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.