Citroen DS3 drivers Sébastien Ogier and Sébastien Loeb pulled away in front in the first day of Rally Mexico.
Both men are separated by only 1’’6, having clearly dominated the first day, as they clinched all the special stages wins (4 for Ogier, 3 for Loeb).
Petter Solberg’s private DS3 R3 also ran in front in the early stages, before an engine problem in SS4 forced the Norwegian driver to drop down to 13th.
As expected, the Ford Fiesta RS struggled a bit on Mexican roads. The starting order was clearly an handicap for Hirvonen, Latvala and Ostberg, who had to start in front, but the Fiesta also suffer a lack of performance behind the Citroen DS3 R3 on this type of ground.
Friday evening, Rally Sweden winner Mikko Hirvonen was already 1:22 behind Ogier, and Latvala was nearly three minutes behind the Frenchman.
Mads Ostberg (Stobart Ford Fiesta), who took second place in Sweden, suffered a puncture: he was able to recover to finish in 11th position at the end of the day.
Ken Block (Ford Fiesta Monster) had an engine trouble before the start of the very first super special stage on Thursday night, and got a 10 minutes penalty.
Nasser Al Attiyah (Ford Fiesta S2000), winner of the Dakar rally, stands in front of the S2000 standing.
Rally Mexico – Day 1 classification :
1. Ogier-Ingrassia (Citroen DS3) in 1.24’04”2
2. Loeb-Elena (Citroen DS3) + 1”6
3. Hirvonen-Lehtinen (Ford Fiesta RS) + 1'19”6
4. Latvala-Anttila (Ford Fiesta RS) + 2’51”3
5. Novikov-Prévot (Ford Fiesta RS) + 2’54”3
6. H. Solberg-Minor (Ford Fiesta RS) + 3’11”7
7. Kuipers-Miclotte (Ford Fiesta RS) + 4’55”9
8. Al Attiyah-Bernacchini (Ford Fiesta Super2000) + 5’01”5
9. Tanak-Sikk (Ford Fiesta Super2000) + 5’25”7
10. Prokop-Tomanek (Ford Fiesta Super2000) + 5’52”1
Etc.
Both men are separated by only 1’’6, having clearly dominated the first day, as they clinched all the special stages wins (4 for Ogier, 3 for Loeb).
Petter Solberg’s private DS3 R3 also ran in front in the early stages, before an engine problem in SS4 forced the Norwegian driver to drop down to 13th.
As expected, the Ford Fiesta RS struggled a bit on Mexican roads. The starting order was clearly an handicap for Hirvonen, Latvala and Ostberg, who had to start in front, but the Fiesta also suffer a lack of performance behind the Citroen DS3 R3 on this type of ground.
Friday evening, Rally Sweden winner Mikko Hirvonen was already 1:22 behind Ogier, and Latvala was nearly three minutes behind the Frenchman.
Mads Ostberg (Stobart Ford Fiesta), who took second place in Sweden, suffered a puncture: he was able to recover to finish in 11th position at the end of the day.
Ken Block (Ford Fiesta Monster) had an engine trouble before the start of the very first super special stage on Thursday night, and got a 10 minutes penalty.
Nasser Al Attiyah (Ford Fiesta S2000), winner of the Dakar rally, stands in front of the S2000 standing.
Rally Mexico – Day 1 classification :
1. Ogier-Ingrassia (Citroen DS3) in 1.24’04”2
2. Loeb-Elena (Citroen DS3) + 1”6
3. Hirvonen-Lehtinen (Ford Fiesta RS) + 1'19”6
4. Latvala-Anttila (Ford Fiesta RS) + 2’51”3
5. Novikov-Prévot (Ford Fiesta RS) + 2’54”3
6. H. Solberg-Minor (Ford Fiesta RS) + 3’11”7
7. Kuipers-Miclotte (Ford Fiesta RS) + 4’55”9
8. Al Attiyah-Bernacchini (Ford Fiesta Super2000) + 5’01”5
9. Tanak-Sikk (Ford Fiesta Super2000) + 5’25”7
10. Prokop-Tomanek (Ford Fiesta Super2000) + 5’52”1
Etc.