The Citroën Total World Rally Team crew of Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena today won Rally Mexico, the second round of the FIA World Rally Championship.
After their dominant performance on the second day, the reigning World Champions were able to cruise to the finish while the battle for second raged behind them. Petter Solberg and Phil Mills clinched the position on the final super special stage, heading Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia by just 1.1 seconds at the end of the rally.
In the FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers, Loeb has snatched the lead from Mikko Hirvonen, the Finn now six points adrift in second position. Jari-Matti Latvala and Ogier follow, equal on 25 points. In the Manufacturers’ Championship, the BP Ford Abu Dhabi team has however retained its lead and heads Citroën Total, also by six points.
The final day of Rally Mexico took in just two mountain stages before returning to the city for the closing and decisive super special stage in León. With a 55.5 second lead going into the day, Loeb was able to ease the pace and the Frenchman arrived at the finish with a 24.2 second advantage. This is his fourth victory in Mexico. Ogier and Solberg headed into the final stage split by 0.6 seconds but it was Solberg who claimed victory in the 4.42 kilometre stage to take second overall.
Ford’s Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala finished fourth and fifth respectively, after a frustrating and uncharacteristically disappointing event.
Stobart M-Sport Ford drivers Henning Solberg and Ilka Minor finished sixth in a Focus RS World Rally Car with team-mates Matthew Wilson and Scott Martin in 16th. Wilson restarted under SupeRally rules this morning after retiring yesterday when his car became stuck on rocks.
Munchi's Ford duo Federico Villagra and Jorge Perez Companc were seventh while Monster World Rally Team drivers Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino were 18th. Block also restarted under SupeRally rules today after sliding into a ditch and breaking the suspension of his Focus RS WRC yesterday.
The FIA World Rally Championship crews now heads to the Middle East for Jordan Rally (1-3 April).
Team and Driver Quotes at the end of the Rally
Sébastien Loeb:
”This victory’s done us a power of good, We controlled our race well and I think that we can look forward to the next events with confidence, as they’ll be run on similar surfaces. Thanks to this victory we’ve taken the lead in the championship and opened up a small gap over Mikko Hirvonen. It’s a good situation even if we’ll have to sweep the road in Jordan.”
Petter Solberg:
"I'm delighted but absolutely exhausted. After what we've been through last year and this year it’s a hell of result. We analysed the time we might lose running first on the road and even though we knew it would be difficult it worked out perfectly. It’s a great feeling to be back on the podium!"
Sébastien Ogier:
“It was the first time that we ever had the chance to fight for a top place all the way to the end. We managed to drive at a good pace throughout the event. It’s a sure sign that we are making progress. This podium rewards all the hard work that the team has put in.
It’s been a great start to the season; we really couldn’t hope for better.”
Mikko Hirvonen:
"It was a very difficult weekend for the whole team. We never really had the speed and there were lots of small mistakes from my side too. I'm glad in the end we got the points we could. I just want to leave it behind now and move on to the next rally."
Jari Matti-Latvala:
"It’s been a frustrating weekend, but if you look at the positives we did get good points in the manufacturers' championship, which is very important. Also this is my second rally now finishing in a quite good position - and that boosts my confidence ahead of the next rallies."
Henning Solberg:
“I am very pleased at how it has gone here in Mexico, I really enjoyed this rally. It was hard but we proved we could be very fast all day on Saturday. The car has been perfect and our notes are working well so there is not much we could have done better. If we can keep it the same for Jordan I think we can be really quick there too.”
Federico Villagra:
“I am happy to get to the end of the event with no big problems and score points for the Munchi’s team. It was a very hard rally with lots of difficult stages. I had to work quite hard because I have not had much time in the car since last year, and although I was very confident in my driving in the short stages it was not so comfortable in the longer ones. We had some problems with the brakes on the very high stages as they were overheating, but other than that we were lucky compared to some of the other crews and did not take much damage. It was good to get to the finish of such a good event and now we can look to improve again at Rally Jordan.”
Dani Sordo:
“I’ve put yesterday’s disappointment behind me and I’m happy to have set some good times while the other two C4s were battling for second spot. Thanks to this result Citroën has scored more points than its rival in this rally – and that’s the most important thing.”
