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Gripping stuff - the motorsport that is revving up for global domination

Reading Time:8 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP

The sound comes first, a distant growl of an engine. Then a shrill whistle, blown by one of the army of gendarmes spread around the French Alpine valley.

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It's a warning and in a matter of seconds you see why. A car approaches at high speed, emitting an earthy roar. Spectators moving up the road to a better vantage point quickly take cover, in bushes, over a stone wall or up the hillside embankment.

The car flashes past, less than two metres away from the muddy bank on one side and the steep drop beyond the wall on the other. There is minimal margin for error, by drivers or spectators. Seconds later the car is sliding into the bend and, a fraction after that, pulling away at full pelt into the next stretch, giving out a salvo of backfiring reports as it goes.

The whole raucous cameo of noise and colour lasts barely 15 seconds. It's a hell of a welcome to the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) and its most famous event, the Monte Carlo Rally.

Such passages of action - vehicles hitting 120mph on treacherous, narrow, winding roads with sheer drops on one side - are the essence of rallying for competitors and fans alike and they typify why many true believers feel it can challenge Formula One as the world's leading motorsport.

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And after a week spent observing the WRC's season-opening event with the 555 Subaru World Rally Team (SWRT) it's hard not to share their conviction that this is a sport on the move.

'There are only two worldwide motor racing championships, Formula One and WRC. Comparing these two, you can say that F1 has been much more powerful up to now because it has been more media friendly. It's easier for television to cover because it's on a circuit. In contrast WRC cars go out one-by-one every two minutes over difficult courses covering terrain that is not easily accessible.

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