SWRC: Rally Mexico: Czech FNT preview

Martin Prokop would like to attack podium in Rally Mexico

After the successful debut of Czech Ford National Team in S-WRC in Sweden crowned with 3rd place in S-WRC classification, Martin Prokop and his co-driver Jan Tomanek now head to Mexico.

Reigning J-WRC champion Martin Prokop debuted at the wheel of the new Ford Fiesta S2000 in mid-February in Sweden. Martin and his co-driver Jan Tomanek did excellent job in the first round of Super 2000 World Rally Championship (S-WRC). They won the special stage in the overall classification and became the first crew in World Rally Championship history to do it with S2000 car. Martin Prokop became also the third Czech rally driver, that scored the fastest special stage time in World Rally Championship.

From the frozen Scandinavian forests the World Rally Championship now heads to the significantly warmer Mexican mountains. It's a unique challenge through the high- altitude gravel stages of the Sierra de Lobos and Sierra de Guanajuato mountains. The WRC event rotation system meant Mexico was absent from last year's calendar, but it returns in 2010. With Rally Argentina sitting out the 2010 season, Mexico is the only country in the American continent to host a round of this year's championship. The rally is a relative newcomer to the WRC calendar but has proved a popular addition since its debut in 2004, with a compact series of well-organised, high-speed gravel stages through the Sierra de Lobos and Sierra de Guanajuato mountains. The high-altitude stages have some downsides, as the engines of rally cars struggle to breathe in the thin air and suffer a drop in power of about 20 per cent. The road surface is dry and sandy, but rocks can get on the road, so drivers have to balance high speeds with caution.

Rally Mexico 2010 will start in the city of Leon on Friday, March 5, at 2 p.m. CET. During the next three days drivers and their cars will tackle with 22 special stages (354.6 kilometers). The finish podium ceremony is planed on Sunday, March 7, at 7 p.m. CET.

Martin Prokop: "Rally Mexico we already know a bit, because we participated in the recce in 2007, and started in the rally with S1600 car in the following season. However, we were motivated too much and rolled already on the very first special stage. This year we will choose a different strategy. We had short test on Monday and we were very satisfied with it. I have to say, that Ford Fiesta S2000 is really great rally car also on gravel roads. We will fight against some new rivals in S-WRC in Mexico, above all with Nasser Al-Attiyah and Michal Kosciuszko. I suppose, it will be tough battle like many times in the past, but we will try to do our best and fight for victory."

-source: zdenek zelenka