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Mexican altitude to test WRC stars

This weekend’s second round of the 2010 World Rally Championship (WRC) moves to the American continent where 22 stages covering 354 kilometres of gravel to altitudes above 2500 metres will test drivers in the Rally Guanajuato Bicentenario 4 – 7 March.

Based at Leon, 400 kilometres north-west of Mexico City, the rally featuring the world’s best drivers starts from the historic Guanajuato on Thursday evening, finishing at 1pm Sunday afternoon back in Mexico’s fifth largest city.

Starting first by virtue of their opening round victory in the snow of Sweden, BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen will be the lead car for the opening day.  The first of seven consecutive gravel events, Hirvonen, who drives a Ford Focus RS WRC, realises it’s the price you pay for being the leader.

"Leading the championship can have its disadvantages, and I now run first on the road for the opening gravel rally of the season.  My rivals have better road positions than me so it will be difficult, but I'll still try to find a way to challenge for the win.  I'm not underestimating the difficulties, but I wouldn't swap my win in Sweden for a better start seeding," said the 29-year-old Finn, who will be contesting his 100th WRC event this weekend.
However defending drivers’ title champion and three time winner of the rally, Sebastien Loeb and co-driver Daniel Elena have vowed to even the scores.  Driving the Citroen C4 WRC for the Citroen Total World Rally Team, Loeb trails Hirvonen by seven points and says his car is well matched to the varied road styles organisers have planned.

Currently third in the driver standings, BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team’s Jari-Matti Latvala and co-driver Miikka Anttila start ahead of Citroen Total World Rally Team’s Dani Sordo and co-driver Marc Marti.  While both are better placed for a cleaner road surface, the likes of Petter Solberg and Phil Mills in the Citroen C4 WRC are equally capable of being winners.

Added to the star cast; Kimi Raikkonen and Kaj Lindstrom, also in a Citroen C4 WRC will be joined by first-time entrants to the WRC: American stunt star Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino, driving a Ford Focus RS WRC.

Again a round of the Production-World Rally Championship (P-WRC) and Super-World Rally Championship (S-WRC for S2000 cars), former P-WRC champion Nasser Al-Attiyah and co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini will switch to driving a Skoda Fabia S2000 for the first time.

With only 35 teams entered for the event, Czech team Martin Prokop and co-driver Jan Tomanek in the Ford Fiesta S2000 are the first of the privateer entries, followed by Armindo Araujo and co-driver Ramalho Miguel heading the P-WRC field in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X.

While the WRC and P-WRC cars will have an idea what lays ahead on the hard sand and gravel based roads through the hills east of Leon, it will be the first time the S2000 cars have been used at such altitude.  Climbing to a dizzying 2737 metres, thin air lowers engine power and places more demands on the crew fitness as their bodies struggle to maintain oxygen levels.

A complete package of road style from fast and open to tight and twisty, the rally is known for its surprises as crews drive the roads in pre-event reconnaissance noting deceptive points and hidden rocks.  With the only known being the use of Pirelli’s hard Scorpion tyre, its compact nature boasts a 40% ratio of competition to total event distance.

Including a super special stage in downtown Leon – walking distance from the Poliforum exhibition centre and event headquarters, the rally coincides with the 100th anniversary of the Mexican Revolution and the 200th anniversary of its independence.