We drop from nearly 3km above sea level at Rally Mexico to 420m below it and Jordan’s purpose-made rough roads that demand much of the WRC cars and their drivers alike. Who will cope best with the heat by the banks of the Dead Sea?
Sébastien Loeb (FRA) – Citroën
Loeb was well on his way to a maiden Jordan Rally victory in the first WRC running of the event two years ago before fate intervened in the form of the privateer Citroën C4 of Conrad Rautenbach appearing in the opposite direction on a one-track service road, the resulting crash costing Loeb the win. The Frenchman knows that winning a seventh straight title is a tougher task than ever this year (see other drivers listed below), but victory in Mexico last time out means that at least he has a six-point cushion at the top of the standings.
Sébastien Ogier (FRA) – Citroën
Ogier’s coming of age continues apace, with a nailbiting finish to Rally Mexico only just seeing him edged into third behind Petter Solberg. This, and a terrific fifth place in the opener in Sweden mean the Citroën Junior Team driver sits fourth in the 2010 standings (with the same points as third-placed Jari-Matti Latvala of Ford). The 26-year-old Frenchman likes Jordan, too – he won here in the J-WRC in 2008 in his title-winning Citroën C2 S1600, even managing 11th overall.
Petter Solberg (NOR) – Citroën
Petter drove the wheels off his privateer Citroën C4 in Mexico to take second from the works-backed Citroën Junior Team’s Ogier. The Norwegian, last champion in 2003 before Loeb’s domination began, now has the torquey 2009 engine in his Citroën, thus bringing him closer than ever to the factory drivers. It’s nigh on five years since he last won a WRC event (Rally GB in 2005), but it looks as if it may happen again soon – great news for WRC fans, if not for his rivals.
Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) – Ford
Mikko won here last time, but acknowledged at the time that the freak accident that saw Loeb finish 10th was the difference. Hirvonen is once again proving to be the closest challenger to Loeb’s dominance despite admitting that Mexico, where he finished fourth, just wasn’t his rally. Hirvonen is tipping Petter Solberg as the likely winner in Jordan, but whether or not this is just a little psychology, and the Finn really has Loeb in his sights, only he’ll know. What’s certain is that it’s the six points he trails behind Loeb in the drivers’ standings that the Ford man needs to make up.
Dani Sordo (SPA) – Citroën
Dani had a rotten Rally Mexico, hitting an obstacle on the road on stage 10 and having to retire from a solid fourth, only rejoining under SuperRally rules later, and he will want to put that right. The only previous WRC visit to Jordan saw him finish a strong second, having led the rally at times. The Spaniard also has renewed confidence after a tough but successful series of tests on the latest and last evolution of the C4 WRC in the arid southern region of his home country in the period since Mexico.
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