It is based in León, 400km north of Mexico City, with stages to the north and east. It is the highest round in the series, with the opening day's Ortega test climbing through cacti-filled mountains to a breathtaking 2737m.
It begins on Thursday evening with a spectacular ceremonial start in Guanajuato, which last year was packed with more than 60,000 fans. The town is a UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site, famed for its beauty and underground road network. The opening two days comprise two identical loops of three stages before two passes over a super special stage at León's race circuit. The track also hosts a double run on Sunday morning to bring the rally to a close. Drivers tackle 20 stages covering 353.75km.
Last year:
Sebastien Loeb won in Mexico last year and in the process took the
Citroen C4 WRC to the top step of the podium on what was then its maiden outing on gravel.
Seb inherited the lead on day one after
Petter Solberg was forced out prior to the start of SS6. He had managed to stay in touch with the Norwegian following the opening loop and then began to come back at him on the repeat runs, cutting the gap from 7.7 seconds to 2.1 seconds prior to the
Subaru driver having to call it a day. He ended the first day with a 26-second cushion.
The Frenchman then eased further ahead on day two and thanks to four wins from the six 'proper' tests, his advantage went up by over a minute on his nearest rival. As such he could pace himself through the final 62 competitive kilometres on the Sunday, to take his second win in succession in Mexico.
The event wasn't completely trouble-free for the Citroen man though and en-route to the ten points he, like some of the other crews, had to dodge the rocks, some of which were thrown at the cars by the spectators and others which had been deliberately left in the road. He also had to 'nudge' a gate open on the Saturday in SS10, as it was obstructing the route!
