The opening round of the 2008 World Rally championship season concluded in Monte Carlo on Sunday, with the glamorous surroundings of the legendary street circuit once again providing a fitting backdrop for the start of another adrenalin-fuelled season of racing.
However, mastering the tricky tarmac of Monaco's famous Formula 1 Grand Prix circuit proved too difficult a task for some.
Not so for defending champion Sebastien Loeb and co-driver Daniel Elena in the 2008 Citroen C4 WRC.
With four previous career victories in the traditional season opener in Monaco, the Frenchman entered the event as the obvious pre-race favourite, a billing that he eagerly delivered on throughout the race weekend.
Loeb and Elena maintained an iron grip on the event throughout the final five stages on Sunday, completing the rally more than two and a half minutes ahead of their nearest challenger with a total time of three hours, 39 minutes and 17 seconds.
Loeb's convincing victory sent out an important psychological message for the rest of the field for the coming season.
Mikko Hirvonen, in his debut drive in the the factory Ford Focus WRC, completed an excellent weekend as the team's new lead driver.
The Finn was a consistent threat to Loeb's lead, but he was ultimately unable to topple his championship rival from the time-sheets, finishing two minutes, 34.4 seconds adrift of the leading pace at the end of the 19 stages with an overall time of three hours, 41 minutes 51.4 seconds.
A thrilling battle for third between Chris Atkinson in his Subaru Impreza WRC and Belgian driver Francois Duval in a Ford Focus WRC developed over the final day.
Duval began the day ahead by 20 seconds, but Atkinson chipped away throughout the day to reduce the gap to just 1.1 seconds.
Unusually the pair set exactly the same time around the final 2.7 kilometre street circuit, giving Atkinson the final podium place.
The young Australian gained his best result in the sport since 2005, when he finished third at the Rally of Japan.
However, the plaudits belonged to one man after the opening round, with Loeb collecting his fifth Rally victory in Monte Carlo and the 37th of his career.