Drivers face marathon day in Sardinia
Italy’s round features daunting 200km leg
Guerra to resume WRC challenge in Mexico
Twelve months after his last appearance in a World Rally Car, Benito Guerra will make his return to top level competition at his home event, Rally Guanajuato Mexico.
Eighth in the rally in 2013 and sixth last year, the 29-year-old (pictured above) is the top seeded local driver on the entry list and joins a strong line-up of 14 World Rally Car crews. Like in 2014, Guerra will drive a Ford Fiesta RS WRC but this year it will be run by Motorsport Italia and not M-Sport.
Elsewhere, the manufacturer teams will each field their regular drivers, with Dani Sordo resuming his position at Hyundai after missing Rally Sweden to recover from a mountain biking accident. One withdrawal is Henning Solberg, who was listed as an entry for the Adapta Motorsport team but will not compete.
Twelve drivers have entered the WRC 2 support category, including several making their first appearance of the season.
Topping the list is 2014 champion Nasser Al Attiyah, who will begin his title defence alongside new co-driver Matthieu Baumel. He will go up against tough opposition including Stephane Lefebvre, winner of this year’s opening round in Monte-Carlo, and Jari Ketomaa, who won the most recent round in Sweden.
Also making his season debut in WRC 2 is Yurii Protasov. The Ukrainian was the WRC 2 class winner in Mexico last year and will switch to a Fiesta RRC after two events in World Rally Cars. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari, who finished runner-up to Robert Kubica in the 2013 title race, lines up in a Fiesta RRC, while Peru’s Nicolas Fuchs will drive a Fiesta R5.
The third round of the WRC, and the first gravel round of the year, is based in Leon from 5 - 8 March.
