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Esapekka Lappi leader of the Rally of Mexico, a lot of damage for M-Sport

In the space of three stages, the M-Sport Ford team was decimated while Esapekka Lappi and Sébastien Ogier broke away at the front.

Published on 17/03/2023 à 20:46

Medhi Casaurang

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Esapekka Lappi leader of the Rally of Mexico, a lot of damage for M-Sport

Lappi's Hyundai i20 hybrid leads in Mexico. © Red Bull Content Pool

The first gravel round of the World Rally Championship (WRC) does not do any favors to competitors. The first three stages of the Rally of Mexico 2023, this Friday March 17, pushed several inexperienced drivers to make mistakes, when reliability was not compromised on other cars!

The first victim was the championship leader, Ott Tänak (M-Sport Ford). L’Estonien, en tête de l’épreuve après les deux super-spéciales d’ouverture jeudi soir, a cassé son turbo dès la première dizaine de kilomètres dans la redoutable spéciale d’El Chocolate.

The 2019 world champion continued his journey at a slow pace, hoping that the mid-day passage to the service park would allow the M-Sport mechanics to repair this damage. Of course, with a delay of more than 12 minutes, any chance of appearing on the podium on a regular basis was gone.

ALSO READ > Cyril Abiteboul: “Big points for Thierry and the top step of the podium with Dani and Esapekka”

Son équipier français Pierre-Louis Loubet a lui percuté un rocher dans la même spéciale et devra patienter jusqu’à samedi matin pour remettre le couvert, moyennant une lourde pénalité de temps. Enfin, Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota) a dévalé un petit ravin suite à une erreur de pilotage. Pas le meilleur moyen de fêter son 30e anniversaire !

Responsible for the sweep after the Ott Tänak problem, Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota) and Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) ont tous deux été surpris par une bosse non signalée à l’issue des reconnaissances. Suite à ce choc à vitesse élevée, le Finlandais et le Belge ont roulé sans système hybride dans la majeure partie de l’ES5.

The battle for the lead in the 2023 Rally Mexico is between Esapekka Lappi (Hyundai) and Sébastien Ogier (Toyota). The Finn only has a short lead over the Frenchman, who is looking this weekend to become the sole record holder for victories in Mexico with a potential 7th success.

“We were 5th on the road this morning and it’s clear that it’s much better than being 1st, declared the eight-time French world champion. The only thing is that there are sometimes stones and you have to be careful of them. But you can't control that, so I just focus on riding cleanly. »

In WRC2, the Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evos of Emil Lindholm and Gus Greensmith surround the Frenchman's Ford Fiesta Adrien fourmaux.

The Rally of Mexico will resume this Friday evening at 21:20 p.m. French time.

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Medhi Casaurang

Passionate about the history of motorsport across all disciplines, I learned to read thanks to AUTOhebdo. At least that's what my parents tell everyone when they see my name inside!

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