The 2010 World Rally Championship is go!

The countdown to the first round of the 2010 FIA World Rally Championship started today at the official launch of this year’s series in Paris.

This morning drivers from this year’s competition and a selection of their cars, gathered for a ’class of 2010’ photograph in the Place de la Concorde.

From there the drivers moved to the nearby headquarters of the Automobile Club de France, where FIA President Jean Todt opened the official presentation.

According to the championship’s new promoter, North One Sport, 2010 represents the dawning of a new era for the WRC. The introduction of a new S-WRC series for Super2000 cars, as well as an expanded calendar of 13 events, a selection of the best drivers in the world and a host of new television deals, make this a vintage year in prospect.

North One Sport managing director Neil Duncanson said: “This is a genuine new era for the sport and every stakeholder involved in the WRC believes the future is extremely bright. This year is just the start. The WRC will become the one of the world’s premier sporting brands in the next five years.”

The first round of 2010 season takes place in the ice and snow of Sweden on February 11th with new cars, teams and drivers joining the show. The sense of anticipation could not be higher, especially with the news that world former F1 champion Kimi Raikkonen and American extreme sports hero Ken Block will be joining the ranks of the WRC.

North One Sport unveiled television viewing statistics from last year’s season which showed the increasing popularity of the WRC. In 2009 the average number of television viewers per rally grew by 12 per cent, while the final round shoot-out between Sebastien Loeb and Mikko Hirvonen attracted a massive 61 million viewers worldwide.

And for 2010 WRC fans around the world can expect more WRC coverage with the announcement of a range of new television agreements.

These include five-year deals with MTV3 in Finland and Network 10 and One HD in Australia. Multi-year agreements have also been reached in countries including Italy (RAI), Scandinavia (Viasat), Portugal (Sport TV), France (Orange and Motors TV), the USA (Discovery), China (national and regional broadcasters) and the Middle East (Abu Dhabi TV).

A selection of further new deals for 2010 have been secured in France (TF1 and France Television), Greece (SKAI), South America (Fox Sports), New Zealand (Sky TV), the UK (Dave and S4C) plus global news syndication via Reuters and SNTV. A number of additional agreements are in the pipeline.

Other initiatives planned for 2010 include LIVE coverage from a number of events (starting in Rally Sweden), as well as more aerial coverage from the stages. In 2011, new on-board camera technology and state-of-the-art High Definition TV coverage will be introduced.

A new WRC video game and a re-vamped wrc.com later in the year will provide fans with more opportunities to interact than ever before.

Simon Long, North One Sport chief executive, said: "We’re really encouraged by this evidence of the enduring appeal of WRC and the confidence broadcast partners around the world are showing. With our exciting plans for the future and so many positive developments in the pipeline, just buckle up and enjoy the ride!”