WRC – Sébastien Ogier imperial at Rally Mexico

Sébastien Ogier will have dominated head and shoulders the Rally of Mexico by winning 16 of the 23 stages contested. The Volkswagen driver was only worried by Mads Ostberg who retired in the second stage with an electrical problem. The Frenchman then had no reason to attack but nevertheless remained the fastest. After his second place in Monte-Carlo and his first victory in Sweden, the French driver piled up points by also winning the Power Stage ahead of Mads Ostberg and Jari-Matti Latvala, the two big losers of the weekend. “The start of the season is incredible for us (2 victories, a 2nd place and 2 Power Stages)”, comments the winner. “We now have a good lead in the Championship. We have to stay focused because the season will still be long. In any case, I thank my team. We had a lot of fun in Mexico. »

Mikko Hirvonen recovered from his goalless score in Sweden by claiming second place in the Mexican event. The Citroën driver did not try to catch up with the Volkswagen driver, aware that the Polo R WRC of the Frenchman was unbeatable this weekend. “I am happy with this podium which is my first of the season. This rally was so fast, we couldn't get closer to Ogier”, recognized the Finn who found himself threatened by Thierry Neuville after suffering a puncture in the second stage. The Scandinavian took advantage of the Guanajuatito special (54km, the longest special of the rally) to regain the lead over the Belgian. The pilot M-Sport still has a smile as he reaches the finish of the Rally of Mexico. The Qatar WRT resident is not only the highest ranked in his team but above all he signs his first WRC podium. “I’m very happy, I learned a lot. I tried to attack this morning but I was wrong. We can be proud of our work. We are making progress. »

Dani Sordo experienced an event without any real battle and secures the points for fourth place ahead of Nasser Al-Attiyah who completes the top five. Chris Atkinson managed to finish in sixth place after starting a strong comeback following his wheel change which caused him to lose a lot of time in the first stage. The Australian finished 20 seconds ahead of Ken Block while Benito Guerra took eighth place in his first event behind the wheel of a WRC, a result he celebrated at home. Martin Prokop and Evgeny Novikov complete the top ten, the Russian being very frustrated by the electronic problems encountered in the first stage which caused him to lose valuable time. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari easily won victory in WRC2 by winning almost ten minutes ahead of Nicolas Fuchs.

Sébastien Ogier takes off in the Championship. The double winner in Sweden and Mexico already has 74 points. Sebastian Loeb remains his closest pursuer with 31 units behind while the Alsatian was absent this week. Mikko Hirvonen follows with 44 points behind Dani Sordo (27 points on the clock) and Mads Ostberg. The Norwegian was only able to save two points in the Power Stage and fell to fifth in the Drivers' standings with 26 points. Thierry Neuville is sixth with 25 units. The retirement of Jari-Matti Latvala and the second place of Mikko Hirvonen allow Citroën Total Abu Dhabi to maintain the lead in the Manufacturers' Championship with 87 points, six more than Volkswagen Motorsport. Qatar M-Sport completes the top three with 37 points on the clock.

Discover the analysis of the Rally of Mexico carried out by our special correspondents in the next issue of AUTOhebdo, available from Tuesday in digital version for iPad, PC and Mac, and from Wednesday on newsstands.