Motor Sport/ World Rally Championship: The sun was shining for Marcus Gronholm when he powered his Ford Focus RS to victory on the Galway International Rally last February.
This morning it's a different story for the World Championship leader as he gazes out on rain-laden Northern skies and faces up to the prospect of fluctuating weather conditions and the challenge of unfamiliar stages in his quest to add a third world title to his record before he retires at the end of the season.
With a slender four-point lead over his arch rival Sebastien Loeb of France, Gronholm is cautiously confident as he starts this evening's opening stage of Rally Ireland in the grounds of Belfast's Stormont Parliament buildings.
"Fighting for world titles in the drivers' and manufacturers' championships is a great position to be in," said the 39-year-old Finnish ace. "To win both would be the most fantastic way to end my career. But of course, it's not that easy."
Gronholm openly admitted he thought he had thrown away the title when he crashed on the first day of Rally Japan, but a pace notes error by Loeb's co-driver Daniel Elena caused the meteoric Frenchman to crash his Citroen C4 which kept the Finn at the top of the standings. He also added that the Japanese event proved just how easy it is to lose points in such a highly-charged and competitive sport.
"Things change quickly in this sport so nobody in the team is taking anything for granted. With just two rallies remaining we have to be as strong and professional as we have been all season," said Gronholm.
Gronholm's fellow Finn Mikko Hirvonen, who is assured of third in the championship, knows competitors are in for a rough ride. "I think this will be the most difficult rally of the season. Nobody knows what the weather will be like. It could be cold overnight so a combination of some early morning ice and narrow, bumpy roads would be extremely difficult," he said.
The BP-Ford Team needs just three points from the two final rounds to clinch the manufacturers' championship. Advance preparations for Rally Ireland included a three-day ashpalt test in the Isle of Man earlier this week.
If Gronholm wins Rally Ireland, Loeb will have to finish no lower than fifth to stay in contention for a fourth consecutive title. It could all go down to the wire in Wales Rally GB on November 30th-December 3rd.
Interestingly Khalid al Qassimi of Abu Dhabi, who is seeded number 14 in a Ford Focus RS, compared the stages in the North West to those in a recent event in the Lebanon - "narrow, bumpy and with lots of surface changes. It was wet in the Lebanon and I realised very quickly just how slippery the roads can be in those circumstances, so that is already useful experience for Rally Ireland".
All 11,500 advance tickets for this evening's spectator stage have been sold out.
The entertainment starts at 6pm when young people from both sides of the Belfast community will perform local culture song and dance with musicians from the Belfast Beat carnival arts company on the steps of Stormont, in front of political leaders North and South.
Max Mosley, president of the FIA, will also be in attendance.
The first of the match races is likely to be between the two top young Irish contenders Kris Meeke in a Subaru WRC and Gareth MacHale in a Ford Focus WRC, as the running order for the Stormont stage is at the discretion of the organisers and not in the seeded order for the road stages.
Following an overnight halt, the rally re-starts from Sligo at 7.15am tomorrow.
