Ogier off to a good start in Mexico, Neuville betrayed by mechanics

Sébastien Ogier (Toyota) increased his lead in the second passage of the first stage of the Rally of Mexico, even if Ortega's SS8 was canceled. The six-time world champion returned to service with a lead of more than 13 seconds over Teemu Suninen (M-Sport) which holds up well in the second row.

It is now Elfyn Evans (Toyota) who completes the provisional podium after taking advantage of the misfortunes of his opponents. While he was playing in 3rd place, Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) had to dismount after encountering an electrical problem while his teammate Dani Sordo was betrayed earlier in the day by the mechanics and retired on SS7. As for Esapekka Lappi (M-Sport), the Finn helplessly witnessed a fire on his Ford Fiesta WRC and gives up definitively on this test.

After losing more than half a minute following a road trip in the morning, Ott Tänak (Hyundai) moved up to 4th place and is only 2 tenths behind the top three after having signed the scratch on the two important courses of the second passage. The Estonian precedes Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota) by a few seconds. Gus Greensmith (M-Sport) follows in 6th place.

Pontus Tidemand (Skoda) remains at the top of WRC 2 with a good lead over the Hyundais of Nikolay Gryazin and Ole Christian Veiby.

The second stage of the Rally Mexico will be contested from 15:58 p.m. French time with 9 stages on the program and a total of 133km timed.

Rally Mexico results after stage 1:

1. Sébastien Ogier (Toyota) 1h23’09”2
2. Teemu Suninen (M-Sport) +13”2
3. Elfyn Evans (Toyota) +33”2
4. Ott Tänak (Hyundai) +33”4
5. Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota) +35”7
6. Gus Greensmith (M-Sport) +1’16”8