With no one of the top drivers being able to pull out a significant advantage so far this season, the racing moved to Ipswich in Queensland. The form of Ford Performance Racings Mark Winterbottom has identified him as the man to beat, but last years series champion Garth Tander has been consistently scoring good points this year.

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.