Sébastien Ogier and Jari-Matti Latvala provided Volkswagen with another one-two finish today in Mexico. For the Frenchman, it was his 18th world class victory and his second this season. Like last year, Thierry Neuville came third to collect Hyundai’s first ever WRC podium finish.
Ogier won 14 of Rally Mexico’s 22 tests (which takes his score to 250 WRC stage victories) on his way to a dominating win on the year’s first gravel round in his Volkswagen Polo R WRC/Michelin.
The Frenchman was the event’s early leader and he only relinquished top spot to Mads Ostberg (Citroën/Michelin) for four stages before the Norwegian was eliminated after an ‘off’ on SS7, at practically at the same spot as last year.
That handed first place back to Ogier who defended it to the finish, pulling gradually clear of team-mate Latvala who had suffered from the handicap of running first on the road on Day 1.
The result hands Volkswagen its seventh consecutive WRC win and its fourth one-two success at this level.
Once again, Rally Mexico produced a high number of front-running victims, with as many as nine drivers failing to complete the first leg, including Andreas Mikkelsen, Kris Meeke, Mikko Hirvonen and Robert Kubica. They were all able to re-join the next day under the Rally2 ruling, but Mikkelsen had to resort to the same solution the following day, which meant he wasn’t eligible to score Power Stage bonus points.
The final test was eventually won by Sébastien Ogier (three points), ahead of Latvala (two) and Mikko Hirvonen (one). Citroën’s Kris Meeke, who was running first on the road, hit a rock and was unable to reach the finish in Leon.
After claiming his first stage win in 2012 and his first WRC podium last year, Neuville earned Hyundai’s first ever podium finish today. The Belgian took advantage of his rivals’ misfortunes to appear in third spot before pulling progressively clear of Rally Mexico rookie Elfyn Evans (Ford/Michelin) who will be delighted with fourth place. The Welshman nearly finished on the podium himself when the N°7 Hyundai i20 WRC developed a water leak on the final road section. However, thanks to the bottle of Corona beer he had in the car, Neuville was able to nurse his machine back to the finish…
Martin Prokop produced a solid run in his privately-entered Ford Fiesta RS WRC to claim fifth place, ahead of Mexican Benito Guerra (Ford) who improved on the eighth place he secured on his home event in 2013. Australia’s Chris Atkinson (Hyundai) was seventh, ahead of Mikko Hirvonen (Ford, 8th) and Citroën-Total Abu Dhabi WRT’s Mads Ostberg (9th).
The WRC-2 scrap saw Ott Tanak (Ford Fiesta R5) emerge in front early on after posting an incredible second-best time on the super-special in Guanajuato (SS1). The Estonian was eliminated on Friday, however, and he was soon joined on the retirements list by Nicolas Fuchs (Ford Fiesta R5) and Quentin Gilbert (Ford Fiesta R5). Lorenzo Bertelli (Ford Fiesta R5) appeared momentarily in front before being passed by Yuri Protasov (Ford Fiesta R5/Michelin after SS4, but the Ukrainian suffered transmission failure on the final morning.
Sébastien Ogier and Jari-Matti Latvala provided Volkswagen with another one-two finish today in Mexico. For the Frenchman, it was his 18th world class victory and his second this season. Like last year, Thierry Neuville came third to collect Hyundai’s first ever WRC podium finish.
Ogier won 14 of Rally Mexico’s 22 tests (which takes his score to 250 WRC stage victories) on his way to a dominating win on the year’s first gravel round in his Volkswagen Polo R WRC/Michelin.
The Frenchman was the event’s early leader and he only relinquished top spot to Mads Ostberg (Citroën/Michelin) for four stages before the Norwegian was eliminated after an ‘off’ on SS7, at practically at the same spot as last year.
That handed first place back to Ogier who defended it to the finish, pulling gradually clear of team-mate Latvala who had suffered from the handicap of running first on the road on Day 1.
The result hands Volkswagen its seventh consecutive WRC win and its fourth one-two success at this level.
Once again, Rally Mexico produced a high number of front-running victims, with as many as nine drivers failing to complete the first leg, including Andreas Mikkelsen, Kris Meeke, Mikko Hirvonen and Robert Kubica. They were all able to re-join the next day under the Rally2 ruling, but Mikkelsen had to resort to the same solution the following day, which meant he wasn’t eligible to score Power Stage bonus points.
The final test was eventually won by Sébastien Ogier (three points), ahead of Latvala (two) and Mikko Hirvonen (one). Citroën’s Kris Meeke, who was running first on the road, hit a rock and was unable to reach the finish in Leon.
