2000 was an exciting year for the World Rally Championship, with the drivers' title being decided at the final venue, the Rally of Great Britain. Marcus Grönholm's 2nd place was enough to prevent Burns from a championship win, and gave double honours to Peugeot, who also finished 20 points clear of their nearest rival, Ford, in the constructors table. So what's in store for 2001?

The new season sees 14 rounds with 4 tarmac and 10 gravel rallies. As in 2000, seven manufacturers will be competing for honours, however the Rally of Great Britain was the last outing for Seat, who has pulled out of the championship. New for 2001 then, is Citroën, who are entering the Xsara T4 in 3 of the tarmac, and 1 of the gravel rallies throughout the year.

The Citroën Xsara T4 is a new entry to the WRC, but has already enjoyed success in the French Rally Championship during 2000, and could be a wild card in the 4 rounds they're entering. Philippe Bugalski and Jesus Puras will be behind the wheel, joined by Thomas Radstrom as a gravel specialist. The Citroën will be making its first appearance in Catalunya, followed by Acropolis, San Remo and Corsica later in the season.

Ford will be running in all 14 rounds of the 2001 season in the Focus RS, with Francois Delecour joining Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz for the first 7, and another 3 rallies, depending on the championship situation. The Focus RS has a new aerodynamic package and an electro-hydraulic gear-shift as well as improvements to the engine. In their third WRC year, Ford is aiming high, and only a championship win will satisfy.

New manager Mark Busfield is looking to improve on the Hyundai team's 6th place in 2000, although they will be starting the new season with a virtually unchanged Accent. A revised package is scheduled for later in the year with engine improvements on the top of their wish list. The team is entered in 13 rounds, Safari being the one omission. Alister McRae will be driving all 13, with the second car being shared by Kenneth Eriksson and Piero Liatti. Eriksson will be driving the 9 gravel events, while Liatti will be taking control on the tarmac.

George Donaldson, the new manager for Mitsubishi's WRC effort has a busy season planned for the team, with some major mid season revisions to the car expected. The team will launch at Monte Carlo with revised rear suspension and engine set-up, while a more radical car is expected at San Remo. As in 2000 Tommi Makinen and Freddy Loix are heading up the team, both of which are entering all 14 rounds.

After considerable success in 2000, the Peugeot 206 will remain relatively unchanged for the new season. World Champion Marcus Gronholm remains at the team with Didier Auriol and Gilles Panizzi. Despite winning the championship Gronholm still has work to do to on his tarmac form, with Peugeot nominating Auriol and Panizzi for points at Monte Carlo.

Bruno Thiry and Armin Schwarz will be heading up Skoda's charge for 2001. Although relatively unchanged, the Octavia has been through considerable testing, and has been tweaked to be a much more predictable, balanced ride, which should help bring Skoda a much needed boost. Along with their tough testing regime, Skoda is also entering 12 rounds, only missing out on New Zealand and Australia.

Subaru are launching into 2001 with a radical new body, in-line with changes to their road going line-up. The new Impreza is actually a 4-door, which although has a slight weight penalty over the outgoing model, improved chassis rigidity and aerodynamics should improve the cars driveability and bring stage times down. As the 2000 car was already running most of the new parts, there are very few mechanical differences between the two. Richard Burns, Petter Solberg and Markko Martin complete the teams main driver line-up, although expect appearances from Juha Kankunen and Toshihiro Arai.

So, who would I put the money on? Well, McRae can never be discounted, and if the Focus continues improving then this might just be his year. If Subaru can work their magic with the new car, then Burns should be in a very strong package. I wouldn't dismiss Peugeot, but I can't help feeling that luck was on their side during 2000. I look forward to seeing what Citroën can do, although with only 4 rounds they'll be unable to make any real impact. Mitsubishi may have something special lined up, but it will probably be too late to get one of the top spots. Either which way, rally fans have a lot to look forward to this year.