Unpredictability guaranteed

Michelin's return could throw up some wild cards

BBC Sport Online's Andrew Benson looks ahead to what we can expect in motorsport during 2001.

The motorsport year promises to be one of intrigue, fascination and excitement, across the full breadth of the racing spectrum.

Formula One, in particular, could well throw up its closest and most unpredictable season for years.

McLaren and Ferrari can be expected to continue their no-holds-barred battle unabated.

And David Coulthard has another chance to try to prove he can beat Mika Hakkinen and Michael Schumacher over a season.

So far, so similar. But the dawning of a tyre war could throw up some real surprises.

Montoya is expected to shake up the form book

Both the top two teams have stuck with the incumbent Japanese Bridgestone company.

But others have switched to French giant Michelin, and that could make all the difference.

Tyres might be boring for the public, but they can make a bigger difference to the performance of a car than any other single item.

Michelin cannot be expected to get it right every time after an absence of 16 years.

But there will inevitably be races when the newcomers get it more right than Bridgestone, just as there were when Bridgestone took on Goodyear in 1997.

When Michelin do get the upper hand their two best customers, Williams and Benetton, could easily win races. Jaguar has also switched to the new tyres.

Adding extra intrigue is the fact that F1's two hottest new chargers will both have the new rubber.

Williams' new boy Juan Pablo Montoya has already been impressing in testing on his return from the US-based Champ Car series.

The man he replaced, Jenson Button, will be keen to beat the Colombian in his Benetton and maintain his position as a future champion.

Best of Britain

World rallying could hardly be closer than it was in 2000, but it does not look like being less so.

On the one hand, new champion Marcus Gronholm will be keen to show his title was not a freak occurrence in his first full season.

Snapping at his heels are two Britons.

Burns wants to take his winning one step further

Richard Burns wants to go one better than the second place he achieved in 2000.

Colin McRae wants his liaison with Ford to come to fruition, and to wrest back the title of Britain's best rally driver from Burns.

Elsewhere, the British Touring Car Championship looks likely to be a pale shadow of its former self.

There will be slower and less spectacular cars - and far fewer high-quality entries.

But Steve Soper's return to the category at the age of 48 still adds frisson.

The on-track thrills in motorcycle racing are well known, but it is off the track that a lot of the really important action will take place in 2001.

The world of bike racing is locked in a power struggle - and it is Superbikes that seems to be living on borrowed time.

The Grand Prix series, called MotoGP, lost some of its popularity thanks to the appeal of Carl Fogarty and the type of bikes used in Superbikes.

But it is changing its rules for 2002 to allow Superbike-style machinery.

Already several star names have defected to MotoGP.

Fogarty himself is saying Superbikes' days are numbered. Its response to the crisis will be critical.