News
Loeb wins WRC Mexico from Hirvonen & Latvala
Reigning FIA World Rally Champions Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena claimed their first win of the season on 6 March, taking their fifth victory in Rally Guanajuato Mexico, the second round of the FIA World Rally Championship.
After yet more dramatic action over the closing stages, Ford’s Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen finished second with team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila third.
In the FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers, Hirvonen continues to lead the series with a nine point advantage over Loeb. Latvala is third, a further six points adrift. In the Manufacturers’ Championship, Ford Abu Dhabi leads by 26 points ahead of the Citroën Total World Rally Team.
The final day of the event took in just three stages and 62 competitive kilometres, concluding with the 8.28 kilometre Guanajuato Power Stage which rewarded the three fastest drivers through this single stage with additional Championship points. Mikko Hirvonen was quickest, claiming an additional three points. Remarkably Loeb and Petter Solberg finished the stage joint second, which resulted in Loeb taking the position when times were calculated back to a thousandth of a second.
The drama started early this morning in the first stage when rally leader Sébastien Ogier went off the road with victory in sight. The Frenchman damaged the front left wheel of the DS3 WRC and was forced into retirement after an impressive drive all weekend. In the following stage Henning Solberg had a problem with the alternator belt, and in the final Power Stage Federico Villagra was forced to slow due to a broken drive-shaft. All other crews returned to Leon without problems.
The FIA World Rally Championship contenders now return to Europe for the third round of the series, Rally de Portugal (24-27 March).
Rally Mexico – Final Results (subject to final scrutineering)
| 1. Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena 2. Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen 3. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila 4. Petter Solberg/Chris Patterson 5. Mads Østberg /Jonas Andersson 6. Henning Solberg/Ilka Minor 7. Nasser Al-Attiyah/G Bernacchini 8. Martin Prokop/Jan Tománek 9. Juho Hänninen/Mikko Markkula 10. Federico Villagra/Jorge P Companc |
Citroën DS3 WRC Ford Fiesta RS WRC Ford Fiesta RS WRC Citroen DS3 WRC Ford Fiesta RS WRC Ford Fiesta RS WRC Ford Fiesta S2000 Ford Fiesta S2000 Skoda Fabia S2000 Ford Fiesta RS WRC |
3 hr 53 min 17.0sec 3 hr 54 min 55.4sec 3 hr 55 min 40.9sec 4 hr 00 min 55.4sec 4 hr 02 min 00.5sec 4 hr 04 min 27.0sec 4 hr 06 min 38.5sec 4 hr 06 min 52.0sec 4 hr 08 min 05.7sec 4 hr 41 min 34.2sec |
FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers (after 2 of 13 rounds)
| Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) Sébastien Loeb (FRA) Jari-Matti Latvala (FIN) Mads Östberg (NOR) Petter Solberg (NOR) Sébastien Ogier (FRA) Henning Solberg (NOR) Per-Gunnar Andersson (SWE) Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT) Martin Prokop (CZE) Kimi Räikkönen (FIN) Matthew Wilson (GBR) Juho Hanninen (FIN) Federico Villagra (ARG) Khalid Al Qassimi (ARE) |
46 points 37 points 31 points 28 points 23 points 15 points 8 points 6 points 6 points 4 points 4 points 2 points 2 points 1 point 1 point |
FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers (after 2 of 13 rounds)
| Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team Citroën Total World Rally Team M-Sport Stobart Ford World Rally Team Petter Solberg World Rally Team Ice 1 Racing Team Abu Dhabi Munchi’s Ford World Rally Team Monster World Rally Team Ferm Power Tools World Rally Team |
73 points 47 points 36 points 12 points 8 points 6 points 6 points 6 points 4 points |
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