Jari-Matti Latvala flies through the village of Guanajuato, but the Fiesta could only manage third overall.
RALLY GUANAJUATO MEXICO
By Roberto Motta
Photos by Citroën Communication Citroën Racing, Ford Motor Company and BMW-press
The opening two events of the WRC season provided extremes contrasts: after the snow and ice in Sweden, the FIA World Rally Championship traveled to hot and dusty Mexico for the Rally Guanajuato Mexico. It is the first of seven consecutive events on gravel. The first rally on asphalt will not take place until the end of August when the crews tackle Rally Germany.
Ogier’s Citroën before the start of a stage. From the overall results, the Citroëns have a definitive advantage in the dirt, boding well for the next six events, all run on gravel.
Unfortunately, the entry list of the rally Guanajuato Mexico was reduced to only twenty five cars, but on this short list there were many potential winners: Hirvonen, Latvala, Ostberg, Loeb, Ogier and Petter Solberg. The battle of cars was reduced to just the Citroen DS3 and the Ford Fiesta RS. The short entry list was due to the fact that a trip across the Atlantic is too expensive for many of the teams, especially for the private entries.
The seventh Rally Mexico had a new stage in the heart of the historic town of Guanajuato, which is part of the UNESCO World Heritage. Guanajuato is famous for its architecture, its colors and its silver mines. During the event, the town was the starting place for the Rally and the theatre of a competitive stage, both eagerly awaited by the Mexican spectators.
Crowds gather around the Citroëns. The first stage was delayed by almost an hour do to the enthusiastic Mexican spectators. Shades of the old Carrera Panamericana.
March 3rd The Rally Guanajuato Mexico began started with the shakedown run. We mentioned that the entry list had only 25 competitors, but because of the huge crowds attendant at the start, for security reasons the start of test-run was delayed by 57 minutes.
At the end of the shake-down in San Juan de Otates on a stage of 5.13 km, the best time was achieved by Sebastien Ogier, who lead Petter Solberg and the reigning champion Sebastien Loeb, who won here last year.
Solberg suffered a steering problem after a hard impact with a pool of water. At the end of shake-down, behind the three Citroen DS3s, came the seven Ford Fiestas. The fastest of the Fiesta drivers was Jari-Matti Latvala (4th), followed by Ostberg, Wilson and Mikko Hirvonen, who is currently leading the overall standings.
Shakedown
01. Sebastien Ogier – Citroen – 2:51.7
02. Petter Solberg – Citroen – 2:51.9
03. Sebastien Loeb – Citroen – 2:52.9
04. Jari-Matti Latvala – Ford – 2:53.3
05. Mads Ostberg – Ford – 2:55.3
06. Matthew Wilson – Ford – 2:55.5
07. Mikko Hirvonen – Ford – 2:55.9
08. Federico Villagra – Ford – 2:56.4
09. Evgeny Novikov – Ford – 2:56.5
10. Henning Solberg – Ford – 2:57.7
March 4th Mexican fans were enthusiastic when the crews passed in the streets of Guanajuato. As soon the cars drove down from the podium, the drivers set off to on the first stage on the paved streets of the former mining city. At the end of the first stage, Petter Solberg in his Citroën DS3 WRC set the quickest time and took the lead in the event. At the end of the first day, the young Frenchman was only 2.3 seconds ahead of team-mate Sébastien Loeb, and the two drivers battled throughout all the day for the lead. They opened up a gap of over a minute on their rival, Mikko Hirvonen and his Ford Fiesta RS. While the leading trio had no problems, many crews behind them did. At the end of the day, Matthew Wilson, Federico Villagra and Ken Block were out of the race.
Hirvonen tries out the local attire.
Rally Mexico – Results after Day 1
01. Sebastien Ogier – Citroen – 1:27:22.3
02. Sebastien Loeb – Citroen – +2.3
03. Mikko Hirvonen – Ford – +1:22.2
04. Jari-Matti Latvala – Ford – +2:53.6
05. Evgeny Novikov – Ford – +3:04.0
06. Henning Solberg – Ford – +3:16.5
07. Dennis Kuipers – Ford – +5:06.8
08. Nasser Al-Attiyah – Ford (S2000) – +5:15.2
09. Ott Tanak – Ford (S2000) – +5:42.2
10. Martin Prokop – Ford (S2000) – +6:07.8
March 5th The race really began on the gravel roads in the vicinity of Léon. Sébastien Ogier and Sébastien Loeb, who were fourth and sixth in the starting order of the first day (established by the world championship positions), took advantage of roads that had already been cleared by the cars starting in front of them.
Hirvonen airborne with the Fiesta RS. Right now only a two-make battle but that promises to change.
