After a six-week break, the British Touring Car Championship got under way once again at the Norfolk circuit of Snetterton. The SEAT Sport cars were predicted to have the advantage at the fast, former airfield, circuit. The practice sessions served to substantiate these theories, as the turbo diesel power plants appeared very effective compared to the rest of the BTCC field.

The World Touring Car Championship moved west from the Czech Republic to Estoril in Portugal, a circuit that was expected to serve the Turbo Diesel SEATs well. The championship table was close, and the drivers at the forefront would be aiming to try and break clear.

Team Vodafone moved on from a successful round at Sandown to try and perform as well again. Craig Lowndes was sure to be feeling confident, as he is the most successful V8 Supercar driver at the Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin, and was also on the back of his 70th V8SC win in the previous round.

Four time’s World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb crossed the Aegean Sea from Greece to tackle the Rally of Turkey with one goal, to win again. He had his work cut out, as he would be first on the road for the entire first day, and would again be acting as the road sweeper for those behind him.

The BMW teams moved to the Czech city of Brno, with the hope that form in the last round in Pau, and their success in previous years at the Brno circuit would bode well for this season. Augusto Farfus and Andy Priaulx took the wins in Pau, and would be feeling confident ahead of this race.

Fresh from his triple race success at Barbagallo, Mark Winterbottom was hoping to carry the form into the Midas 400 at Sandown. The Holden drivers were looking to bite back, and push the Ford’s down the pecking order.

With an eventful round at Thruxton seeing the championship tighten up, the North Yorkshire circuit of Croft provided the setting for Round Five of the British Touring Car Championship. Jason Plato had sounded out his intentions to hunt down championship leader Farbrizio Giovanardi, in a role reversal from this point last year.

The historic street circuit of Pau in France was the setting for the fourth round of the FIA World Touring Car Championship. Damp practice and qualifying sessions led to teams setting their cars up to wet specifications for the Sunday races, but were greeted with dry, sunny weather for the first race.

The World Rally Championship moved to the renowned car breaking round in Greece. Historically, the Acropolis rally takes its toll on cars, drivers, co-drivers and indeed entire squads. The shakedown and recce showed that this year would be no different, deep ruts and large revealed rocks and a loose surface would all add to the Greek adventure. To add more to the equation, Subaru were debuting their brand new Impreza. The Prodrive prepared car would be in the hands of Petter Solberg and Chris Atkinson.

The World Touring Car Championship returned to Europe after its South American sabbatical, which saw SEAT dominate the Mexican round. BMW and Chevrolet were hoping to build on their previous form, and seek out race wins. James Thompson’s new N Technology run Honda Accord was debuting in the WTCC, after sitting our the previous two rounds of the 2008 championship to-date.

The BTCC headed to the fastest circuit on the calendar, with a visit to the Hampshire circuit of Thruxton. Vauxhall’s Tom Onslow-Cole was hoping to build on his pole position last time out and take his first factory for the VX Racing team. SEAT again began a race weekend with a huge amount of uncertainty, having never run the Turbo diesel cars at Thruxton before.

Sebastien Loeb was hoping that he could get straight back to winning ways, after the freak accident which caused his retirement from the Rally of Jordan. Jari-Matti Latvala has been showing that he is a force to be reckoned with this season so far, and that he is a genuine title contender.

The V8 Supercar Championship moved to its most westerly location, with a visit to the Barbagallo Raceway in Perth, WA. Local hero Garth Tander was hoping to continue his amazing form, which has seen him clean sweep the last two rounds, albeit one being a non-championship round.

The desire for the third meeting of the BTCC season was that it be a dry meeting, and the qualifying session was just that. VX Racing’s Tom Onslow-Cole claimed his first ever pole position in the BTCC, ahead of SEAT driver Jason Plato. Congratulations must be conveyed to Plato, his wife Sophie and their daughter, Alena, who was born only a few days before the meeting.

