From the World Rally Championship
The victory of Rally Guanajuato is keenly contested in Mexico as the teams head into Sunday's final three stages following a thrilling second day of competition in the extreme heat.
Sebastien Ogier is 11.3s ahead of Citroen teammate Sebastien Loeb with just the two closing brace of superspecials before the overnight halt.
But it had been a different story prior to the rally’s 15th stage. With his advantage over Ogier increasing, Loeb's gear selector pin broke as he was preparing to line-up for the start of the next special. The Frenchman’s DS3 WRC was then stuck in third gear.
With the stage featuring several uphill hairpins, Loeb knew it would be impossible to complete the rally without making repairs. Although Loeb and co-driver Daniel Elena were able to fashion a temporary fix, they were five minutes late starting the stage and incurred a 50-second time penalty as a result.
Having led by 19.7s, Loeb now trailed Ogier by 24.1s after 15 stages. It appeared his challenge was up until Ogier’s car suffered an intermittent power loss with five kilometres of stage 16 to go; He lost some five seconds.
His misfortune and Loeb’s pace meant the gap was down to 10.4s with one gravel stage remaining. But any hopes Loeb had of trimming Ogier’s lead further evaporated when he stalled on the final hairpin of stage 17. His car’s handbrake stopped working and he lost vital time.
Mikko Hirvonen is the leading Ford Fiesta RS WRC driver in third overall. The Finn expected to gain more ground by not having to clean the stages of the loose surface gravel. He was ultimately unable to make an impact.
Jari-Matti Latvala, who suffered a puncture of his own on Saturday’s first test, landed Ford’s first stage win of the rally when he went fastest on the second Derramadero special.
Petter Solberg was 13th at the start of the day, but a charging performance in his DS3 WRC, which included four stage wins, enabled him to climb to fifth overall after the last gravel test. He was victim of a high-speed spin on stage 17, which he completed with a broken gear lever and no working handbrake.
Rally Mexico – Classification after day 2 :
1. Sebastien Ogier (Citroen) 3h12m52.6s
2. Sebastien Loeb (Citroen) + 10.5s
3. Mikko Hirvonen (Ford) + 1m30.4s
4. Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford) + 2m43.8s
5. Petter Solberg (Solberg Citroen) + 6m51.8s
6. Mads Ostberg (Stobart Ford) + 8m09.8s
7. Henning Solberg (Stobart Ford) + 8m41.6s
8. Nasser Al-Attiyah (Barwa Ford) + 10m53.9s
9. Martin Prokop (Czech Ford) + 11m32.5s
10. Juho Hanninen (Red Bull Skoda) + 12m02.9s
Etc.
The victory of Rally Guanajuato is keenly contested in Mexico as the teams head into Sunday's final three stages following a thrilling second day of competition in the extreme heat.
Sebastien Ogier is 11.3s ahead of Citroen teammate Sebastien Loeb with just the two closing brace of superspecials before the overnight halt.
But it had been a different story prior to the rally’s 15th stage. With his advantage over Ogier increasing, Loeb's gear selector pin broke as he was preparing to line-up for the start of the next special. The Frenchman’s DS3 WRC was then stuck in third gear.
With the stage featuring several uphill hairpins, Loeb knew it would be impossible to complete the rally without making repairs. Although Loeb and co-driver Daniel Elena were able to fashion a temporary fix, they were five minutes late starting the stage and incurred a 50-second time penalty as a result.
Having led by 19.7s, Loeb now trailed Ogier by 24.1s after 15 stages. It appeared his challenge was up until Ogier’s car suffered an intermittent power loss with five kilometres of stage 16 to go; He lost some five seconds.
His misfortune and Loeb’s pace meant the gap was down to 10.4s with one gravel stage remaining. But any hopes Loeb had of trimming Ogier’s lead further evaporated when he stalled on the final hairpin of stage 17. His car’s handbrake stopped working and he lost vital time.
Mikko Hirvonen is the leading Ford Fiesta RS WRC driver in third overall. The Finn expected to gain more ground by not having to clean the stages of the loose surface gravel. He was ultimately unable to make an impact.
Jari-Matti Latvala, who suffered a puncture of his own on Saturday’s first test, landed Ford’s first stage win of the rally when he went fastest on the second Derramadero special.
Petter Solberg was 13th at the start of the day, but a charging performance in his DS3 WRC, which included four stage wins, enabled him to climb to fifth overall after the last gravel test. He was victim of a high-speed spin on stage 17, which he completed with a broken gear lever and no working handbrake.
Rally Mexico – Classification after day 2 :
1. Sebastien Ogier (Citroen) 3h12m52.6s
2. Sebastien Loeb (Citroen) + 10.5s
3. Mikko Hirvonen (Ford) + 1m30.4s
4. Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford) + 2m43.8s
5. Petter Solberg (Solberg Citroen) + 6m51.8s
6. Mads Ostberg (Stobart Ford) + 8m09.8s
7. Henning Solberg (Stobart Ford) + 8m41.6s
8. Nasser Al-Attiyah (Barwa Ford) + 10m53.9s
9. Martin Prokop (Czech Ford) + 11m32.5s
10. Juho Hanninen (Red Bull Skoda) + 12m02.9s
Etc.