At end of the second day of the event the race leader was once again Sebastian Ogier,10.5 seconds ahead of team-mate Sebastien Loeb. Loeb was penalized of 50 seconds, for a gearbox problem. But then in the remaining four special stages of the day, Loeb recovered 40 seconds on his Citroën team mate. Hirvonen, and his Ford Fiesta, was third, ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala who won the special test number 17.
Rally Mexico – Results after Day 2
01. Sebastien Ogier – Citroen – 3:12:52.6
02. Sebastien Loeb – Citroen – +10.5
03. Mikko Hirvonen – Ford – +1:30.4
04. Jari-Matti Latvala – Ford – +2:43.8
05. Petter Solberg – Citroen – +6:51.8
06. Mads Ostberg – Ford – +8:09.8
07. Henning Solberg – Ford – +8:41.6
08. Nasser Al-Attiyah – Ford (S2000) – +10:53.9
09. Martin Prokop – Ford (S2000) – +11:32.5
10. Juho Hanninen – Skoda (S2000) – +12:02.6
March 6th After two long days, the final leg of Rally Mexico, with only 62 timed kilometers, was so short it seemed like a sprint race. The finale stage consisted of three stages without a service break: Guanajuatito (29 km), Comanjilla (24 km) and the Guanajuato Power Stage (8 km), that rewarded the first three places with bonus points.
In the brush with the new DS3 Citroën, Ogier charges hard but had to retire on the last day of the rally after hitting a stone.
When Sébastien Ogier and Sébastien Loeb left the Poliforum de León service park, only 10.5 seconds separated the two Citroën teammates. Unfortunately Ogier went out halfway through the stage and ended his race with a broken left-hand front upright.
“I had to push to hold on to my first place as my position of being first out forced me to sweep the roads yet again,” explained Sébastien Ogier. “In a corner, the car understeered and I went a bit wide. I couldn’t avoid a stone on the verge and the left-hand front upright broke and I had to retire “.
Mikko Hirvonen at speed. After finishing second in Mexico, he still leads the WRC.
Therefore, Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena won their fifth consecutive victory in this event. They are unbeaten in Mexico since 2006, and they scored the Citroën DS3 WRC’s first win, which showed its potential on gravel throughout the three days of the rally.
With this win the team of Loeb/Elena are now in second place in the Drivers’ World Championship.
Paddy Hopkirk won the 1964 Monte Carlo Rally in this Mini Cooper. Will the new Mini be as successful?
The FIA World Rally Championship contenders now return to Europe for the third round of the series, Rally de Portugal (24-27 March), where the fans are waiting to see in action the ‘Mini Countryman WRC’ powered by an 1.6-litre, four-cylinder turbo-charged engine from BMW Motorsport, and the announcement of future entrance in championship of the Volkswagen.
The new Mini Countryman on a shakedown test. Not sure about that livery.
In the 1960s, the Mini Cooper S caused a sensation with victories at the legendary Monte Carlo Rally. The Mini Countryman WRC, had its shakedown in 2010, and during the 2011 the car will be present in many occasions in the European Rally Championship and in some occasions in the WRC.
Rally Mexico – Official Final Classification
01. Sebastien Loeb – Citroen – 3:53:17.0
02. Mikko Hirvonen – Ford – +1:38.4
03. Jari-Matti Latvala – Ford – +2:23.9
04. Petter Solberg – Citroen – +7:18.4
05. Mads Ostberg – Ford – +8:43.5
06. Henning Solberg – Ford – +9:50.0
07. Martin Prokop – Ford (S2000) – +13:35.0
08. Juho Hanninen – Skoda (S2000) – +14:48.7
09. Federico Villagra – Ford – +48:17.2
Results Power Stage
01. Mikko Hirvonen – Ford – 4:40.4
02. Petter Solberg – Citroen – +2.1
03. Sebastien Loeb – Citroen – +2.1
04. ari-Matti Latvala – Ford – +2.5
05 Mads Ostberg – Ford – +7.9
FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers (after 2 of 13 rounds)
Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) 46 points
Sébastien Loeb (FRA) 37 points
Jari-Matti Latvala (FIN) 31 points
Mads Östberg (NOR) 28 points
Petter Solberg (NOR) 23 points
Sébastien Ogier (FRA) 15 points
Henning Solberg (NOR) 8 points
Martin Prokop (CZE) 6 points
Per-Gunnar Andersson 6 points
Kimi Räikkönen (FIN) 4 points
Juho Hanninen (FIN) 4 points
Matthew Wilson (GBR) 2 points
Federico Villagra (ARG) 2 points
Khalid Al Qassimi (ARE) 1 point
Ott Tänak (EST) 1 point
FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers (after 2 of 13 rounds)
Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team 73 points
Citroën Total World Rally Team 47 points
M-Sport Stobart Ford World Rally 36 points
Petter Solberg World Rally Team 12 points