Hirvonen not expectant

Hirvonen moved up to second in the world championship after the best drive of his career on the snow-covered stages of Scandinavia that saw him take his second WRC win.

But his speed on gravel has never quite matched that of his Ford team-mate Marcus Gronholm or Citroen's Sebastien Loeb. And he is certainly not warning them to look out for his car.

"I'm eager to get started but I admit I don't know what to expect," Hirvonen said. "After beating Marcus and Sébastien Loeb in a straight fight in Norway, I'm unsure what will happen in Mexico.

“I'm not expecting to challenge them both on gravel immediately. I think it will take a few more rallies to get onto their pace, but there again you never know.”

Hirvonen has only competed in Mexico twice, with his best result a fifth place for Subaru in 2004, and last year saw him finish the even 14th after re-joining under SuperRally rules.

Team-mate Gronholm though, has at least been on the podium there, even though last year's eighth place was the beginning of the end of his championship assault.

Gronholm will be first on the road this time, by virtue of his four-point championship lead, but is not too worried about having to act as the road-sweeper for his rivals.

"It wasn't so bad last year so I'm not worried about it,” Gronholm said: “In fact I'm happy because to start first means I'm leading the championship and that's the best place to be!

“In some places it was tricky but generally it wasn't a big problem. It will only have an effect on Friday morning because the afternoon stages are repeats,"