Esapekka Lappi holds off Sébastien Ogier at Rally Mexico

After the two mini-specials contested Thursday evening in the fragrant tunnels of Guanajuato, Ott Tänak set off as leader on Friday morning Rally from Mexico. Prepared to suffer from the sweep, the Estonian only completed a few kilometers before a turbo problem caused him to lose more than 12 minutes and all his chances of a good result. While the world champion WRC 2019 barely managed to contain its rage, a nice duel began at the top of the race.

Declaring himself very satisfied with his i20 which he only drives for the 3^e time, Esapekka Lappi took the lead. Not completely happy with the behavior of his car, Sébastien Ogier completed the first passage in El Chocolate 1s2 behind. He came back to 0s8 in the following time trial (SS4), but conceded 0s6 in Las Minas which closed the loop.

« After Monte-Carlo and Sweden, I covered everything I had to learn about the i20, detailed the Finn at the mid-day break. We have tried several things and I know what I want. So I can just concentrate on driving and it went very well. »

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“As always here, you have to find the perfect compromise between the attack and the preservation of the material,” explained Sébastien Ogier. “ We made a good loop. Even though we all know this El Chocolate ES well, it's still a big battle to keep the car on the road. It's not great driving pleasure, but it's the same for everyone. We are not at the limit, because it is still long and very demanding. » 

The battle between the two former teammates at Citroën resumed with a vengeance during the 2^e loop. During the rehearsal of El Chocolate EP struck first, giving itself an additional 0″8 margin after more than 29 km against the clock. His 2s2, however, disappeared in one fell swoop when the Frenchman wiped out 1s9 with a block. Despite his tiny lead of 0s3, Lappi resisted the pressure by setting a new best time (SS8) allowing him to move away from Ogier by 3″4. There were then two short sections remaining. Although on paper the 3,84 km of Las Dunas (SS9) did not present any particular difficulty, Lappi managed to push his rival back by an additional 3″. Ogier corrected his situation in the final stretch and reduced his deficit to 5″5.

Three #GRYaris Rally1 HYBRIDs in the top five after its first day in the Mexican mountains! ⏱️ #ToyotaGAZOORacing #WRC #RallyMexico 🇲🇽 pic.twitter.com/5HjiDjRJ9j

— TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT (@TGR_WRC) March 18, 2023

« We can be satisfied with our day, concluded Sébastien. There are sections where we can still improve the handling of the car, but overall it has been positive. There is a great battle going on and it is far from over. » For his part, the leader showed a huge smile. “ Fighting with the king of Mexico is very pleasant, Lappi recounted. Our day went perfectly and I'm not aiming for anything else tomorrow. »

In WRC2, although Emil Lindholm finished the morning as leader, he was unable to reproduce the same performance in the afternoon. Struggling with his soft tires during the first loop, Fergus Greensmith recovered with his hard tires in the afternoon. The Englishman returned as leader with an 8s lead on a superb Adrien fourmaux. Tout au long de la journée, le Français a su tirer plus que la quintessence de sa Ford Fiesta Rally2 en se maintenant constamment au milieu des Skoda. Vendredi soir, il n’était qu’à 8s5 de son ancien équipier chez M-Sport.

Tomorrow another big day awaits the competitors with 9 special stages and 126,52 km timed.

Ranking at the end of the first stage of the Rally Mexico:

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