After two unusual events, the WRC begins a series of six gravel rallies in Mexico. The Citroen Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team, which currently leads the Manufacturers World Championship, will be represented by the crews Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen and Dani Sordo/Carlos del Barrio. The DS3 WRC of the Abu Dhabi Citroen Total WRT will be driven by Chris Atkinson and Stephane Prvot.
As it celebrates ten year since joining the WRC, this years Rally Mexico will be different for severalreasons. The first of these is that the list of entrants at the third round of the season does notinclude the no.1, as Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena are not taking part in the rally. This has notbeen the case since 2006, which means a new line-up for the Citroen Total Abu Dhabi WRT.
Alongside Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen, nominated to score points in all thirteen rounds,Dani Sordo and Carlos del Barrio will be competing for the works team for the first time this year.Mikko Hirvonen has high expectations for this first gravel rally: For me, this is where the seasonstarts for real. We now have a very good idea of the level of our rivals. I think we can say that wellhave to fight on every stage and produce a series of flawless performances in order to win rallies.Last year, I was pretty close to Seb for long periods of the race. I know I am capable of producingvery good performances on this surface and I like racing here. We have done a lot of work in testingsince Sweden, both on my driving and on the set-up of the car.
With Seb not competing, maybe this rally is a little bit peculiar for Citroen Racing, continued theFinn. It really is the start of a new era for the WRC, but I dont think that it means there is anyadditional pressure on me. My job is to get the best possible results and to help Citroen to win. Allthe people supporting me want that too. I feel full of positive energy and I cant wait to showeveryone that I can win.
Dani Sordo is also hungry for success. Although he missed the last two rallies held in Mexico, theSpaniard isnt here just to make up the numbers: Along with Argentina and Catalonia, this is mythird home rally! I like this event, especially the second runs on the stages, when there is a lotmore grip. That means that the qualifying stage and the choice of starting positions for day one willtherefore be very important.
After taking part in the 2012 Rally Finland in a DS3 WRC, Chris Atkinson will be competing in aCitroen in Mexico. Selected by Khalid Al Qassimi to drive the Abu Dhabi Citroen Total WRTs car,the Australian was clearly excited to be competing in Mexico: I'm always happy to be back in theWRC and race with a team as competitive as Citroen Racing. Its a magnificent opportunity for me,because I had no plans to take part the World Championship this season. Ill be going all out toscore some points for the team again. I tested the car in Portugal a few days ago. Although it wasraining, it did give me the chance to get back into the swing of things. I hope I can secure a top 5finish; that would be a good result.
A fourth Citroen DS3 WRC will be entered privately and driven by the Bento Guerra/Borja Rozadacrew. Last years P-WRC World Champion, the Mexican will be taking part in his first rally in aWorld Rally Car.Based in Leon Mexicos shoe-making capital Rally Mexico will get underway on Thursdayevening in Guanajuato. After the traditional ceremonial start held in the streets of the former miningcity, the competitors will complete two special stages. The rest of the route is largely unchangedfrom previous years, with long stages such as the 55km-long Guanajuatito interspersed withcountless short stages, which can also prove decisive in the outcome of the rally!THREE QUESTIONS FOR DANI SORDOYou rejoined Citron Racing at the start of the year. How do you feel the last few weeks have gone?Obviously, things went much better in Monte-Carlo than in Sweden. It was fantastic to be a part of the Citron family again for the start of the championship. In fact, it was almost as if I hadnt been away! The rally went well and we finished on the podium, so I couldn't have hoped for a better result for my first race back with the team. Things were more complicated in Sweden, as I didnt make it to the end. But I still learned a lot of things. My understanding of how the Citroen DS3 WRC works is getting better all the time.
Its as if you never left, but your state of mind seems to have changed in the last two years. You seem more aggressiveI have started 100 WRC rallies since 2003, but I have yet to win. I want to put this right. I don't want to become obsessed by it, but this is my personal goal for the year! To achieve this, I have to keep working relentlessly in order to improve. I had my first outing in the DS3 WRC on gravel in testing a few days ago, which enabled me to get an idea of its handling, although the weather conditions were closer to what you might expect in Great Britain than Mexico! Now, its time to get on with the race.
You have spent the majority of your racing career with Sbastien Loeb as a team-mate. What do you think this first rally without him will be like?Well, I hope that the team won't spend the whole weekend crying! (laughs) It will undoubtedly be a little bit strange, but I know that the people here are very professional and that they will be focussed on the rally itself. This change gives us more responsibility and well have to step up to theplate. I dont think anyone can replace Seb, but well be doing everything in our power to ensure Citroen stays ahead of its rivals.
RALLY GUANAJUATO MEXICO Round: 3/13Base: Len Service Park: Len Poliforum Surface: Gravel Weather: Generally sunny, with average temperatures between 10C and 30C Sunrise and sunset on the first day of the rally: 7.00am/6.53pm Local time: GMT-6 Currency: Local currency is the Mexican Peso (EUR 1 = MXN 17). Website: www.rallymexico.com
Technical information: Spare parts (transmission, subframes, steering racks and turbochargers) are to be sharedwith the Sweden and Argentina rallies.Tyres: 28 Michelin Latitude Cross tyres to be chosen from 28 hard compound and 16 soft compound tyres. Reconnaissance: Tuesday 5 March and Wednesday 6 March, from 7am to 7pm. Free practice and qualifying stage: Thursday, 7 March from 8am on a 6.27 km-long stage in Llano Grande,19km from the service park. Route: 23 special stages (13 different stages). 394.88km of timed sections. Total distance: 1,026.30km.
