Irishman Kris Meeke and new co-driver Paul Nagle repaid the faith shown in them by the Citroen management with a superb third overall on Rallye Monte Carlo in the Team AbuDhabi /Total Citroen DS3 WRC last weekend, as the 2014 World Rally Championship got underway from the principality of Monaco.

But Meeke was not the only British success on this Alpine classic with Ford's new young charger Elfyn Evans claiming an excellent sixth overall on his debut on the event in the stunning looking Fiesta WRC, the first time two British drivers have appeared in factory-backed cars since 2003 in the Burns/ McRae era.

Another notable result was that of Robert Barrable with Stuart Loudon on the notes in the Tunnocks-backed Fiesta R5. They took 13th overall and third in the WRC Two category.

Conditions in the French Alps were the worst Rallye Monte Carlo had seen in many years with a mixture of snow and ice greeting crews.

Day one consisted of six tests interspersed with service back in Gap, but conditions on the opening loop were really treacherous with ice, slush and snow everywhere, as after the team's ice-note crews had gone through the stages some hours earlier noting all the bad places, temperatures had dropped leaving most crews struggling with tyre choice.

At the end of the opening two tests it wasn't Gap resident and world champion Sebastian Ogier who topped the time sheets, it was the Lotos World Rally Team Fiesta of Robert Kubica who got off to a stunning start, opening up a 36 second lead over the Frenchman.

But things changed dramatically on third stage due to the conditions and making the correct tyre choice, as the cars arrived in Gap for the midday service.

It was another local boy Bryan Bouffier who held a 13 second lead in his privately run Ford Fiesta WRC, the Hyundai test driver has a lot of experience of the event.

Meeke now held a stunning second place, with the new Shell Oils-backed Hyundai i20WRC of Dani Sordo holding an impressive third on the team's debut event.

Sadly Sordo was the only remaining Hyundai after teammate Thierry Neuville lasted only a few kilometres before putting his i20 off the road and out of the rally.

Early leader Robert Kubica had dropped from first to fourth, just one ahead of Welshman Elfyn Evans who was gaining experience with every kilometre.

Last year's all conquering Volkswagen team were having a frustrating start to the event with Ogier dropping to nineth, Andreas Mikkelsen 17th and Jari Matti Latvala 18th.

The second loop was much cleaner, roads with ice and snow melting slightly. Ogier and Latvala started a big push to climb the leaderboard in the afternoon, but it was Bouffier who still held the lead as day one came to a close, 38 seconds up on Kris Meeke with Kubica now third, a hard charging Ogier now fourth with Citroen's other new boy Mads Ostberg holding fifth, Elfyn Evans 6th after a solid first day, with Latvala hot on his heels in seventh.

One man missing was Dani Sordo in the Hyundai i20 WRC, who stopped on the road section to stage 5 with apparently a dead battery, and a promising debut for the car was over.

Friday's leg consisted of five stages including two runs over the 30-mile Vitrolles to Faye test, with service again in Gap, but crews were relieved to have much cleaner roads, although very wet and patches of ice they were far better than day one's lottery.

With roads more to his liking Ogier started his attack and by the end of stage 8,he was up to second by the end of the next test he was leading by 11 seconds having taken a whopping 47 seconds out of Bouffier on stage 9.

The Ford driver did fight back on stage 10 by taking two seconds out of Ogier, but VW's no 1 struck straight back on the day's final test to hold a 51-second lead over Bouffier going into the leg 3, Meeke held third, Ostberg fourth, Latvala's impressive run netted him fifth overnight, with the impressive Evans sixth.

Robert Kubica's excellent drive ended on stage 9, with a high speed contact with a bridge parapet, after hitting a patch of ice, but the Polish star had done enough to show he is more than capable of mixing it with the WRC elite.

Leg 3 didn't start until Saturday afternoon but consisted of just four stages, two tests repeated the second loop in darkness, with the first of these La Bollene Vesubie to Moullinet taking in the world famous Col de Turini, where thousands gather each year to watch the action. The other stage was a returning Sospel to Breil sur Roya.

Heavy snow had fallen on the Turini leaving conditions some of the worst in the rally's history as crews slithered their way over the top of the Col.

Conditions never caused too much concern to Ogier, who set fastest time. The Sospel test lower down was covered in standing water as rain lashed down, most crews had stories to tell but positions remained the same, as crews headed for the final service in Monaco.

The final two tests of this dramatic event were run in darkness, but with the snow still falling heavily on the Turini test, the stage was cancelled when privateer Jaroslav Melicharek in his Fiesta WRC got stuck on the run up to the Turini blocking the stage, with all crews being given nominal times.

The final test passed without any real incident although patches of standing water in darkness left a few crews with heart stopping moments.

But as the crews arrived back to a stunning Monaco finish, it was world champion Sebastian Ogier who started the year with yet another win in the Red Bull Polo R WRC with Bouffier an impressive second in the Fiesta WRC, Meeke a stunning third, Ostberg a very solid fourth, Latvala fifth, Evans a very impressive drive to sixth on his first Monte Carlo passing stricken team mate Mikko Hirvonen on the final test with altenator failure.

It had been a real tough three days on the superb tarmac roads in the French Alps, Monte is still an iconic event with a fantastic history and is a fitting opening round to the WRC championship.

All change next month with the snow-laden roads of Rally Sweden.