World champion Sebastien Loeb won the 2007 Rally Ireland

Holder Sebastien Loeb will be one of 21 contenders in the opening round of the World Rally Championship (WRC) in Ireland later this month.

The withdrawal of Suzuki and Subaru leaves Citroen and Ford as the only manufacturers in this year's WRC.

Citroen driver Loeb will be aiming for his sixth successive title this year.

Loeb and team-mate Daniel Sordo will defend the manufacturer's title while Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala will compete for Ford.

Subaru and Suzuki announced last month that they were pulling out of the championship because of the economic downturn.

Away from the manufacturer teams, Henning Solberg, Umo Aava and Matthew Wilson will run under the Stobart banner.

Khalid Al Qassimi will have another WRC campaign in BP Ford Focus while Chris Atkinson and Sebastian Ogier will compete in the Citreon C4 WRC.

The McHale brothers, Austin, Gareth and Aaron will be the main Irish challenges in their Ford Focuses while other home drivers Eamonn Boland, Stephen Murphy, Tim McNulty, Michael Barrable and Ray Breen have also entered.

Outside the WRC class 43 additional competitors have also entered Rally Ireland 2009.

These include 2007 junior WRC rookie of the year Donegalman Shaun Gallagher in a Mitsubishi Evo 9.

The event will see World Rally Championship action in seven Irish counties.

The event starts with a ceremonial stage in Enniskillen on 29 January.

In addition to county Fermanagh, action will take place in Cavan, Leitrim, Tyrone, Sligo, Donegal and Roscommon.

Rally Ireland will be the first WRC event of 2009 and it will be the first time in almost 30 years that the season opener has not been in Monte Carlo.

Event Director John Naylor said he was "heartened" by the number of entries despite the current "challenging economic environment".

The Service Park will be based in Sligo IT, while Rally HQ will be in the Clarion Hotel in Sligo town.

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