The 18th Corona Rally Mexico takes place this coming weekend - the third round out of sixteen in the 2005
FIA World Rally Championship.
Mexico will also play host to the second round in the 2005 FIA Junior WRC.
Commencing on Thursday 10 March with a ceremonial start in the picturesque Mexican town of Guanajuato, the route will cover eight special stages, 14 in total and 356.17 competitive kilometres.
The stages for 2005 remain largely unchanged from 2004, although small modifications have been made, including two brand new stages, which will provide a thrilling finale to the event on Sunday.
Special notes:
Mexico is the first gravel round of the series and also the only event in America.
Despite being new to the WRC in 2004, it was a resounding success - so much so that it won a prestigious award at the first attempt.
Based in Mexico's leather capital of Leon, the route is one of the highest of the season, peaking at more than 2,700 metres above sea level, and takes in medium to fast gravel roads that are classics in the making.
The stages are quite varied in speed and character, calling for a good all-round compromise set-up. Conditions are normally warm, and as Mexico is the first gravel rally after two highly specialised events in Monte Carlo and Sweden, it is an invaluable opportunity to assess the performance of every team and driver on a level playing field.
With none of the stages further than 50km from rally HQ, Mexico features one of the most compact routes of the whole of the 16-event series.
FIA World Rally Championship news:
Toni Gardemeister leads the World Rally drivers' championship following the opening two events in Monte Carlo and Sweden. The Finn is one point ahead of Peugeot's
Markko Martin, with
Sebastien Loeb and
Petter Solberg tied for third, each having notched up 10 points.
In the constructors' championship meanwhile, Ford lead, 3 points up on Peugeot and Mitsubishi.
