Loeb establishes comfortable lead
Sebastien Loeb will start the final day of the Rally Mexico a minute clear of the field after his main pursuers hit problems on leg two
Prior to today's midday service the top three cars were still covered by just 28 seconds, with Citroen driver Loeb having taken the lead from Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford) during the morning and Subaru's Chris Atkinson also remaining in touch.
Latvala kept Loeb under pressure, despite being hampered by the dusty conditions now that he was running first on the road, until a broken turbo pipe in SS13 left him struggling with a severe loss of boost and cost him nearly two minutes.
That allowed Atkinson up to second, but he was also grappling with technical problems - losing time at stage starts due to launch control issues, and stalling in the stages as his clutch wilted.
Loeb had no such difficulties, and now only has to complete Sunday's three full-length stages and one superspecial to clinch a third successive Mexico victory.
"It's easier," Loeb admitted. "We pushed hard until the first stage of the afternoon and then we began to have a good lead over Jari-Matti. Then he had some trouble, so now we have a good lead over Atkinson and it's a bit more comfortable.
"We'll just to try to finish like this now. We have to find a good rhythm tomorrow, but if we can finish like this it will be a perfect rally."
Latvala is still on course for a podium as he is almost two minutes clear of fourth-placed Henning Solberg (Munchi's Ford), who gained a position when works Focus driver Mikko Hirvonen suffered two punctures and minor suspension damage in SS12.
A stage win in Derramadero 2 allowed Solberg to pull 16 seconds clear of Hirvonen, and when asked how much he wanted to beat the championship leader to fourth, the Norweigan replied: "I will kill for it!"
Matthew Wilson remains sixth for Stobart Ford, despite an unpleasant incident in SS14 that saw his windscreen damaged by a rock thrown by spectators.
Solberg's teammate Federico Villagra has reclaimed seventh from local privateer Ricardo Trivino, while Sebastien Ogier continues to hold ninth overall and a comfortable class lead on his Junior WRC debut.
Leading positions after day two:
Pos Driver Car Time 1. Loeb Citroen 3h08:39.8 2. Atkinson Subaru + 1:01.4 3. Latvala Ford + 2:06.4 4. H Solberg Ford + 3:51.6 5. Hirvonen Ford + 4:07.5 6. Wilson Ford + 6:10.6 7. Villagra Ford + 18:14.3 8. Trivino Peugeot + 19:31.1 9. Ogier Citroen + 22:30.8 10. Moulder Suzuki + 24:02.9
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Hamilton accepts blame for incident with Albon in F1 Brazilian GP
Ferrari drivers called to F1 stewards over Brazilian GP collision
Will Alonso's Indy failure end the age of versatility?
Loeb had "no chance" against three-car Audi team in Dakar after Al-Attiyah exit
Loeb's Dakar victory hopes end with mechanical issues on Stage 11
Why Loeb v Ogier duel gave the WRC's new hybrid era the ideal start
Brake issues hindered Rosenqvist’s chances of IndyCar victory in Long Beach
Ayrton Senna's famous Honda NSX up for sale
Yamaha to test completely new MotoGP bike at Jerez
Krack: Aston Martin frustrated by inconsistent F1 penalty decisions
The eight minutes of madness that saw Ogier strike in Croatia
How Rovanpera showed his class above his WRC rivals in Kenya
How a new 'old' challenge is capturing the spirit of British rallying lore
How Lappi survived Swedish snow carnage to snap his lengthy WRC drought
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments