The major innovation is the introduction of a super special stage on the edge of León which will be run in darkness at the end of the opening two legs before hosting the finale on Sunday morning.

The rally begins on Thursday evening with a fiesta-like ceremonial start in Guanajuato, which last year drew more than 25,000 fans. The town is a UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site, famed for its beauty and unique underground tunnel network.

All the action is located north and east of León, the opening two legs comprising two identical loops of three tests before the super special stage. There are 17 tests in total covering 359.54km.



Hot tip:

Petter Solberg to bounce back from his disappointment in Monte Carlo and Sweden, to win the event for Subaru - benefiting from his position on the road, while Marcus Gronholm and Sebastien Loeb lose time early on 'sweeping' away the loose gravel. Solberg's luck has to change - surely?



Last year:

Petter Solberg won the event last year taking the victory by 34.5 seconds. Marcus Gronholm finished second, while Markko Martin completed the podium, with Sebastien Loeb and Harri Rovanpera fourth and fifth respectively. There were four 'works' retirements - namely Francois Duval, Roman Kresta, Chris Atkinson and Jani Paasonen.