Subaru and Makinen ready for Monte challenge.

The first round of the 2002 World Rally Championship, the Monte Carlo Rally, starts on Thursday [17 January] with Subaru beginning the defence of its drivers' title without the man who earned it for them.

The historic asphalt event, running for the 70th time this year, is the traditional curtain raiser to the WRC season and will see the eagerly anticipated debut of the Subaru World Rally Team's new driver line-up of Tommi Makinen and Petter Solberg.

Four-time world champion Makinen is poised for his competitive Subaru debut, the 37-year old Finn having taken over from new champion Richard Burns as the team's number one.

In the absence of regular co-driver Risto Mannisenmaki, Makinen will be partnered by substitute Kaj Lindstr?m, but brings a wealth of knowledge to the team having won the rally for the last three years. His standing as the most successful rally driver of the last decade, combined with his confidence in the performance and handling of the Subaru Impreza WRC during testing, is something the SWR team hopes will hold him in good stead.

"It's a new team for me, and a new car as well, but I'm going to be starting on one of my favourite rallies of the year, so I'm very excited and motivated about the event," Makinen said.

"After the first tarmac test, the feeling in the Subaru was very, very good, and we still have some more pre-event testing time to go, so I think that I have prepared as well as possible. As far as my strategy goes, it's difficult to say before the rally, but to begin with I hope to be fast enough to keep a good position, and keep things under control, after then, we'll just have to see."

The second works entry will be driven by Solberg, rated as one of the sport's brightest young stars. A fine example of the Subaru team's philosophy of developing the careers of talented young drivers, the popular 27-year old Norwegian showed extremely promising form on his debut season in the Impreza last year and was able to achieve the best results of his career.

"We've had some very encouraging testing sessions recently, and it's very good to be working so closely with Tommi," Solberg admitted, "He has so much experience and has already suggested some different settings on the car that have had positive results, the advantage is that I've been able to adopt these settings too.

"As far as Monte Carlo goes, I'm going to start the rally with even more respect for it than I did last year. I think in 2001 I went too well too early and maybe got a bit too excited. It was my first time on the rally then, so it's important this year to be a little more calm and get good experience. Obviously I'm looking for the best result here, hopefully a points finish, but I'll looking to build the speed gradually. Monte Carlo is a very tricky rally, and although I don't mind dry or wet roads I don't like the black ice, which can come from nowhere."

The event has a tricky reputation, thanks largely to the notoriously unpredictable mountain weather conditions. The fast changing climate makes predicting the levels of grip on the narrow asphalt stages extremely difficult, and drivers are as likely to encounter a mixture of ice and snow as the more usual wet or dry tarmac - sometimes all on the same stage. Accurate intelligence on the state of the roads is vital and most teams will be using data gathered by their gravel and ice crews to build a picture of the road before deciding which tyre to use.

This year the rally will be made up of 15 stages that total 387km and take the crews north west of the Mediterranean coast to the twisty tarmac roads that snake through the Ardeche. Teams will start and finish each leg in Monte Carlo while servicing will take place at two different locations. Monte Carlo will host the central service point for legs two and three, while for leg one it will be based in the town of Digne Les Bains, 167km to the north.

The event begins with a ceremonial start on Thursday evening, although the real action starts the following day when the field of entrants will contest five stages on the Alpine roads to the north. Leg one will include the longest test of the rally, the famous 36km stage at Sisteron, which will be run twice.

Saturday's leg includes another six stages, two of which are repeated and Sunday's four final tests will be located close to Monte Carlo on the roads around Sospel. The winning car is expected to cross the finish ramp back in Monte Carlo shortly after 1500hrs on Sunday.