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| 2008 Rally Mexico : WRC Round 3 of 15 : 29th February - 2nd March Leg 1 Unofficial Leaderboard Leg 1 News Leg 1 Team by Team News Remaining Event Schedule 1. Unofficial Leaderboard 1. S Loeb/D Elena FRA Citroen C4 3hr 08min 39.8sec 2. C Atkinson/S Prévot AUS Subaru Impreza 3hr 09min 41.2sec 3. J-M Latvala/M Anttila FIN Ford Focus RS 3hr 10min 46.2sec 4. H Solberg/C Menkerud NOR Ford Focus RS 3hr 12min 31.4sec 5. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen FIN Ford Focus RS 3hr 12min 47.3sec 6. M Wilson/S Martin GBR Ford Focus RS 3hr 14min 50.4sec 7. F Villagra/J Perez Companc ARG Ford Focus RS 3hr 26min 54.1sec 8. R Trivino/C Salom MEX Peugeot 206 3hr 28min 10.9sec 9. S Ogier/J Ingrassia FRA Citroen C2 3hr 31min 10.6sec 10 J Mölder/F Miclotte EST Suzuki Swift 3hr 32min 42.7sec 2. Leg News Today was the longest of this third round of the series. Drivers tackled 157.32km of competition, split into two identical loops of three speed tests in the hot and dusty mountains north and east of the rally base in León, before two more passes over the super special stage on the edge of the city. Temperatures again hovered just under 30ºC in the city, although they were a few degrees cooler in the hills as the route took competitors up to 2600m. Overnight leader Latvala had the dubious privilege of being first in the start order in his Focus RS. It meant the 22-year-old Finn had to cope all morning with the same slippery loose stones on the road surface that hampered Hirvonen in the same position yesterday. His disadvantage was typified on the opening special stage when he dropped 9.5sec to Loeb, but he got to grips with the conditions on the following two tests to end the loop just 5.8sec behind the Frenchman. The battle continued on cleaner roads this afternoon until a broken turbo charge pipe on the second test slowed the BP Ford Abu Dhabi driver. Latvala and Anttila tried to make repairs after the stage but to no avail and they dropped over two minutes during the rest of the day before the team could replace it. Fastest time on the opening two tests carried Sébastien Loeb (Citroen) into the lead. He won another three stages this afternoon to finish 61.4sec ahead of Chris Atkinson (Subaru). The Australian's only concern was a problem with the car's launch control system. Behind Latvala, Munchi's driver Henning Solberg (Ford) capitalised on Hirvonen's punctures to move into fourth, despite brake trouble on the opening test. Stobart's Matthew Wilson (Ford) climbed to sixth, despite spinning and stalling on the morning's final test. Dani Sordo (Citroen), competing under SupeRally rules after retiring yesterday, won two stages as he fought to climb into the manufacturers' points. The only major retirement was Petter Solberg (Subaru) who stopped after a broken driveshaft on stage 10 cost four minutes. The final day is a short, sharp affair with just four stages and 60.69km for competitors to tackle. After a 07.45 start, they face three tests north and east of León before a final pass over the super special stage on the edge of the city. The finish ceremony is at 13.00. 4. Team by Team News BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team http://ford.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=2 Despite setbacks for both cars, BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team ended the second day of Rally Mexico in a strong position as the only squad with both pairings in the top five on the leaderboard. Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila are third in a Ford Focus RS World Rally Car with team-mates Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen in fifth as this opening gravel encounter of the FIA World Rally Championship season continued to pose problems for the leading competitors. Latvala, who claimed his maiden victory in Sweden last month, was engaged in an enthralling fight for the lead with Sébastien Loeb until a broken turbo pipe this afternoon cost over two minutes. Hirvonen was comfortable in fourth until a double puncture this afternoon cost a place on the leaderboard. #3 : Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen: Hirvonen restarted in fifth but quickly moved into fourth, without ever feeling truly happy with his performance. However, two punctures on the opening afternoon stage, one of which he stopped to change, cost almost three minutes. Caution was the watchword through the final four stages, with both spare wheels that competitors are allowed to carry in the car already used. He is just 15.9sec behind fourth-placed Henning Solberg. "Early in the stage, there was a big rock on the inside of a fast right bend," he explained. "I couldn't avoid it and hit it with both right wheels. I immediately knew the front tyre was punctured and stopped to change it but didn't