The WRC got back underway with the inaugural Rally of Jordan. Previously a round of the Middle East Rally Championship, the event is located in city of Amman, and becomes the first ever round of the WRC to be held in the Middle East. Sebastien Loeb was hoping to continue his current form, as was Subaru driver Chris Atkinson. Atkinson’s teammate Peter Solberg was hoping to put the misery of a final day retirement last time out, and get some worthwhile championship points this time out.

It was with great relief that the focus of the Formula 1 season was again placed upon the actual racing instead of antics within the FIA. Fernando Alonso was hoping to achieve some success in front of his massive home support in Catalunya.

What seemed to be an almost never ending period between championship points scoring rounds of the V8 Supercar championship, was filled with the non-championship Australian Grand Prix support event. Holden Racing Team ace Garth Tander took a clean sweep of race wins in that round, and was hoping to take that form into the inaugural street circuit Hamilton 400 in New Zealand.

The BTCC moved north to the Northamptonshire circuit of Rockingham, near Corby. The weather was forecast to be changeable, but generally overcast through the race weekend. However, no one would predict quite how the weather would affect the three races. Team 48’s racing debut was again postponed, as the team opted to focus on fine tuning their cars, and enter the BTCC at Donington Park in the next round.

After a successful double win in the opening Round in Brazil, SEAT Sport were looking to again make their rivals suffer as the WTCC headed to the high altitude of Puebla in Mexico. The Puebla circuit is based around a banked oval, with extensive use of the infield. The track measures 3.7km for race distance, and consists of some 16 corners.

Felipe Massa silenced his critics with a win in Sakhir. The only downside to an otherwise perfect weekend was his missing out on pole position in a qualifying session, which saw BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica take the honour.

It was with great sadness that during the morning of Monday 31st March 2008, Kent Police confirmed that two of the people who died in the light aircraft accident in Kent on Sunday afternoon, were David Leslie and Richard Lloyd.

As the BTCC enters its 50th season, a brief look down the entrants list shows a whole host of names that could realistically challenge for race wins, and indeed the championship, whether it be the overall title or the independents title. The strong field is a mix of seasoned BTCC racers, and a vast number of debutants, meaning only one thing - more exciting action from Britain’s premier racing series.

With Sebastien Loeb and Mikko Hirvonen separated by just one point, Rally Argentina was always going to provide many talking points. The elevated nature of some of the stages would also suit the Subaru Imprezas, as the team were looking to build on their excellent form so far this season, particularly Chris Atkinson’s second place last time out in Mexico.

As the Formula 1 road show moved to Malaysia for Round 2 the attention was, for different reasons, focused on both McLaren and Ferrari. McLaren were looking to expand on their good start in Australia, whereas Ferrari were hoping to overcome the nightmare of the last round, and amass some worthwhile points this time out.

After a close-season dominated by the spying allegations, it was a relief to focus on racing once again. The season opener from Albert Park, Melbourne again drew massive crowds, and was supported by a non-championship outing from the V8 Supercars.

The V8 Supercar series moved to Sydney, New South Wales for Round 2. The Eastern Creek Raceway providing a whole host of action for the three-race round. Holden proved too strong for the Fords in qualifying, occupying the first three positions.

Jari-Matti Latvala headed to Rally Mexico still on the high of becoming the youngest ever winner of a World Rally event. However the weekend’s headlines were surrounding reigning World Champion, Sebastien Loeb, and an engine replacement during the shakedown.

As the WRC was taking place in Mexico, further south in Curitiba, Brazil, the opening round of the 2008 FIA World Touring Car Championship was taking place. Britain’s Andy Priaulx is aiming to make it four wins in as many years in the FIA’s flagship touring class. Yvan Muller is looking to go one better from his second place finish last season, and take Priaulx’s crown. Muller will be again with SEAT, who will run the Diesel engine for the full season after impressing during the latter half of 2007.

The Australian V8 Supercar Championship 2008 got underway this weekend, with the Clipsall 500 from Adelaide. This event, as we have come to expect, gave us much excitement and action.