Subaru driver Chris Atkinson is praying that the World Rally Championship gets underway in dry conditions in this weekend's Monte Carlo Rally.

The 28-year-old Australian took a superb fourth place on the rally last year - winning a thrilling final stage battle with Mikko Hirvonen and kicking off a run that would see him finish seventh in the championship.

And, with a new Impreza due to debut in May, Atkinson is hoping to repeat the form he showed early last season, rather than the disappointments he suffered later in the season.

"It's going to be an interesting event for sure," said Atkinson. "It's raining here in Monaco so I'm sure it's probably snowing in the stages already, but I hope it holds off.

"I've never done this event with a lot of snow so it's new for me. Both times I've run this rally we've had good results, but I don't underestimate how much of a challenge it is.

"Although the tyre choices aren't wide because we only have one slick and a winter tyre [after the championship switched to control Pirelli rubber] it's going to be important when we choose to take each one, and we have to watch out for punctures. I'm definitely looking forward to starting the season again now though."

His team-mate Petter Solberg, the 2003 world champion, has perhaps been the unluckiest driver of the last few seasons.

The 33-year-old Norwegian shunned a move to Citroen for last season in favour of signing a new three-year deal with Subaru - expecting another title challenge - but was met with a string of mechanical failures and a slow car instead.

His winless streak now stands at 35 rallies - a run stretching back to the 2005 Rally of Great Britain.

Solberg though, knows that Monte Carlo is a rally on which, more than any other, the driver can make the difference between winning and losing.

"It is important to get into a rhythm straight away and settle into a pace you feel comfortable with, Solberg, who has 13 WRC victories to his name, said.

"With no anti-deflation mousse [in the tyres] you can't take risks in the stages as a puncture could finish your rally.

"There will be a lot of snow I think and Monte is always tricky anyway so it won't be easy, that's for sure.

"It will be about who can make the most of their tyres and adapt to the conditions fastest, but if someone manages something special with them people will follow quickly."

Jamie O'Leary / Eurosport