Rally: Loeb begins quest for ninth WRC title

Sebastien Loeb will be aiming for an unprecedented ninth World Rally Championship title when the 2012 season kicks off Wednesday with the return of the Monte Carlo Rally.After three years on the Intercontinental Rally Challenge circuit, the Monte Carlo Rally is back in the WRC and set to provide a spectacle with seven world champions and five former winners of the race in the field.Loeb heads the lineup in his Citroen DS3 and is the overwhelming favourite for the seasons curtain-raiser, having recorded five victories in seven attempts in the principality, and the Frenchman was delighted to see the event return to the WRC.For me, its a no-brainer - the Rallye Monte Carlo has to be in the World Championship, Loeb insisted.It is the worlds most famous rally; you just cant have a world championship without itIts also a rally where I have always done well, he added.The Frenchman is not the only driver to have triumphed in Monte Carlo, however, with Francois Delecour, Sebastien Ogier, Mikko Hirvonen and Bryan Bouffier also having celebrated victories in the event.New Citroen recruit Hirvonen, winner of the 2010 edition when it was part of the IRC circuit, admitted the unpredictable winter conditions that are a staple of the opening rally makes it one of the toughest on the calendar.Monte Carlo has such a long tradition and the championship has to start from Monte Carlo but I have a kind of love and hate relationship with the rally, Hirvonen said.I mean I love it when Im not there but when youre up in the mountains with the wrong tyres doing icy downhill with the slick tyre then I hate it. But its a real challenge and Im very happy to start the season over there and really excited to be in the Citroen, the Finn, a new teammate of Loeb, added.The course includes 430 kilometres of timed sections over 18 stages, with drivers departing from Valence on Wednesday and passing through the Ardeche, Haute-Loire, Vercors and Alpes-Maritimes regions before arriving in Monaco on Sunday.