Toyota limits damage in Mexico

Le Rally du Mexique 2019 n’aura pas été de tout repos pour le Toyota Gazoo Racing. Des trois équipages présents à bord de Yaris WRC, alone Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja avoided mechanical glitches. 

The Estonian duo finished on the second step of the podium, however at a good distance from the winners Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia (Citroën). “It was a very demanding weekend, both for the car, the tires and for the drivers, recognized Ott Tänak. I think we handled this event well and I'm really happy to finish without any problems or mistakes on my part. »

However, the five Power Stage points escaped him due to a puncture in the final special. “There was nothing I could do about it. It's a good start to the championship, with three podiums in as many rounds (3rd, 1st and 2nd). It would be great to be able to continue like this. » Ott Tänak preserves his place as leader in the general classification by four points. 

His teammate Kris Meeke was less fortunate. The Briton was fighting for rally lead at the start of the second stage when he was hit by a puncture. « I didn't think I had a flat tire because I didn't get any warnings on the dashboard., but after three-four kilometers I started to feel something. There were 20 miles left to complete at this point, you had to choose between stopping and changing the tire or continuing. With a rear puncture, normally you can continue your journey, that's what we did, he recalls. 

Bad pick ! “After the liaison tire change, something gave in the suspension. Looking back, it was the wrong decision not to stop before. We had to do even more work afterwards, so we lost even more time. » The new recruit of the Japanese team then made harsh comments towards a potential unfair strategy of his ex-employer Citroën before publicly apologizing via video. 

There's been plenty of action today. Here is some from SS14. #TOYOTA #YarisWRC #RallyMexico #WRC #Rallying #TGR_WRC #ToyotaGAZOORacing pic.twitter.com/sAXFGERpeK

— TGR World Rally Team (@TGR_WRC) March 10, 2019

Jari-Matti Latvala had to struggle against the electrics of his car from the first day, before struggling again on Sunday. “In the second SS of the day, we hit a bed of rocks with the engine casing. It was half detached, I couldn't go too fast in the Power Stage, and we arrived late at the checkpoint. This caused us to lose seventh place by four seconds. But at least we saw the finish. »

Au classement des Équipes, le Toyota Gazoo Racing garde la tête avec 86 unités, soit huit points devant Citroën et neuf devant Hyundai. 

Discover the analysis of our special correspondent in issue 2207 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from this Wednesday on newsstands.