WRC – Neuville and Al-Attiyah shine in Mexico

Thierry Neuville preferred to secure his third place on the provisional podium of the Rally of Mexico and let Mikko Hirvonen distance himself with almost two minutes ahead of the pilot M-Sport. But the Citroën driver almost lost his entire lead by suffering a puncture on the second pass of Otates (SS18). The Belgian finally came back to 7"5 behind the Finn and can hope to take the advantage in the last stage which includes the longest route of the event with the Guanajuatito special (54km). “Obviously I’m disappointed for Mads (Ostberg) because he did really well, but that’s rallying and these things happen sometimes. We are now in position for a podium and we should continue to try in this way and secure third place or more. »

Nasser Al-Attiyah gives Qatar WRT a second Ford Fiesta RS WRC in the top five. The Qatari has a significant lead over Ken Block (more than three minutes) but has nevertheless not managed to reduce his delay over Dani Sordo who remains at almost 50 seconds. “I am very happy with this performance. Tomorrow will be another day and another story, but we will try to attack to bring home this good result achieved for our first appearance with the Fiesta. We will try to finish the long stage without any problems and whether we finish fourth or fifth it would be a great result for us. »

The winner of the 2011 Dakar is still satisfied with his performance and the result of the team in the colors of his country even if the abandonment of Mads Ostberg constitutes the black point of the second stage. “Thierry was fantastic. It’s very important for him because he proved his potential last year. This season we tried to help him maintain his pace until the end of the rally. I'm sad for Mads because he had performed very well so far, especially since his retirement was not even due to a mistake. But it happens sometimes and I hope he can come back strong and get all three points in the Power Stage. »