BP Ford Abu Dhabi gears up for challenge

Abu Dhabi: The BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team takes its challenge for a third consecutive manufacturers' world title to the final round of the FIA World Rally Championship in Wales which kicks off today.

With the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority-backed squad needing to overturn an 11-point deficit in the Wales Rally GB (December 4 to 7), team drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala realistically require a one-two finish in the Welsh forests to hold off the Citroen duo of Sebastién Loeb and Dani Sordo.

And with Abu Dhabi's 'Flying Finns' both having good records over Wales' fast forest roads, the UAE capital's title chasers are confident of their chances. Hirvonen won the Wales Rally GB last year, while Latvala finished fourth in 2006 and posted a string of special stage wins last year after recovering from a first daytime loss.

All but one of Wales' 19 stages will be held on privately-owned gravel tracks which are as fast as they are narrow, and Hirvonen and Latvala will be buoyed by the event's potential for attacking driving.

Twenty-eight-year-old Hirvonen identified the weather as the event's hardest aspect and likened parts of the rally to his home event in Finland. The Wales Rally GB's opening leg tomorrow offers the rare challenge of competition in total darkness, a WRC rarity and something Hirvonen is looking forward to.

Confident

"Driving in darkness, fog and rain is incredibly difficult. Night driving makes the rally even trickier. Alongside Japan and Monte Carlo, this is one of only three rounds where we drive in darkness.

"I feel confident though and I think we have a good chance of a one-two finish. If we can do that I hope it's enough to win the title," added Hirvonen.