Matthew Wilson:
“Obviously we’re frustrated at what happened on Saturday because we had been going well and this was an event we thought we could take a really good result from. We went back out today [Sunday] and tried a few different things with our setup. It was quite a bit better but it’s always disappointing to be SuperRallying, so we’re looking ahead to see what we can do when we get to the next round in Jordan.”
Olivier Quesnel, the Citroën Racing Team Principal:
"They did a fantastic job on the second day and that’s where they consolidated this mind-boggling victory,” smiled “The C4 WRCs have dominated this rally as they set all the quickest times. They also scored the first triple by a French manufacturer in a gravel rally. I’d also like to congratulate Petter Solberg and Sébastien Ogier for their great duel in the best possible sporting tradition.”
Citroën Junior Team manager Benoit Nogier:
“We haven’t been on the podium since Greece last year, again thanks to Sébastien. This podium is actually like a win for us, given the relative lack of experience of our team and drivers. It’s a huge satisfaction to see all our hard work rewarded today. Sébastien and Julien were able to fight for the podium thanks to their extremely strong performance.
They again showed themselves to be quick, professional and talented…it’s been a great job from start to finish. Petter’s second place is also a huge satisfaction for Citroën. We hope this result provides proof that the products and information we place at the disposal of our clients allows them to achieve top results. Seeing three Citroëns on the podium is an emotional experience!”
BP Ford Abu Dhabi team director Malcolm Wilson:
"We lost too much time on the first day but we don't know why. We need to find the reasons, and we will, but at the moment it's a bit confusing. There's a lot of work to do but we'll dig deep and come back fighting. Mikko couldn't find his confidence on the opening day when he was first on the road. Jari-Matti did a great job for the team, helping Mikko and finishing ahead of our rivals' second cars. That's exactly what we asked of him at the start of the season,"
Stobart M-Sport Ford Team Principal Malcolm Wilson:
“The Stobart team has picked up another good haul of points at a very difficult event. Henning turned in a very good performance throughout the whole weekend. His four top-three times on Saturday was particularly impressive and I hope he can continue producing that kind of form over the rest of the season. Matthew will be disappointed to have had his rally cut short on Saturday as he’s not made many mistakes over the past year, but he will dust himself off and look to get back among the points at Rally Jordan.”
Ford of Europe motorsport chief Gerard Quinn:
"We came to Mexico as championship leader and we go home still at the top of the standings. It was a tough weekend for us and the results weren't as good as we had hoped. But sometimes you have to scrap hard to earn a result and that's what we did here. To take away good points after a less than perfect weekend is a sign of our determination."
Overall general classification (subject to scrutineering)
1. Loeb / Elena - Citroën C4 - 3h42’41’’7
2. P. Solberg / Mills - Citroën C4 +24’’2
3. Ogier / Ingrassia - Citroën C4 +25’’3
4. Hirvonen / Lehtinen - Ford Focus +1’47’’5
5. Latvala / Anttila - Ford Focus +2’15’’1
6. H. Solberg / Minor - Ford Focus +2’48’’0
7. Villagra / Perez Companc - Ford Focus +10’13’’4
8. Pons / Haro - Ford Fiesta +18’44’’4
9. Prokop / Tomanek - Ford Fiesta +19’02’’0
10. Araujo / Miguel - Mitsubishi Lancer +21’32’’5
Drivers
1. S Loeb 43pts
2. M Hirvonen 37pts
3= J-M Latvala 25pts
3= S Ogier 25pts
5. P Solberg 20pts
6. H Solberg 16pts
Manufacturers
1. BP Ford Abu Dhabi 67pts
2. Citroen Total 61pts
3. Citroen Junior 32pts
4. Stobart M-Sport Ford 28pts
5. Munchi's Ford 8pts
Stage Winners
Sébastien LOEB / Daniel ELENA 8
Petter SOLBERG / Phil MILLS 7
Séb OGIER / Julien INGRASSIA 6
Photos: Willy Weyens ©willyweyens-rallyworld
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