BP Ford #2 driver feeling good going to Ireland despite fact it is pretty much a step into the unknown.

BP Ford's number two driver, Mikko Hirvonen has predicted that the Rally Ireland will be the toughest event of the season.

Mikko heads to the Sligo-based event, the third all-new round of the season, on a high though, following his victory in Japan at the end of last month.

Furthermore while it will be a new challenge, having tackled the Cork '20' International Rally back in September in Ireland, the 27-year-old at least has an idea of what the conditions will be like.

He also completed the team's three-day pre-event test on the Isle of Man last week and as such is very much ready for the off.

"After what I saw there [on the Cork], I think this will be the most difficult rally of the season," he confirmed.

"Nobody knows what the weather will do. It could be cold overnight so a combination of ice and narrow, bumpy roads would be extremely difficult.

"Victory in Japan was great for my confidence though. I had a perfect drive over the whole weekend and I'm feeling good going into Ireland.

"I want to help the team win the manufacturers' title there and that would give me the opportunity to go to the final round in Wales with the opportunity to help Marcus [Gronholm - my team-mate] in his fight for the drivers' title."

Hirvonen and Gronholm will be joined on the event by Abu Dhabi's Khalid Al Qassimi, who returns to the BP Ford WRT set-up for his fourth and final outing of the season.

Like Mikko, the 35-year-old is expecting it to be a demanding event: "As with every WRC event I have done this year, Ireland will be another completely new challenge. As before, the objective will be to establish a pace and learn how to adapt to the particular challenges of this event," he added.

"From what I understand of the stages in Ireland, they will be narrow, bumpy and with lots of surface changes. So in that respect, they will be quite similar to the roads in Lebanon on which I am competing the weekend before."