March 6, 2006 It seemed inevitable that Sebastien Loeb would find his way back to the head of 2006 world rankings following a 2005 season that was the most dominant on record. Following a win in the third round of the WRC in Mexico, Loeb has now regained the series lead and it would be a brave move to bet against him for the title. In the end, the Citroen driver had a thrilling fight to the finish with Subaru’s Petter Solberg to finally take the Rally of Mexico at the weekend (3-5 March 2006). Loeb got off to a steady start on Friday sweeping the roads clean for the benefit of Petter Solberg amongst others, but still hung on grimly to limit the deficit to just a half a minute. The next step was to make up the time lost, reducing the gap to a combative Solberg. It was only on Saturday night, after SS13, that Seb found any sort of breathing space after very tightly fought battle with Subaru driver that turned the event into a two horse race. The final phase of the victory plan, which took place on Sunday, consisted of a precise control of the lead, a painstaking task in which Loeb excels. All victories taste sweet, but for Seb – sheltering under a sombrero at the finish – this one was special.

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“To start with, it’s the first win that I have the pleasure of sharing with the Kronos team,” he explained. “Also, I’ve won a rally that has not been kind to me in the past. Finally, it’s been a win that I’ve had to go out and grab by the scruff of the neck. The tight battle makes this victory really worth it. Also, it’s put us at the top of the championship. In other words, everything is good!”

The same joy was shared by Dani Sordo, who finished just off the podium in fourth place in his first gravel event in the Citroën Xsara WRC. “How do I describe it?” he commented. “Fourth place is fantastic in itself. Added to that is the satisfaction of having had a good feeling with the Xsara on gravel, setting some decent times, and having made only one mistake – a spin at the start of the rally. Also, I have the knowledge that next I am going to drive the Xsara on asphalt on my home rally – the surface on which I have most experience. So how do you think I feel!” Understandably, emotion ran high for Marc Van Dalen, Kronos Total Citroen team principal. “I feel very proud of our team,” he said. “It’s a big day for Kronos Racing. This win is the result of a complex process that started a long time ago, with the aim of reaching the top. It’s also the reward for all the work we did last year, as well as during the off season, to put our plan for collaboration with Citroen into place, which trusted us and rent us perfect cars. This triumph tastes all the sweeter because it has been given to us by Sébastien and Daniel – an extraordinary duo both in the car and out of it. Now we must not rest: we have to keep working and build on our success!”

For Solberg, the eight points kick-started his campaign for the 2006 drivers’ title as they were his first championship points of the season. Solberg blazed through the final three stages of the rally and set the fastest time on the penultimate test, clearly demonstrating the rally winning potential of the new Subaru Impreza WRC2006.

"I am very, very happy with the result of this rally,” said Solberg. “Of course we set out to win but when that wasn't possible we kept pushing for second. I went flat out on Leg one to get a gap and it was unlucky to pick up the problem on the second day, but I tried hard to keep the time loss to a minimum. It was always going to be difficult to make up the time, but the car was very fast with everything working well. We showed that there is definitely more to come. It's good to finally get some points and now I want more. It will be close and I'm going to give it everything."

Chris Atkinson secured a double points finish for the team. In his first full year of WRC, Atkinson started the Leg in tenth position, moved up three places in the first stage and maintained the position until the finish. "The rally has been pretty good for us”, said the Aussie. “Of course it’s unfortunate that we hit the rock and then had the problem after that, otherwise I think we could have made the podium. We proved that the pace is right, it’s just unfortunate we weren’t able to translate it into a better result. It’s a tough sport. It’s some consolation that we got seventh overall and some useful points for me and for Subaru. We can take plenty of positives from this rally."

"We came here looking for victory but the way the rally ran we must be satisfied with the positions of both Petter and Chris,” said SWRT Sporting Director, Luis Moya. “Petter did a very good job this weekend and eight points moves him a step closer to his championship goal. We are happy to see that the performance of the car on gravel is good. We should not forget that most of the championship is contested on this surface. After the disappointment on the first day, Chris used the rally to learn more about the conditions and we have been impressed by his pace and consistency."

Ford World Rally Team drivers Marcus Grönholm and Timo Rautiainen and team-mates Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen both claimed points finishes on the Rally Mexico, maintaining the Ford teams incredible record of over 50 consecutive points finishes. Grönholm recovered from a first day crash to finish eighth in his Ford Focus RS World Rally Car while Hirvonen bounced back from rolling on day #2 to take 15th in a similar car. The result maintains the team's record of scoring points on every world rally since the start of the 2002 season.

