WRC’s youngest-ever winner, in Sweden in 2008, came tantalisingly close to back-to-back victories when the series visited Mexico in the next event. Latvala (pictured, above) led the way after day one, but then a fault with the turbo on his Focus engine, along with the built-in disadvantage of starting first on the road, saw the Finn’s lead gradually eaten away to nothing. Nevertheless, he did take third back then, and with a podium already in Sweden this year, perhaps the Ford man’s Mexican luck might change this weekend.
Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) – Ford
Dani Sordo and Sébastien Loeb might have set the early pace in their Citroëns in last month’s Rally Sweden, but in the middle of day two, Hirvonen grabbed Loeb’s lead and didn’t let it go. The Finn’s record in Mexico is rather ordinary by his high standards – 14th, third and fourth in the last three visits – and being first on the road here this time will mean he sweeps the road for everyone else on day one. It’s too early in the season for team orders, but perhaps what his wingman Latvala does here, whether by a win or other means, will decide whether it’s Hirvonen or Loeb on top of the WRC standings come Sunday.
Sébastien Loeb (FRA) – Citroën
Losing out to Hirvonen in Sweden is unlikely to have concerned Loeb too greatly. Snow has never been the six-time champion’s best surface, and he goes to Mexico knowing that his Finnish adversary will have to sweep the loose, gravelly surface for him from his rally-starting position. Nevertheless, Loeb is serious enough about ensuring Citroën success this season to turn down an offer to drive a Peugeot at Le Mans this year, so will be fully focused on securing a fourth consecutive Rally Mexico win.
Sébastien Ogier (FRA) – Citroën
Frenchman Ogier is no doubt fond of Mexico. In the last rally here back in 2008, he not only won the J-WRC class outright on his full debut in the Citroën C2 Super 1600 but also took a point in the overall WRC standings, the first S1600 driver ever to do so, after being promoted to eighth after local driver Ricardo Triviño was excluded for using unhomologated driving gloves. If this was a lucky break, Ogier’s fifth place in Sweden last month, now in a Citroën Junior Team C4, was not. Expect another impressive showing.
Kimi Räikkönen (FIN) – Citroën
Räikkönen’s entry into WRC has been, quite literally, a very bumpy ride so far. Having crashed out of the Arctic Lapland Rally, in which he’d entered his C4 WRC to get accustomed to conditions ahead of the WRC's season-opening Rally Sweden, he first hit traffic, in the form of strugglng Matthew Wilson, and then a snowbank when he was flying on his WRC debut in Karlstad, finishing 30th. A recurring back problem from his F1 days has now nobbled his chances of testing for his gravel debut, so Mexico will be a real unknown quantity. But Räikkönen will be undaunted… and this means watching him drive should once again be enormously entertaining.
Source: Red Bull
