Reigning world champion Sebastien Loeb is looking forward to a strong showing in this weekend's Mexican Rally, provided his Citroën Xsara's engine has what it takes to go the distance.

Reigning world champion Sebastien Loeb is looking forward to a strong showing in this weekend's Mexican Rally, provided his Citroën Xsara's engine has what it takes to go the distance.

Engine problems in the Swedish Rally cost the Frenchman a second-place finish, and he currently lies four points behind the championship leader, Ford's Toni Gardemeister. Citroën team boss Guy Frequelin has admitted that he did not know what the cause of the engine failure was, but expected to know after the end of April's New Zealand Rally.

In the build-up to this weekend's action, Frequelin admitted that his team had underestimated the new FIA rules stipulating that engines should last for two events.

"Since the 2003 Acropolis Rally, the Xsara has notched up 57 starts in 25 rallies without an engine problem," Frequelin stated.

"In testing, our engines covered much more than the stage distance of two rallies. But, as I said before the Monte Carlo Rally, we didn't have enough hindsight to judge this new regulation.

"On the Monday after the Swedish Rally, we began analysing the sand’s texture and the way in which it affected the engine with which we won the Monte Carlo Rally. We think we have located it. We will know after New Zealand whether we were right..."

However, leading up to this weekend's event, Loeb said that, while he believed a finish was important, Citroën's situation in the championship was not yet desperate t.

"In Mexico we know we need to finish to prevent someone pulling out a clear lead in the two championships," Loeb said.

"It's far from being a desperate situation, though, and nobody has pulled out a clear-cut gap, so it will be possible to attack without making silly mistakes.

"After this rally, which is the first of the year on the most frequently encountered surface in the championship, we will have a precise idea of the relative competitiveness of the teams in 2005.

"I think we can come out of Mexico well!"

Original article from Car