After claiming his first stage win in 2012 and his first WRC podium last year, Neuville earned Hyundai’s first ever podium finish today. The Belgian took advantage of his rivals’ misfortunes to appear in third spot before pulling progressively clear of Rally Mexico rookie Elfyn Evans (Ford/Michelin) who will be delighted with fourth place. The Welshman nearly finished on the podium himself when the N°7 Hyundai i20 WRC developed a water leak on the final road section. However, thanks to the bottle of Corona beer he had in the car, Neuville was able to nurse his machine back to the finish…
Martin Prokop produced a solid run in his privately-entered Ford Fiesta RS WRC to claim fifth place, ahead of Mexican Benito Guerra (Ford) who improved on the eighth place he secured on his home event in 2013. Australia’s Chris Atkinson (Hyundai) was seventh, ahead of Mikko Hirvonen (Ford, 8th) and Citroën-Total Abu Dhabi WRT’s Mads Ostberg (9th).
The WRC-2 scrap saw Ott Tanak (Ford Fiesta R5) emerge in front early on after posting an incredible second-best time on the super-special in Guanajuato (SS1). The Estonian was eliminated on Friday, however, and he was soon joined on the retirements list by Nicolas Fuchs (Ford Fiesta R5) and Quentin Gilbert (Ford Fiesta R5). Lorenzo Bertelli (Ford Fiesta R5) appeared momentarily in front before being passed by Yuri Protasov (Ford Fiesta R5/Michelin after SS4, but the Ukrainian suffered transmission failure on the final morning.
Sébastien Ogier et Jari-Matti Latvala ont offert un nouveau doublé à la marque Volkswagen. Le Français a remporté sa 18e victoire mondiale, la seconde cette saison. Thierry Neuville, troisième, a terminé à la même place que l’an passé et offre un premier podium à la marque Hyundai en WRC.
En remportant 14 des 22 spéciales du Rallye du Mexique 2014 (250 en WRC), le champion du monde sortant a dominé la 3e manche de la saison et la 1ère sur terre au volant de sa Volkswagen Polo R WRC/Michelin.
Premier leader, le Français n’a laissé les commandes du rallye que l’espace de quatre spéciales à Mads Ostberg (Citroën/Michelin), qui fut déjà son principal challenger de l’édition 2013. Mais comme l’an passé, et quasiment au même endroit, le Norvégien a dû se retirer suite à une touchette.
Sébastien Ogier est donc repassé en tête à l’issue de l’ES7 et n’a plus quitté cette position, creusant peu à peu l’écart sur son équipier Jari-Matti Latvala qui ouvrait la route et balayait les pistes le 1er jour. Volkswagen s’est offert une 7e victoire mondiale consécutive et un 4e doublé en WRC.
Les pistes mexicaines ont encore une fois piégé de nombreux concurrents : neuf pilotes n’ont pas pu terminer la 1ère étape, comme Andreas Mikkelsen, Kris Meeke, Mikko Hirvonen ou encore Robert Kubica. Tous ont pu repartir en Rally2 le lendemain, voire même en Rally2 le surlendemain pour Mikkelsen, mais ils n’étaient pas tous éligibles pour marquer des points de bonus dans la Power Stage.
En effet, le règlement prévoit que seuls les pilotes n’ayant pas abandonné et ceux s’étant retirés le 1er jour peuvent « chasser » les points dans la Power Stage ! Cette dernière spéciale a été remportée par Sébastien Ogier (3 points), devant Jari-Matti Latvala (2 points) et Mikko Hirvonen (1 point). Premier sur la route, Kris Meeke (Citroën) a tapé une pierre qui se trouvait en pleine trajectoire et n’a pu rentrer au parc de Leon.
Après une 1ère victoire de spéciale en 2012 et un 1er podium WRC l’an passé, Thierry Neuville a cette année offert un 1er podium mondial à la marque Hyundai malgré une grosse frayeur sur la dernière liaison suite à une fuite du radiateur. Le pilote Belge a profité des infortunes de ses adversaires pour se hisser à la 3e place et prendre l’ascendant sur le jeune Gallois Elfyn Evans (Ford/Michelin), 4e à l’issue d’un rallye qu’il découvrait.
Martin Prokop a réalisé une très belle prestation au volant de sa Ford Fiesta RS WRC privée (5e), devant le Mexicain Benito Guerra (Ford), 8e l’an passé et 6e cette année. L’Australien Chris Atkinson (Hyundai) a terminé à la 7e place devant Mikko Hirvonen (8e, Ford), 1er des Rally2, et le pilote Citroën-Total Abu Dhabi WRT Mads Ostberg (9e).
En WRC-2, Ott Tanak (Ford Fiesta R5) fut le 1er leader après un incroyable 2e meilleur temps scratch dans la Superspéciale de Guanajuato. Mais l’Estonien a dû se retirer le lendemain, tout comme Nicolas Fuchs (Ford Fiesta R5) et Quentin Gilbert (Ford Fiesta R5). Lorenzo Bertelli (Ford Fiesta R5) s’est hissé en tête avant d’être débordé par l’Ukrainien Yuri Protasov (Ford Fiesta R5/Michelin à l’issue de l’ES4, vainqueur malgré une transmission cassée dimanche matin.
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