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Dani Sordo (Hyundai) made a daring choice by opting for a mix of soft and hard tires for the second pass of the first stage of the Rally Mexico, while most of his competitors preferred soft compounds to cope with the high temperatures. .

The Spaniard resisted in the first two special stages but lost a little time on Ortega's final route (SS8). He retains the lead in Rally Mexico, but his lead has been reduced to less than eight seconds.

It is now Sébastien Loeb (Citroën) who is his closest opponent. The six-time winner of the event scored two consecutive scratches to return to the lead of the race.

His teammate Kris Meeke struggled more. After two spins, the Northern Irishman slipped to fourth place, around ten seconds behind Ott Tänak (Toyota). The second Citroën driver sees Sébastien Ogier (M-Sport) come back to less than eight seconds. The five-time world champion remains under threat from his former teammate Andreas Mikkelsen (Hyundai) who is less than a second from the Top 5.

Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota) follows in seventh place, more than half a minute behind the Norwegian. The Finn is still plagued by mechanical problems and suspected an alternator problem at the end of SS8.

Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) follows in eighth place. The Championship leader lost dozens of seconds again on the last course, probably following a steering problem.

The first stage of the Rally Mexico will end with two passages of the 2,3km Autodromo de Leon super special stage contested from 3 a.m. French time. A report of the day will be provided after the passage of the first crews. The liev will resume tomorrow at the start of the second stage.

 

 

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Sébastien Loeb (Citroën) tied for the fastest time with Ott Tänak (Toyota) in Ortega's second pass, SS8 of the Rally Mexico, completing the 17,23km in 9'24'8. Dani Sordo (Hyundai) struggled more with his soft tires and dropped seven seconds to the nine-time WRC champion. Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota) and Sébastien Ogier (M-Sport) were closest to the benchmark, ahead of Andreas Mikkelsen (Hyundai). Kris Meeke (Citroën) finished 12 seconds behind after spinning again. Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) was slower, more than half a minute late, the Belgian having probably encountered steering problems.

Dani Sordo now only has a 7” lead over Sébastien Loeb before attacking the super special stages at the end of the stage. Ott Tänak climbed to third place, ahead of Kris Meeke by around ten seconds. Sébastien Ogier returns to the Top 9, ahead of Andreas Mikkelsen by one second. Jari-Matti Latvala remains seventh ahead of Thierry Neuville.

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Loeb equalizes Tänak's scratch and thus takes 7s from Sordo. The Citroën driver is less than 8 seconds behind the leader. “It was a good stage but I attacked hard. The main thing was not to make mistakes. My tire choice was good. It will be hard to attack more though. »

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Sordo is behind in this special, 7s behind Tänak's provisional scratch. “The tires suffered more here. It was a bet we made. I always have a Loeb behind me. »

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Meeke only sets the 5th time, 12s from the benchmark. “I spun again. » The Citroën driver gives up 3rd place to Tänak who is now ahead of him by around ten seconds.

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Malcolm Wilson: “Teemu went off the road. The damage to the Ford is too serious for him to leave. As for Daniel (Barritt, Evans' co-pilot), he suffers from a concussion. »  

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Mikkelsen sets the 4th provisional time, 5″3 behind the benchmark set just before by Tänak. The Hyundai driver slipped back to 6th position, 9 tenths behind Ogier. “I remain satisfied with my special. »

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Tänak took the reference time 2 seconds ahead of his teammate Latvala. “It went pretty well even though it was difficult. » The Estonian is fighting with the Citroën drivers to get back on the provisional podium.

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Latvala fears an alternator problem on his Yaris WRC.

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Latvala improves Ogier’s time by 1″3. The Toyota driver is in 7th place. The Finn still seems to have engine problems since he is forced to keep the engine revs.

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The provisional classification of SS7:

 

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Neuville sets a first time in 10’00”8. Ogier clearly increases the pace with a 32″7 lead.

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The problems are confirmed for Neuville who is 13s behind Ogier in the 2nd split.

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While Neuville is in Ortega's second pass, the Belgian seems in difficulty. He might have steering issues. Ogier is 1″2 ahead in the 1st split.

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