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WRC 2 in Mexico: Tidemand aims for Skoda treble

Pontus Tidemand can deliver an early season treble for Skoda Motorsport in the WRC 2 support category at Rally Guanajuato Mexico (9 - 12 march).

The Czech squad won the opening two rounds at Rallye Monte-Carlo and Rally Sweden with Andreas Mikkelsen and Tidemand respectively. The hot and dusty dirt mountain roads of central Mexico offer Tidemand the opportunity to continue the perfect start.

"Rally Mexico is very special and will really put us through our paces," he said. "We have made a great start to our world championship campaign and obviously want to challenge for the win in Mexico too."

The Swede shares the championship lead with Mikkelsen and the Norwegian's absence gives Tidemand the chance to take a clear points lead in his Fabia R5.

His main challenger should be M-Sport's Eric Camilli (below). The Frenchman is third in the standings after solid points from the opening two rounds in his Ford Fiesta R5.

Gravel is not Camilli's favoured surface but he can draw on experience of the Mexican tracks in a World Rally Car from 2016.
"I still haven't got a massive amount of experience on gravel but I think we made a lot of progress last year. If we can have a clean run and build our speed then I think a strong result is certainly possible," he said.

Poland's Hubert Ptaszek launches his WRC 2 campaign in a Fabia R5 while Mexico's Benito Guerra will harvest home support in a similar car.

Chile's Pedro Heller completes the entries as he combines his WRC debut with a maiden appearance in a four-wheel drive car in a Fiesta R5.

Zdroj: wrc.com