Wednesday, July 23 2008 -- Mikko Hirvonen may be leading the World Rally Championship standings at the midway point of the season, but along with team mate Jari-Matti Latvala, he will be receiving special classes from an asphalt driving coach to master the smooth surface rallies that are lined up in the second half of the season.

BP-Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team principal, Malcolm Wilson has confirmed that both men had spent a considerable amount of time in UK with renowned racing tutor Rob Wilson in a bid to improve upon their asphalt driving techniques.

Hirvonen and Latvala, have both been known to prefer the loose surface of gravel over the smooth and stable asphalt but with Hirvonen now in the lead and battling to stay ahead of the mayhem that is Sebastien Loeb, and Latvala also boosting Ford's chances for a third consecutive manufacturers' championship title, Wilson says that both men are extreme keen on making the most of the rallies in Germany, Spain and France.

"It's been such a long time since anybody other than Sebastien Loeb won a tarmac rally that we realise we have tough challenge ahead, but Mikko and Jari-Matti are extremely determined to do well and both know that asphalt driving is an area they can improve on," said Wilson. "Marcus Gronholm took some coaching with Rob last year and felt it was a big advantage, so it made sense to give Mikko and Jari-Matti the same opportunity. In addition, Jari has been getting some extra coaching from a touring car driver back home in Finland."

Wilson also confirmed that a new evolution Ford Focus will be launched before the first of three asphalt events - the Rallye Deutschland. "It will be fitted with a lot of new parts we've been testing over the summer," explained Wilson. "Most of the changes are related to engine and transmission parts, but we've also been concentrating on making improvements to the weight distribution and the centre of gravity."