Reigning FIA World Rally Champions Sébastien Loeb and co-driver Daniel Elena claimed victory in Corona Rally Mexico, the third round of the series, which finished in Leon this afternoon. The French Citroën Xsara crew maintained their overnight advantage, taking fastest time in one of today’s three stages to return with a winning margin of 48.9 seconds. Maximum points also see Loeb and the Kronos Total Citroën World Rally Team take the lead in both the Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ Championships.
“It was nice to have a fight with Petter (Solberg) again, especially when I am the winner of the match!” said Loeb. “We had some very good moments on this rally. The car was perfect; we had no problems all weekend.”
Petter Solberg finally got points on the board with second overall in the leading Subaru Impreza WRC. The Norwegian won one of the stages today but was simply unable to take the fight to Loeb in the closing stages. Austrian Manfred Stohl claimed third overall in a Peugeot 307 WRC and climbs the Championship leaderboard into third position, 10 points adrift of Marcus Grönholm.
The fourth round of the FIA World Rally Championship takes the crews to Spain for Rally Catalunya – Costa Daurada (24-26 March).
Corona Rally Mexico – Final Results (subject to fuel sampling)
| 1 | Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena | Citroën Xsara WRC | 3 hr 47 min 08.8sec |
| 2 | Petter Solberg/Phil Mills | Subaru Impreza WRC | 3 hr 47 min 57.7sec |
| 3 | Manfred Stohl/Ilka Minor | Peugeot 307 WRC | 3 hr 51 min 47.9sec |
| 4 | Daniel Sordo/Marc Marti | Citroën Xsara WRC | 3 hr 52 min 36.5sec |
| 5 | Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud | Peugeot 307 WRC | 3 hr 59 min 34.2sec |
| 6 | Gareth MacHale/Paul Nagle | Ford Focus RS WRC | 4 hr 03 min 11.1sec |
FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers (after 3 of 16 rounds)
| Sébastien Loeb (F) | 26 points |
| Marcus Grönholm (S) | 21 points |
| Manfred Stohl (A) | 11 points |
| Petter Solberg (N) | 8 points |
| Toni Gardemeister (FIN) | 6 points |
| Daniel Carlsson (S) | 6 points |
| Daniel Sordo (E) | 6 points |
| Chris Atkinson (AUS) | 5 points |
| Gigi Galli (I) | 5 points |
FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers (after 3 of 16 rounds)
| Kronos Total Citroën World Rally Team | 34 points |
| BP-Ford World Rally Team | 30 points |
| OMV Peugeot Norway | 21 points |
| Subaru World Rally Team | 20 points |
| Stobart VK M-Sport Ford World Rally Team | 9 points |
| Red Bull-Škoda Team | 3 points |