'Excellent' - Grist praises Mexican WRC route.

Former World Rally Championship co-driver Nicky Grist spent four days in Le?n last week, assisting the Rally M?xico organisers in fine-tuning the route of the inaugural world status running of the event, due to take place this March.

The Welshman, who has co-driven a number of the sport's leading drivers - including former World Rally Champions Juha Kankkunen and Colin McRae - drove the entire route with Sporting Director Jaime del Palacio to confirm the accuracy of all documentation and pass on practical advice about spectator and media safety within the stages.

Grist, who has now retired from competition and taken up a new career in television commentary, was impressed with what he saw.

"The organisers have done an excellent job and the route is so compact they will be able to run the Mille Piste system quite comfortably," he said. "The guys had already done a good job on the road book, but it was prudent of them to ask me to give some advice on the route, certain aspects of the safety and fine-tuning of the road book.

"These guys know the route inside-out and as a consequence it's very difficult to see everything as you would the first time," Grist explained. "It's all too easy to miss something and by bringing me in I can check the route in greater detail; that's the main advantage to them, as well as for all the teams and crews.

"The stages are excellent and quite tricky," stated Nicky. "Probably thirty percent of them are slow and twisty, fifty percent are fast and the remainder are very fast. It's a great driver's rally; they're going to really enjoy it.

"The very fast stuff is quite wide, so it's a comfortable fast event that everyone will settle into very easily. The roads are smooth and the condition of the stages is excellent; there's hardly any rough stuff at all and that's something I didn't expect. All in all, the drivers are going to thoroughly enjoy themselves and I'm only sorry I'm not co-driving any more; it's an event I'd like to have competed in."

With his eyes now tuned in on the importance of visuals, Grist was equally enthusiastic about what the worldwide media can achieve during Rally M?xico.

"There will be long action shots where the cars will be in view for a long time with great action," he said. "There are great places for aerial images from the helicopter, with spectacular scenery over high-speed sections, and that says nothing of the general views; the whole look of the landscape, the mountains, the views of Guanajuato... it's all very different and the television product will look good.

"Overall I have a totally different view of what I had imagined; the way of life is excellent, the rally has great facilities and the city of Le?n has a very good standard of restaurants and hotels. The people are friendly and helpful and the organisation very professional and clued-up. I am really looking forward to coming back in March and I think there is a lot here for everyone to enjoy," Grist concluded.

Corona Rally M?xico, round three of the FIA World Rally Championship, will be hosted in Le?n, in the State of Guanajuato, between 12-14 March.