Mexican driver Benito Guerra has revealed that a good result on Rally Mexico will net him nine more outings this year in a Citroen DS3 and a full season in 2014.
Last year’s P-WRC World Champion, Guerra is taking part in his first rally in a World Rally Car this week.
For now it’s a one-off outing, but his financial backers have offered him a huge incentive to do well.
“If I get a good result my sponsors will support me in the next races and in 2014,” he told wrc.com. “So I have to use my head, I have to drive fast and I have to get some attention for the sponsors and show that I could be the next local hero in rally.
“They didn’t talk about any position specifically, instead this is about getting media coverage here in Mexico, so I asked all the Mexican media to support me because my career depends on it!”
Despite a lack of seat time in the DS3, Guerra was pleased with how the event had gone so far.
“In the Qualifying Stage I beat Prokop and Kosciuszko, which was good because it was my first time in the car,” he said. “In the stages tomorrow I hope to be more in the fight. Beating all the privateer drivers will be a good result. That’s the main idea.”
Despite so much riding on his performance in the next few days, Guerra is confident he can keep a cool head.
“It’s a lot of pressure, yeah, but last year the pressure was worse because I was fighting to get a sponsor, fighting to win the championship and fighting to win the rallies,” he explained.
“Now I have a big chance. I’m in a rally I know quite well and in a World Rally Car. I have to drive and keep in mind that if I do well everything will go well. The way to do that is not to think about the result – just the driving.”