Both BP-Ford pairings retired from the leg after their accidents but returned the following day under SupeRally regulations to complete this demanding three-day event, the third round of the FIA World Rally Championship 2006. Grönholm fought back from 22nd to claim drivers' and manufacturers points while Hirvonen secured the final manufacturers' point. Ford now lies second in the standings and Grönholm holds second in the drivers' championship.

Sizzling heat graced the León-based rally and high temperatures in the gravel mountain speed tests north and east of the city posed a tough challenge for drivers, cars and tyres. Only 17 of the 39 starters completed the entire 359.54km of competition.

As the opening gravel rally of the season, the dominant surface in the 16-round championship, performances here are expected to provide a reliable guide for the year ahead. The Focus RS posted a string of top three stage times, despite running at the head of the running order for much of the rally on slippery loose gravel which was swept clear to leave a cleaner line for those behind.

Grönholm started the final leg in 11th, intent on using the three stages covering 60.42km to climb back into a drivers' points position. He was second fastest on the opening two stages to move up to eighth and reach his target.

"We've enjoyed really good reliability and speed from the car on our first gravel event - it was the driver that made the mistake," said the 38-year-old Finn. "I've felt confident here and that is a good sign for the other gravel events this season. I would have liked to have had a good fight with Loeb and Solberg and I could have taken a good result without that mistake. I'm sure we can respond on the next two asphalt rallies because the Focus has a good history on that surface."

Twenty-five-year-old Hirvonen started this morning in 17th. His aim was to preserve the final manufacturers' point for BP-Ford and he took no risks to achieve that. "I'm happy with my speed this weekend but I just need to put my mistakes away," he said. "I realise now that I don't need to take any risks to set good stage times. I need to be a bit calmer. But at least we know that the Focus RS is competitive on gravel. It has been perfect - it just doesn't run very well on its roof!"

BP-Ford team director Malcolm Wilson drew some positives from a weekend that didn't live up to hopes. "We scored points and salvaged something from the event," he said. "It was a good effort from Marcus to score driver points. I'm pleased we were fighting for the lead on the first day with both drivers and equally happy that we had no technical issues with the car on its first gravel rally.

Next round

The championship returns to Europe for the first pure asphalt rally of the season later this month. The sweeping roads close to the rally base of Salou host Spain's Rally Catalunya - Costa Daurada on 23 - 26 March.

Final leaderboard Corona Rally México 2006

1. S. Loeb/D. Elena (Citroën Xsara) 3 h 47 min 8,8 s 2. P. Solberg/Ph. Mills (Subaru Impreza) + 48,9 s 3. M. Stohl/I. Minor (Peugeot 307) + 4 min 39,1 s 4. D. Sordo/M. Marti (Citroën Xsara) + 5 min 27,7 s 5. H. Solberg/C. Menkerud (Peugeot 307) + 12 min 35,4 s 6. G. Mac Hale/P. Nagle (Ford Focus) + 16 min 02,3 s 7. Ch. Atkinson/G. Macneall (Subaru Impreza) + 20 min 39,5 s 8. M. Grönholm/T. Rautiainen (Ford Focus) + 21 min 44,2 s …

FIA World Rally Championship standings for Manufacturers after round 3

Kronos Total Citroën WRT 34 pts, BP Ford WRT 30 pts, OMV Peugeot Norway 21 pts, Subaru WRT 20 pts, Stobart VK/M-Sport Ford RT 9 pts, Red Bull-Skoda, 3 pts.

FIA World Rally Championship standings for Drivers after round 3

S. Loeb (F) 26 pts, M. Grönholm (FIN) 21 pts, M. Stohl (A) 11 pts, P. Solberg (N) 8 pts, T. Gardemeister (FIN) 6 pts, D. Carlsson (S) 6 pts, D. Sordo (E) 6 pts, G. Galli (I) 5 pts, H. Solberg (N) 5 pts, Ch. Atkinson (AUS) 5 pts, S. Sarrazin (F) 4 pts, Th. Rådström 4 pts, G. MacHale (IRL) 3 pts, K. Katajamäki (FIN) 3 pts, X. Pons (E) 2 pts, M. Hirvonen (FIN) 2 pts.