The Mexico maestro keeps cool among the WRC chaos

It’s a tradition that the winner of Rally Mexico is awarded a special pair of locally made cowboy boots. After recording a record seventh win on the gruelling gravel rally, World Rally Championship legend Sebastien Ogier could probably set up a shoe shop. “I still keep the boots,” smiled the Frenchman of his latest victory. “I’m pretty reluctant to throw away things. I always think maybe one day I will make a small museum. It’s a nice feeling to wear them again.”

Mexico is a special place for the eight-time world champion. It’s where the journey to becoming a global rallying superstar began, thanks to a maiden Junior WRC win in 2008, the season his life changed after winning the coveted title. Since that breakthrough, six wins on Mexican soil had followed in rallying’s top flight, with Volkswagen (2013-2015), M-Sport Ford (2018), Citroen (2019) and Toyota (2020). So when Mexico rejoined the calendar this year for the first time since 2020 after a COVID-19 lay off, it seemed inevitable that Ogier would add this event to his partial WRC programme with Toyota.

It’s also a rally that plays to Ogier’s strengths. His smooth driving and ability to be kind to his tyres is rewarded handsomely across Mexico’s tricky mountainous stages, which are made even more difficult by the high altitude. Once again, these skills were used to devastating effect as Ogier, guided by co-driver Vincent Landais, completed a dominant victory to prove he is the undisputed Mexico master.

While there were no concerns over Ogier’s ability to perform in Mexico, there were plenty of question marks heading into the event. Ogier’s Toyota team may have won the constructors’ crown last year, but the GR Yaris’s Achilles’ heel had been its pace on hot, dry and rough gravel rallies. Would the hard work behind the scenes make Toyota competitive in this scenario? Likewise, there were unknowns surrounding how the Rally1 cars would perform at high altitude for the first time, with hybrid power earmarked as vital by drivers due to the thinner air reducing engine power by up 30%. These questions were answered emphatically once the action began.

Before the cars hit the gravel stages, there was the small matter of entertaining the hordes of fans who packed into the historic UNESCO World Heritage site of Guanajuato to catch a glimpse of the rally stars they had sorely missed. Rally Sweden winner Ott Tanak kicked off proceedings by winning the two blasts through Guanajuato’s famous streets and tunnels, which this year featured a touching mural tribute to the late Ken Block. “When you arrive here it is full of crowds, they are passionate,” said the M-Sport Ford star. “Today was a bit of fun, tomorrow is the job.”

Tanak tears past the Block tribute before his Rally Mexico unravels

Photo by: McKlein / Motorsport Images

By starting first on the dusty gravel roads, Tanak knew he would face an almost impossible job to win, although thoughts of the podium quickly moved to survival when M-Sport came crashing down to earth after its Swedish high. All three Ford Pumas hit trouble, and officials were forced to red-flag stage three, El Chocolate. Tanak was the first to suffer when a “dead turbo” forced the Estonian to pull over to attempt a fix, but it was to no avail. Severely down on power, he had to rely on hybrid boosts to limp to Friday’s service for a much-needed repair, losing more than 12 minutes in the process.

To compound M-Sport’s misery, Pierre-Louis Loubet, on his Mexico debut, clouted a rock to force his early retirement, swiftly followed by privateer Jourdan Serderidis spinning his Puma to draw the red flags. “It couldn't get worse than that for us,” grimaced team principal Richard Millener. “It’s survival of the fittest in this rally and we're only one gravel stage in.”

"I don’t think there was much more we could do except taking a lot of risk, but that’s not really the approach I want to have on this rally" Sebastien Ogier

M-Sport’s El Chocolate meltdown handed control of the rally to Hyundai and Toyota, and Esapekka Lappi and Ogier made the most of their advantageous positions to rise to the top of the leaderboard. Lappi scored two stage wins to Ogier’s one so that his Hyundai held a slender 1.4s lead, while Toyota’s Elfyn Evans sat third, 12.5s adrift. Dani Sordo held fourth ahead of Hyundai team-mate Thierry Neuville and Toyota’s reigning world champion Kalle Rovanpera, who was now effectively the road sweeper after Tanak’s problems.

Rovanpera and Neuville were lucky to reach service at all after the pair were almost caught out by a bump in stage four that wasn’t in their pacenotes. “We came through at speed and the hit was quite big,” related Rovanpera, while Neuville added: “It was crazy and very, very painful. A bump came as a surprise and I thought we were going to go off as I couldn’t see the road.”

The pair would lose the use of their hybrid power on the following stage, which Neuville put down to the impact from the compression. Mexico’s reputation of being a rally of attrition was bolstered by another addition to the list of retirements when Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta slid off the road and down an incline in stage five.

Lappi outshone Ogier on Friday but it wasn't to last

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

The afternoon provided a resumption of Lappi versus Ogier. The Finn proved more than capable of matching the Mexico master, taking another three stage wins to increase his lead over Ogier to 5.3s at the end of Friday. It was a day that Lappi, competing in only his third event with the i20 N, hailed as one of his best. “I hoped that I could fight at the top but to be leading and fighting all the time against Seb, this was not in my mind to be honest,” he admitted. “I’m a bit surprised.” Ogier acknowledged the effort from his former team-mate, before adding: “I don’t think there was much more we could do except taking a lot of risk, but that’s not really the approach I want to have on this rally.”

The pair were in a league of their own, with Evans the best of rest, 30.1s adrift. Neuville held fourth, despite battling a blocked damper and broken driveshaft the left him covered in oil after an attempted repair. Rovanpera declared himself happy with his damage-limitation act to sit fifth. The pair had also benefited from Sordo falling to sixth after losing a minute to a puncture on stage eight. After resolving the turbo failure, Tanak battled another mystery issue that seemed to affect his speed. The Estonian was able to reach service in 17th overall, 14 minutes off the pace.

