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Sébastien Loeb (Citroën) took the scratch in SS7 of the Rally Mexico by completing the 31km of El Chocolate in 23'54"2. The nine-time WRC champion took five seconds from Dani Sordo (Hyundai) while his teammate Kris Meeke fell short by more than 11 seconds by dropping five seconds to Ott Tänak (Toyota) after committing a spin. Sébastien Ogier (M-Sport) set the sixth fastest time, one second ahead of Thierry Neuville (Hyundai).

Teemu Suninen (M-Sport) and Esapekka Lappi (Toyota) retired after leaving the road.

Dani Sordo remains in the lead of Rally Mexico with a 15-second lead over Sébastien Loeb who moved into second place with a four-second lead over teammate Kris Meeke. Ott Tänak is 1”5 behind the Northern Irishman. Andreas Mikkelsen (Hyundai) took fifth position, one second ahead of Sébastien Ogier. Thierry Neuville is eighth behind Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota).

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The first crews are within 17,23km of Ortega.

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Loeb takes the scratch 5s ahead of Sordo! The Citroën driver climbs to 2nd place ahead of Tänak and Meeke, coming back to 15 seconds behind the leader. “I suffered at times. It was easy to make a mistake, especially since the special is long. So, are we the fastest? It's not bad after all. »

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His lead increases to 5”3 against Sordo in the 5th split…

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Loeb has a 4″3 lead over Sordo in the 4th split! The Citroën driver does not seem to want to compete for a simple podium.

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Sordo takes the provisional scratch one second ahead of Tänak. The soft tires seem to have held up. Meeke is relegated to 6″6 and is now almost 19s behind the Spaniard overall. “We managed to preserve the tires. »

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Toyota has confirmed that Lappi will be taken off the road.

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Loeb is currently faster than Tänak. The Alsatian is looking to regain his place on the provisional podium.

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Meeke explained that he lost time following a spin which forced him to maneuver to get back on the road.

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Suninen went off the road in the special. The M-Sport driver was ranked 11th.

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Meeke signs the 3rd fastest time, 5″6 behind the provisional scratch. The Citroën driver now only has a 1″ lead over Tänak.

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Toyota confirmed that Lappi was stopped on the stage. The crew is doing well.

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Lappi is reported arrested in the special. The Toyota driver was in 9th place.

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Mikkelsen is closest to Tänak with 3 seconds behind. “It was very slippery with the hard tires. I still remain satisfied with my special. » The Hyundai driver took 5th place against Ogier for a 1″1 lead.

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Tänak improves the benchmark by relegating Ogier to 6″9. The Estonian is on the provisional podium. His Toyota is slightly damaged on the left front.

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Latvala fails 9″4 from Ogier and 8s from Neuville. The Toyota driver is still in 7th position. “It was better than this morning but it was still very difficult. The soft tires have difficulty holding up here with these temperatures. »

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Ogier improved Neuville’s time by 1″3. The M-Sport driver is in 5th place. “It wasn't great. We had a spin. »

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Neuville sets a time of 24'08″4, 2″8 off Sordo's scratch this morning. " It went well. I don't know if the tires were very effective. I had 3 soft ones and one hard one. The course is demanding. » The Hyundai driver is in 8th place.

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Huttunen retired on SS6 following a problem with his radiator. The Finn was in 3rd place in WRC 2 in his Hyundai i20 R5 ahead of Pedro Heller's Ford.

 

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M-Sport has just confirmed that Evans' retirement is permanent.

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