and his father/team boss Malcolm has insisted that he focus on consistency and gaining experience.

However with plenty of WRC stage miles now under his belt, Wilson needs to start getting closer to the podium and leading Stobart's charge more often if he is to change the perception that he is a reliable points-gatherer rather than a future winner.

Sebastien Ogier

Nationality: French
Age: 26
Co-driver: Julien Ingrassia
Team: Citroen Junior Team
Car: Citroen C4 WRC
WRC starts: 13
WRC wins: 0

Blitzing the Junior WRC field at the first attempt in 2008, leading Rally GB on his World Rally car debut at the end of that year and then winning the 2009 Monte Carlo Rally in his first S2000 outing made Ogier the brightest rising star in rallying a year ago. But an inconsistent first half of '09 with Citroen Junior raised questions about whether he had been overhyped.

Citroen later admitted that its decision not to guarantee Ogier a full season from the outset had put him under too much pressure to deliver too soon. Once he knew his drive was safe, he settled down and started impressing again. His Acropolis podium and stunning performance on this year's Monte underlined that Citroen has another French superstar named Sebastien ready to slot in when Loeb decides to quit.

Kimi Raikkonen

Nationality: Finnish
Age: 30
Co-driver: Kaj Lindstrom
Team: Citroen Junior Team
Car: Citroen C4 WRC
WRC starts: 0
WRC wins: 0

This is going to be fascinating. We know Raikkonen was very close to the pace of the other Production cars on his Rally Finland one-off last year, but that he didn't have much class competition and eventually rolled. We know he only lasted one stage of the Arctic Rally before crashing, but was within range of Sordo's times when he rejoined. Now we're going to learn if Raikkonen's WRC move is a novelty or the start of a second brilliant career.

His new WRC rivals expect him to be super-quick but to need time to acclimatise to working with pace notes. A few steady runs to rally finishes in the first half of the year would be a good start - but with so much interest in his WRC debut, low-key results might be viewed as failure by outsiders.

Federico Villagra

Nationality: Argentine
Age: 40
Co-driver: Jorge Perez Companc
Team: Munchi's Ford World Rally Team
Car: Ford Focus RS WRC 08
WRC starts: 25
WRC wins: 0

Villagra can boast eight rallying titles and national hero status in his native Argentina, but he has relatively little European rallying experience compared to his rivals.

Normally to be found battling with the Stobart Fords, Villagra has picked up some big results by staying out of trouble - including fourth places at home and in Greece last year. A similar performance this season would do just fine.

Petter Solberg

Nationality: Norwegian
Age: 35
Co-driver: Phil Mills
Team: Petter Solberg World Rally Team
Car: Citroen C4 WRC
WRC starts: 147
WRC wins: 13
WRC titles: 1

After the misery of Subaru's later years and the shock of its WRC exit, 2003 champion Solberg regrouped with his own team and reminded the world of his talent in 2009. Now with an up to date Citroen C4 to hand, he is confident he can be a title contender again.

That's still an ambitious goal for a privateer driver, but this is no ordinary underdog. And if he does start winning again - which is entirely possible - the celebrations will be spectacular.

Mads Ostberg

Nationality: Norwegian
Age: 22
Co-driver: Jonas Andersson
Team: Adapta World Rally Team
Car: Subaru Impreza WRC 2007
WRC starts: 23
WRC wins: 0

Fiery young talent Ostberg has spent the last few seasons setting incredible stage times, making mistakes, winning Norwegian titles and swearing about his Subarus. He clearly has huge potential and will be thrilling to watch in the right package.

At the moment his full plans for 2010 are uncertain. He is likely to switch back to an older Subaru for Sweden having found the final iteration of its World Rally car difficult to handle. With a mistake and misfortune-free rally, Ostberg could be among the top five in the season opener.

Ken Block

Nationality: American
Age: 42
Co-driver: Alessandro Gelsomino
Team: Monster World Rally Team
Car: Ford Focus RS WRC 08
WRC starts: 0
WRC wins: 0

In America, rallying is considered more an extreme sport than a motorsport - so it's no surprise that famed stunt driver and DC Shoes co-founder Block found his way to the stages after success in skateboarding, snowboarding and motocross. A worldwide internet sensation thanks to his stunt feats, Block is just the man to help the WRC's new promoter bring the sport to the masses.

But while his car control and bravery are beyond question, Block openly admits that he lags way behind his new WRC peers when it comes to experience. So his part-season in the new Monster Ford team this year is the start of a tough learning process - but it's going to be an entertaining one.