Loeb must stop Ford's run of success

Sebastien Loeb needs a repetition of last year's victory in Mexico this weekend to prevent Ford's Marcus Gronholm from pulling away in the drivers' championship.

Citroen's triple champion is six points behind the Finn after three rounds.

Mexico will be the first rally of the season on gravel, the most common surface in the 16-round championship, and the high-altitude stages in the mountains around the central city of Leon will be more indicative of teams' form.

"We're not leading the championship. But that could play in our favour in Mexico," said Loeb, 14th in the last race in Norway.

"We will try to profit from the situation to achieve our goal, which is to win."

Loeb is third overall in the championship, with Gronholm on 24 points and his team-mate and compatriot Mikko Hirvonen on 20, and will at least not be first on the road when the rally starts today.

Ford are aiming for a treble, with Gronholm winning in Sweden and Hirvonen in Norway. The team lead the manufacturers' standings with 44 points to Citroen's 28.

"I'm happy because to start first means I'm leading the championship and that's the best place to be," said Gronholm.

"It will only have an effect on Friday morning because the afternoon stages are repeats.

"The main aspect of this rally is the altitude," he continued. "There is quite a significant power loss in the mountains and at the highest parts the engine feels dead. But that is the same for everyone."

Impreza debut

Subaru's new Impreza car will be making its rally debut in the first long-haul event of the year and the struggling team need a boost. Norwegian Petter Solberg won in Mexico in 2005 and was second last year.

"We won't know until the start how we compare with the other teams," said the 2003 world champion.

"It's a rally we like a lot; I have always gone quite well there. Hopefully this event is going to be the start of a new phase for the team and we just have to build it up from Mexico for the rest of the season."

The rally has the shortest route of any in the championship, with just 849.55km in total and 20 competitive stages.Today's Ortega test climbs to an altitude of 2,737m. The rally ends in Leon on Sunday.