notice the rear puncture. It was only after a couple of kilometres more that the rear tyre started to slowly lose pressure. I had to be really careful in left corners and actually slid off the road at one point. Now my aim is to catch Henning for fourth tomorrow. "I made some small changes last night and the car didn't slide as much this morning but I drove too cautiously. I was better than yesterday but I don't deserve a 'well done' yet. It was better not being first on the road but I started this morning with the intention of driving flat out and while I drove fast, improvements are still needed. I'm at the same pace as last year and it's not enough," he added. #4 : Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila: A broken turbo charge pipe on the second test slowed the BP Ford Abu Dhabi driver. Latvala and Anttila tried to make repairs after the stage but to no avail and they dropped over two minutes during the rest of the day before the team could replace it. "About 1km after the start of the stage the car suddenly lost power, with no warning," said Latvala. "The pipe between the intercooler and the turbo came loose and I had some power, but not full boost. We wrapped some aluminium tape around it before the next stage but it didn't help. I couldn't fight with Loeb for the lead this afternoon and I wanted to do that. It was bad luck but it's not my time yet to win this rally. I'm still third though and tomorrow I will drive to save my podium. "The first stage this morning was slippery and I couldn't find the right way to drive. I understand how difficult it was for Mikko yesterday. I was cleaning the corners and that's the difference between first in the start order and second, where I was yesterday. There were many different grip levels on the loose stones and it was hard for braking. In the third stage I did everything I could, and maybe too much, because I had a close escape after a crest when the car was totally off the road," he added. Citroen Total World Rally Team http://citroen.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=1 Sébastien Loeb, Daniel Elena and their Citroën C4 WRC completed Day 2 of the 2008 Rally Mexico on top of the provisional leaderboard. #1 : Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena: "The combination of our running order and the changes we made to the set-up of our car last night enabled us to push hard from the outset today," confirmed Citroën's multiple World Champion. After clawing back a full 9.5s on SS9, Seb and Daniel were again quick off the draw on the following test to gain the lead before completing the morning's loop with a cushion of 5.8s. They were perfectly aware, however, that such a slim gap hardly put them at a safe distance from their rivals and the Citroën duo took care not to ease up in the slightest during the afternoon. "I felt much more comfortable with my car than I did yesterday, so we did all we could to further clear," explained Sébastien. "It was important to build up as big a gap as possible because we will be the ones sweeping the stages on Sunday and the bigger our cushion the less difficult that promises to be. Our lead stands at just over a minute but I am still very much on my guard; victory is by no means in the bag yet." #2 : Daniel Sordo/Marc Marti: Retired. Subaru World Rally Team http://subaru.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=5 In a turbulent day of competition on Rally Mexico, Chris Atkinson and Stephane Prevot grabbed second position overall aboard their Subaru Impreza WRC2007. Petter Solberg and Phil Mills however fell foul of the conditions and were forced to retire mid-way through the morning’s stages. Atkinson and Solberg started the day in third and fourth positions respectively. Today’s routes provided no respite from the rigours crews faced yesterday, and the rocky and punishing mountain roads claimed their victims amongst the front-runners, as did the combination of heat and altitude on this notoriously harsh rally. Atkinson and Solberg started the day in third and fourth positions respectively. Today’s routes provided no respite from the rigours crews faced yesterday, and the rocky and punishing mountain roads claimed their victims amongst the front-runners, as did the combination of heat and altitude on this notoriously harsh rally. #5 : Petter Solberg/Phil Mills: Solberg’s day started strongly, the Norwegian matching the leaders for pace in the first section of the opening stage and retaining his fourth position overall. Fifth placed Mikko Hirvonen had reduced the gap by a few seconds by the start of stage eleven and it appeared a great battle for fourth would ensue. Three-quarters of the way through the stage however, Solberg and Mills experienced a loss of drive to the front left wheel and lost over four minutes as they limped through the remainder of the