Rally Mexico Day One

Rally Mexico Day One

2012 FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP
RALLY GUANAJUATO MEXICO
(8 – 11 MARCH 2012)

09.03.2012

Reigning FIA World Rally Champion Sébastien Loeb heads the leaderboard after the first full day of action in Rally Mexico, the third round of the series. Team-mate Mikko Hirvonen is just a handful of seconds adrift in second with Norway’s Mads Østberg rounding off the top three.
 
The 2012 Rally Mexico got underway last night in the UNESCO World Heritage city of Guanajuato, where tens of thousands of spectators packed the streets to cheer on the crews at the start ceremony and over the spectacular street stage running through cobbled mining tunnels. Petter Solberg claimed stage honours here, but it was today that the crews headed into the mountains for the first full day of action.
 
The tables turned on Solberg in today’s first stage however; the Norwegian sustained a puncture after touching a bank at high speed and lost more than 50 seconds with this and a spin as he attempted to maintain speed. He then had another puncture in the following stage after hitting a rock and plummeted from first to 14th position after today’s first two stages. This afternoon, however, Solberg has climbed back up the leaderboard to fifth. Team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala fared equally badly this morning, the Finn breaking the front suspension after hitting a rock in stage five. He also dropped from the lead to eighth position but he too has managed to power into fourth overnight.
 
With no fewer than four different leaders since the rally started last night, Loeb has now inched ahead after a trouble-free day. Team-mate Hirvonen – who has also led the event – has similarly run without problems and is a mere 11.2 seconds adrift in second. Østberg has climbed from fifth this morning to third overnight, the Norwegian in the thick of a battle with Thierry Neuville until the Belgian crashed out of the event. Ott Tänak is running well in sixth with team-mate Novikov in seventh.
 
Rally Mexico – Unofficial Results after Day 1