Loeb after his 50th WRC victory in Cyprus

Victory on the Cyprus Rally would take Sebastien Loeb’s record breaking tally of WRC wins to 50 - twenty clear of his nearest rival - but to do it, he’ll probably have to overcome the worst possible road position.

The special feature of this year's Cyprus Rally, the third round of the 2009 World Rally Championship, is that it is a mixed-surface event, with one day of asphalt competition followed by two days on loose stages.

Initially favourable to the idea of a mixed-surface rally, Loeb later changed his mind when it was decided that all three days would be driven on Pirelli’s Scorpion gravel tyres alone.

As championship leader the Frenchman will tackle the opening day’s stages first but runs the risk of being kept in that position on Saturday by strategic driving from his Ford rivals behind. As soon as the competition switches to loose gravel on Saturday the driver first on the road will be disadvantaged as he sweeps a clean line for those following.

Loeb won this event in 2004, 2005 and 2006 and says he is targeting further success this time round - even if the conditions are less than ideal: "It's a shame to have only done things by half,” he said. “We will be competing on asphalt with ill-suited brakes, tyres and suspension. The balance of our C4 WRC is still very good with this set-up, but we are aware that we will need to look after our tyres to avoid punctures. It will probably be nice for the spectators to see the cars sliding, but I don't think it will be all that stimulating for the drivers.

“The fact that we are starting the weekend on asphalt won't encourage us to attack, either. What will be the point in being first overall on Friday evening? That will mean facing road sweeping duty on the next day's loose stages. That said, this is not a strategy we will be able to afford to adopt because we will be starting the weekend first on the road. Our objective will therefore be to build up as big a lead as possible on the opening day," he concluded.

Dani Sordo has only contested the Cyprus Rally on one previous occasion (2006), which is two times less than his co-driver Marc Marti who started this event twice alongside Carlos Sainz. As was the case in Ireland and Norway, the Spanish pair will be out to score as many Manufacturers' points as possible. "It promises to be a tough rally," said Sordo.

"Despite the fact that asphalt is seen as our favourite type of surface, the regulations concerning the specification of the cars is likely to have a big influence. We have tested on asphalt with gravel tyres and our C4 WRC was as strong as ever. We worked on the suspension to adapt it to sealed surfaces, but it's notably the brakes and tyres which stand to suffer the most, especially if the weather is hot."

The Cyprus Rally marks the debut of a new look for Citroen Sport which has been renamed Citroen Racing. In addition to the new name and logo, a new livery, with a higher proportion of white, will be applied to the team’s cars and trucks.

Citroen Sport engineer Francois Xavier Demaison spoke to wrc.com about the unique challenge of this year’s event. Click here to watch the video.