route, conceding the position. The duo stopped at the end of the stage to examine the problem and attempt a fix to enable them to cover the remaining 53 kilometres back to the midday service. It proved however to be a problem that was not possible to rectify at the roadside, and the only course of action was to retire them from the day and transport the car back to service. Once back in the team’s service area the crew descended upon the number five Impreza, fixing the car to allow Solberg and Mills to restart tomorrow’s stages under Superally regulations. They will carry a 30 minute penalty for the stages missed today but will still be eligible to score Manufacturers’ Championship points. “Today was not good for us” said Petter Solberg. “I didn’t feel comfortable with the car this morning on the loose surface, and then we had the drive problem which forced us to retire. It’s so frustrating when we had the speed early on in this event but we are now so far back.” #6 : Chris Atkinson/Stephane Prevot: [Atkinson and Prevot had a consistent morning, not taking any unnecessary risks to keep in touch with the leading duo. The gap behind them grew with the early retirement of teammate Solberg, followed in the afternoon by Ford’s Mikko Hirvonen who lost three minutes with a puncture after going off the road. Settled in a comfortable third, the afternoon’s stages proceeded to reshape the leading trio. Atkinson was promoted to second overall, ahead of Ford’s Jari-Matti Latvala when the Finn suffered engine problems in stage 13, and extended his gap to a comfortable 1m 05seconds over third place going into the final day of the third round of the World Rally Championship. “We were settled for third this morning and I was just focussed on matching Jari-Matti’s pace” said Chris Atkinson. “Now we find ourselves in second which is good for the team and Subaru. It’s a shame for Jari, but we’ve had our problems and that’s the way it is. We have a little bit of a gap each way but the plan doesn’t change. We’ll not take any silly risks and just focus on matching the gaps to Sebastien and Jari tomorrow. We had a few small problems this afternoon with starts and lost a few seconds. The gap is comfortable but it won’t be easy tomorrow. It’ll be tricky and very loose, and we’ll still need to push.” Stobart VK M-Sport Ford World Rally Team http://ford.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=2 Stobart VK M-Sport Ford rally team driver Matthew Wilson and co-driver Scott Martin have advanced a further place from their overnight position on day 2 of Rally Mexico; round three of the FIA World Rally Championship. On his first event as a Stobart-nominated point-scoring driver, since Wales Rally GB in 2006, the young Brit sits in sixth position overall and in good stead for both WRC drivers’ and manufacturers points. #8 : Gigi Galli/Giovanni Bernacchini: Retired #16 : Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin: [“It has been another good day for us and now we are looking safe to score our first WRC points of the year. This morning went OK but I did struggle a little bit with the pace in areas as I was able to push sometimes but where it was rough I probably backed off a bit too much. We lost about 10 seconds on stage 13 after I spun on a hairpin right and stalled the car which took a bit to get started again. We also hit a dog in the same stage so it was a fairly eventful one to round off the morning. I was happy to be setting times today in and around the top-six and it’s great to get the car back to final service after what has been a challenging second day of Rally Mexico. Tomorrow we will take another steady approach and look to hold sixth position which would be a fantastic result here.” Suzuki World Rally Team http://suzuki.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=12 #11 : Toni Gardemeister/Tomi Tuominen: Retired #12 : Per-Gunnar Andersson/Jonas Andersson: Retired Munchi's Ford World Rally Team http://ford.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=2 Henning Solberg hangs on to fourth place going into the final leg of Sunday and Villagra lies in seventh. #9 : Federico Villagra/J. Perez Companc: “I will be happy to finish the day. I was very happy with my pace yesterday but this morning we lost so much time, now we are just cruising home.” #14 : Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud: SS12. “I spent this stage in the dust of Hirvonen and had to slow down.” SS14. “I’m really happy that I had the fastest time! It is much easier now my brakes are working again. I will try to keep fourth.” 5. Remaing Event Schedule Sunday 2 March: Day 3 León - León Serv F León Poliforum (15 mins) 07.45 SS17 León 16.09km 08.28 SS18 Guanajuatito 22.30km 08.56 SS19 Comanjilla 17.88km 10.19 SS20 Super Special 5 4.42km 11.34 Serv G León Poliforum (10 mins) 12.07 Finish León 13.00 |