WRC Rally Mexico: Ogier flies but Latvala on brink of win

Having set the pace on the first six of Saturday's nine stages, Latvala was unable to carry that same form into Sunday's opener but came through the stage safely and will carry a lead of a 1m10s into the Agua Zarca powerstage.

He now needs only to negotiate the 10-mile stage to claim his first World Rally Championship win since the Tour of Corsica last season.

Ogier was fastest on the stage by 25.3s from Latvala in his Volkswagen Polo R WRC.

While that pace came too late for the Frenchman to mount a challenge, it did serve as a reminder of what the world champion - who is yet to drop a point so far this season - could have done had he not been first on the road on the opening days of the event.

Latvala and Ogier are the only VWs still running as the damage to Andreas Mikkelsen's car from his Saturday crash proved too severe to repair on site and he was pulled from the Rally2 restart list.

Dani Sordo retains third after a competitive showing on SS20. The Spaniard set the fifth-fastest time to consolidate his claim to the final podium slot, which would mark a third-successive top-three finish for his Hyundai team.

Mads Ostberg was marginally quicker than Sordo on Guanajuato but, with two minutes to make up, looks consigned to fourth, while fifth belongs to the second Hyundai of Hayden Paddon, who was third quickest on the stage in his i20 WRC.

Ott Tanak is sixth ahead of Martin Prokop and and Lorenzo Bertelli, while WRC2 leader Teemu Suninen holds ninth.

LEADING POSITIONS AFTER SS20:

Coverage of the final stage of Rally Mexico will start at 1800 UK time in Autosport Race Centre Live