World Rally Championship (Rally Mexico, Round 3)
Volkswagen’s Sebastien Ogier dominated the third round of the World Rally Championship in Mexico to assume a 31-point lead ahead of the retiring Sebastien Loeb. Ogier held off an early challenge from Mads Ostberg (M-Sport) to win by three-and-a-half minutes (despite getting held by closed gate in SS18) – the Frenchman also claimed three points for winning Sunday’s Power Stage.
Ostberg’s early charge fell apart on SS15 when electrical issues ground his Ford to a halt, promoting Citroën’s Mikko Hirvonen to a distant runner-up spot, after the latter suffered a puncture. Thierry Neuville eventually took 3rd place to secure his first WRC podium, while Dani Sordo assumed a rather anonymous 4th. Nasser Al-Attiyah made it two Qatar WRT Ford’s in the top five, while Chris Atkinson climbed to 6th, despite losing five minutes after hitting a rock on SS3.
PWRC champion Benito Guerra grabbed a credible 8th place in his home event. Jari-Matti Latvala lost all of day one after he too hit a rock, while Evgeny Novikov was hit by electrical problems early on, hampering his effort. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari took the WRC2 win, after garnering a nine-minute advantage over Nicolas Fuchs.