Lappi, who had been the talk of the service park after his dazzling Friday, found himself centre of attention on Saturday, but for altogether different reasons. His starring cameo came to an abrupt halt on the day’s first stage when his Hyundai ran slightly wide at a left-hander, and the mistake was punished by a brutal rally-ending crash. The i20 N nosed into an embankment before firing across the road and rear-ending a telegraph pole. A small fire then broke out after oil from a canister positioned at the top of the pole trickled onto the car.

Lappi and co-driver Janne Ferme were unhurt in the crash, but required the help of WRC2 crew Gus Greensmith and Jonas Andersson, who were first on the scene, to control the situation before firefighters arrived. The stage was red-flagged and the second pass was cancelled due to the fallen pole. “It’s hard to swallow, but on the other hand when you fight for the win you still need to push and maybe I was not pushing hard enough actually,” explained Lappi. “When you drive more safe it is actually more difficult, I think I was a bit caught out. I thought we were going to lose the car but I got an extinguisher from Gus and we managed to almost shut it down, and then the firefighters came and finished the job.”

News of Lappi’s exit was met with disappointment from Ogier, who had been enjoying the intense head-to-head battle. “I always enjoy the fight and yesterday he was really having amazing speed, so it's a big shame,” shrugged Ogier, who inherited a 27.3s lead over Evans. “I would have liked to have this go on longer as it’s fun and exciting for the fans, but that is rally.”

Lappi's exit put Ogier into a comfortable lead

Photo by: Toyota Racing

Equipped with a healthy advantage, Ogier was afforded the luxury of being able to manage the lead and dial back on taking risks. But the times didn’t reflect this on stage 16, where Ogier reminded the rallying world why he is such a force to be reckoned with, even as a part-time driver. A mesmerising time 8.1s faster than Neuville realistically put the rally victory beyond doubt barring a mechanical issue. The effort stunned both Ogier and Toyota boss Jari-Matti Latvala.

“When I saw the time I said, ‘Woah, that is something because these days you don’t see gaps like that in normal conditions,’” exclaimed 2016 Rally Mexico winner Latvala. “That was something unique. But he loves this rally, he is the master of this rally, he knows how to attack with clean driving and not be too aggressive.”

"I lost out in the fight on Friday opening the road...this is quite OK points so we just have to take what we can" Kalle Rovanpera

With Ogier seemingly in control at the front, all eyes turned to a battle for second brought to life by a charging Neuville. Four stage wins reduced the gap to Evans from 11.6s to 4.3s before they headed into Sunday’s final four tests. Despite admitting that at times he was struggling to speak the Puma’s language, Tanak ended the day with two superspecial stage wins that hauled him to the fringes of the points-paying positions in 11th. "Compared to yesterday it's been a fantastic day,” he related. “It has generally been trouble-free technical-wise and quite a bit more fun, but we are still lacking. I struggle to find a way to drive the car fast and for me it's a bit unnatural.”

Ogier’s lead stood at a commanding 35.8s but, with Sunday’s loop arguably the toughest of the rally, and featuring the longest stage of the rally at 35.63km, he was well aware of how Mexico can bite. A no-risk approach was taken through the first three, resulting in a time loss of 13.3s, before he launched a surprise attack on the final Power Stage. Unbeknown to many onlookers, unannounced plans to contest the WRC’s next stop in Croatia spurred him to push in a bid to secure better road position for the asphalt event. The result was a stunning 43rd career powerstage win to thoroughly underline a dominant run to victory in true Ogier style.

Neuville flew on the final day to grab second place off Evans

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

“I like this stage!” grinned an emotional Ogier. “The car was great this weekend and it was a faultless weekend from us and the team. As I am doing the next rally, it's important to start first on the road there and it was important to get the points for the team as well. I am proud, but this win is for my friend who I lost not long ago. I am thinking of him.”

In the end the winning margin stood at 27.5s, and it was Neuville who snatched second away from Evans on a dramatic final stage. The fight between the pair had raged across Sunday morning. Evans won the mammoth Otates test, his only stage win of the rally, to hold off Neuville, who lost time avoiding a couple of dogs that ran out into the road. But the Welshman’s efforts had damaged a suspension arm on his GR Yaris, which required a fix witnessed by Neuville on the following road section. Unable to take a maximum attack approach to the final two stages, Evans lost second by just 0.4s.

Rovanpera came home a frustrated fourth after his Midas touch on Power Stage deserted him. A brush with a tree ripped most of the rear wing from his Toyota, leaving him to pick up just two bonus points. Sweeping the roads on Friday resulting in a compromised tyre choice for Saturday, and that left the Finn unable to fight for a podium. “It was a difficult weekend to be honest,” he acknowledged. “I lost out in the fight on Friday opening the road really, and then we were a bit behind all the time with the starting place for the rest of the weekend. From opening the road, this is quite OK points so we just have to take what we can.”

Tanak was rewarded for plugging away after his Friday heartbreak to snatch ninth overall and four bonus points from the Power Stage to remain firmly in the championship hunt. The 2019 world champion finished behind the top three WRC2 runners, who were led home by former M-Sport WRC driver Greensmith, who starred throughout to finish sixth overall in his Skoda Fabia on his first outing of the year.

But the biggest smile was left on the face of new championship leader Ogier as he slipped into a fresh pair of the WRC’s most sought-after boots.

Ogier puts the boot in with his Rally Mexico victory celebrations

Photo by: McKlein / Motorsport Images