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Loeb masters Mexico rally

Strategy and opportunity paved the way for Citroen’s Sebastién Loeb and co-driver Daniel Elena to take the victory in Rally Mexico in the weekend, the second round of the 2010 FIA World Rally Championship.

Loeb and Elena took their fourth consecutive win in Mexico in a Citroen C4 WRC, powering to a commanding 24.2 second lead after three days and 22 competitive stages. Having started second, Loeb finished the first day third and this road position allowed Loeb to claw back the deficit on Saturday and put enough of a buffer to not be pressured for Sunday’s stages where he had to take on the role of ‘road sweeper’ on the heavily gravelled roads.

“This victory’s done us a power of good,” said Loeb, who was second in the season’s opening event in Sweden.  “We controlled our race well and I think that we can look forward to the next events with confidence, as they’ll be run on similar surfaces.”

Early rally leader and Citroen privateers Petter Solberg and co-driver Phil Mills finished the rally second, snatching the position from Citroen Junior Team drivers Sebastien Ogier and co-driver Julien Ingrassia in the final stage.

Fourth, after languishing being first car on the road in the opening day, BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen lost their early championship lead to Loeb, to now trail the six-time champion by six points.

“Thanks to this victory we’ve taken the lead in the [drivers’] championship and opened up a small gap over Mikko Hirvonen. It’s a good situation even if we’ll have to sweep the road in Jordan,” added Loeb.

Loeb’s prediction of the Citroen C4 being suited to the high altitudes and 354 kilometres of gravel through the Guanajuato mountain region, 400 kilometres north-west of Mexico city held true. With loose gravel slowing the first cars on the road, altitude sapped precious power from the four-cylinder engines and tested the driver’s abilities to rely on momentum for maximum speed.

The BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team was encouraged by maintaining their lead in the manufacturer standings, ahead of the Citroen Total World Rally Team, despite their two top drivers, Hirvonen and Jari-Marti Latvala finishing behind the three Citroen C4s.

Rally Mexico was also a round of both the Production World Rally Championship and the Super 2000 World Rally Championships (P-WRC and S-WRC). The defending production car champion Portuguese driver Armindo Araujo and co-driver Miguel Ramalho, driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, took maximum points for the P-WRC category to now head the standings. Araujo was locked in a battle with former PWRC champion Toshi Arai when the Japanese driver lost the advantage after an official spot-check while his brakes were hot caused the fluid to boil. Arai then crashed at the next corner. While finishing second for the round, Arai is placed fourth behind Norwegian Anders Grondal and Sweden’s Patrik Flodin in the standings.

Ford’s new Fiesta Super 2000 dominated the S-WRC class with a trio of Ford drivers on the podium. Early leaders Poland’s Michal Koścuiszko and co-driver Maciek Szczepaniak dropped from contention to finish third, behind Czech Republic pairing Martin Prokop and Jan Tománek (CZE), while Xevi Pons and Alex Haro Bravo claimed overall SWRC honours. The experienced pair was elated at the result, after recently switching to the new category.

“I am super happy!” said Pons. “This was all new for me, with a new car, new tyres, new team and only a short test before the event. But we took the victory! It gives me great confidence for the championship and winning the 2010 S-WRC is what I will be pushing for.”

Prokop now has the S-WRC lead with Pons and Sweden’s P-G Andersson tied for second.

American stunt driver Ken Block and co-driver Alex Gelsomino finished 18th having been inside the top-ten during the first day. Block restarted under SupeRally rules for the final day after sliding into a ditch and breaking the suspension of his Focus RS WRC on Saturday.

It was a similar tale of woe for former Formula One world champion Kimi Raikkonen and his co-driver Kaj Lindstrom.  Impact with a rock on the first special stage bent the steering arm on their Citroen C4 WRC. Continuing best they could, it all ended on the seventh test when they rolled the car just prior to the end of the stage, damaging the car beyond repair with the parts available at the Leon service park.

Of the 35 cars that started Rally Mexico, only 25 were classified as finishers.
The series third round moves to the Middle East for the Jordan Rally 2-4 April, five weeks before the journey to New Zealand for the fifth of 13 events on the 2010 calendar.

Results:  Rally Mexico, Round 2, 2010 FIA World Rally Championship
1, S Loeb/D Elena, France, Citroen C4, 3hr 42min 41.7sec
2, P Solberg/P Mills, Norway, Citroen C4, 3hr 43min 05.9sec
3, S Ogier/J Ingrassia, France, Citroen C4, 3hr 43min 07.0sec
4, M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen, Finland, Ford Focus RS, 3hr 44min 29.2sec
5, J-M Latvala/M Anttila, Finland, Ford Focus RS, 3hr 44min 56.8sec
6, H Solberg/I Minor, Norway, Ford Focus RS, 3hr 45min 29.7sec
7, F Villagra/J Perez Companc, Argentina, Ford Focus RS, 3hr 52min 55.1sec
8, X Pons/A Haro, Spain, Ford Fiesta S2000, 4hr 01min 26.1sec
9, M Prokop/J Tomanek, Czech Republic, Ford Fiesta S2000, 4hr 01min 43.7sec
10, A Araujo/R Miguel, Portugal, Mitsubishi Lancer, 4hr 04min 14.2sec

FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers – Points after Round two (of 13)
1, S Loeb, France, 43pts        
2, M Hirvonen, Finland, 37pts
3=, J-M Latvala, Finland, 25pts
3=, S Ogier, France, 25pts
5, P Solberg, Norway, 20pts
6, H Solberg, Norway, 16pts

FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers – Points after Round two (of 13)
1, BP Ford Abu Dhabi, 67pts 
2, Citroen Total, 61pts
3, Citroen Junior, 32pts
4, Stobart M-Sport Ford, 28pts
5, Munchi's Ford, 8pts