News from the Manufacturers' teams:
Manufacturer 1.
Kronos Total Citroen:
[
Sebastien Loeb, car #1 and Xavier Pons, car #2]
Having been forced to play second fiddle to Marcus Gronholm on the opening two rounds of the WRC season, Sebastien Loeb has his sights set on reclaiming the #1 slot this weekend – even though Mexico is an event that hasn't been kind to the Frenchman in the past.
"It's true that we haven't been really lucky here so far!" Loeb admitted. "However it is quite high in my personal rankings. The stages are not narrow and I like this as it gives you the choice of driving line. The stages are all different, sometimes very fast and sometimes very technical. The weather is usually very nice, the landscape beautiful and people are warm and friendly.
"The main concern remains the stones which have caused problems during shakedown in the past. I also retired in 2004 after the sump broke on an impact on one of those stones. The solution? You need to remain extremely focused during the recce to locate as many of them as possible.
"In 2004 and 2005 the Xsara has always performed well in Mexico. I hope it will still be the case and that we could fight for a win. It would be the best way to reach our target number one: don't let Marcus keep us at bay in the championship."
BP Ford:
[Marcus Gronholm, car #3 and
Mikko Hirvonen, car #4.]
Ford team leader, Marcus Gronholm will be looking to make it three wins from three this weekend after making a perfect start to the season.
Gronholm has scored points on his two previous visits to Mexico and heads to the event looking to become the first person to start the WRC season with three consecutive victories – although he will face the challenge of running first on the stages on day one thanks to his current position as championship leader.
