"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.

"I don't remember how much of a difficulty it has been in previous years," the Finn admitted. "But Sebastien Loeb, who is our closest rival in the championship, starts only one car behind us so he won't have much of an advantage if there is loose gravel. However Petter Solberg could benefit a lot because he will start well down the order. It will only affect us for three stages on Friday morning because the afternoon stages are repeats.

"Mexico is quite a normal gravel rally. It's not particularly technical but has a good combination of fast and slower sections. The stages are held on a good surface, which is quite smooth, but cars tend to pick up quite a bit of damage and I'm not sure why. Maybe it's a combination of high speeds and stones coming through the surface during the second run over roads. Testing has gone well and I'm confident the car will be as competitive on gravel as it has been on asphalt and snow. I have a few small things to sort out with the brakes, but that's because I left-foot brake a lot."

Mikko Hirvonen meanwhile will drive the second car and after a two-day test session in Spain the Finnish driver is confident of a strong performance.

"The feeling with the Focus was very good and provided a huge boost ahead of Mexico," he said of the Spanish test. "In fact, I was quite surprised just how good it felt considering this was my first test in the car on smooth gravel. Before this week I had only driven the Focus on rough gravel and that was a reliability test. I developed a good base setting from which I can work for all the gravel events. I will work with the engineers to concentrate on the small details and to fine-tune the settings.

"Mexico has a little of everything. It's surprisingly fast and I remember driving flat out for long sections. The surface can be abrasive and as the temperatures will be quite high, I think it could be hard for tyres, but I'm sure that BFGoodrich will be well prepared. It's my first gravel rally since Japan last year but I've competed in Sweden and tested in both France and Spain on the loose so I don't see any problems in returning to the surface in competition."



555 Subaru World Rally Team:

[Petter Solberg, car #5 and Chris Atkinson, car #6.]