19 of the 28 PWRC competitors have opted to take in the opening round in the
FIA Production Car WRC and the Scandinavians such as Juho Hanninen, Jussi Tiippana, Jari Ketomaa and Patrik Sandell should definitely figure at the front of the pack.
Red Bull’s Andreas Aigner could also be in contention for a good result, along with ‘wild cards’, Patrik Flodin and Oscar Svedlund, who boost the total number of PWRC entrants to 21.
"As this is the opening round of the PWRC, there will be very many quick drivers this year," said Flodin. "I'm feeling quite confident, but I know that people like Juho Hanninen and Jari Ketomaa will also be very quick, as they have a lot of experience on snow rallies.
"Beating them won't be easy. I've also got a new co-driver, Goran Bergsten, so there's a lot to get used to!"
Other names to look out for include 2006 Production champion, Nasser Al-Attiyah, Martin Prokop, who was third in the Junior’s last year and who will compete in both the JWRC and PWRC in 2008 and Armindo Araujo.
Other significant entries:
Over 60 crews set to start.
Over 60 crews are due to start round two - 18 of which will be in World Rally Cars, with all the manufacturer teams’ represented, with the exception of the Munchi’s WRT.
In addition to the usual ‘works’ entries,
Conrad Rautenbach and
Urmo Aava will both compete in
Citroen WRC cars-run by PH Sport, the latter in a C4 WRC, while the former stick with a Xsara WRC.
Mads Ostberg will drive an Adapta-run Impreza WRC while Daniel Carlsson will be entered in a Bozian-run Peugeot 307 WRC and Andreas Mikkelsen and Peter van Merkstejn will both use Ford Focus’.
Of the rest, around 40 will battle it out for Group N honours - with 21 of these eligible to score points towards the FIA Production Car World Rally Championship.
There will also be three runners in the N3 class, including Tony Jardine, who will compete in a Fiesta ST150, as well as one in the N2 category, two in the A7 and one in the A6.
Route:
There are major changes for 2008. The main service park, previously in Hagfors, has been relocated to Karlstad to form a rally village with the headquarters and the super special stage, using the city's trotting track and ice hockey arena.
