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WRC - Ogier increases his lead in Mexico

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14.03.20

2020 Rally Mexico - Saturday morning

2020 WRC - Rally Mexico - S. Ogier / J. Ingrassia

Sébastien Ogier has increased his Rally Mexico lead to nearly half a minute after the first three stages of Saturday morning.

The drivers faced a loop of three gravel stages in typical hot and dry conditions, which will all be repeated again this afternoon.

Leading by 13.2 seconds overnight, Ogier made a storming start to the day in his Toyota Yaris WRC, winning the Guanajuatito test by 8.2s. He also outpaced closest rival Teemu Suninen on Alfaro and Derramadero to complete the morning with a lead of 28.3s as he heads towards a record-equalling sixth Rally Mexico victory.

M-Sport Ford driver Suninen was third quickest – only just slower than the chasing Ott Tänak – in the morning’s first stage, but saw his advantage over the Hyundai driver cut to just 6.6s over the subsequent tests.

Tänak took third away from Elfyn Evans in Guanajuatito, and was second in Alfaro behind team-mate Thierry Neuville before claiming the stage win in Derramadero. Evans is now 9.4s behind Tänak in fourth.

Neuville’s strategic move combined with Gus Greensmith coming to a halt left Kalle Rovanperä sweeping the road through much of Alfaro, and the young Finn has slipped away from the fight for the podium.

Greensmith’s loss of throttle response cost him 10 minutes, and the Brition has slipped from seventh to 10th overall.

Pontus Tidemand continues to lead FIA WRC2, now 56.9s in front of Nikolay Gryazin, with Marco Bulacia out front in FIA WRC3.