Rally Mexico Day Three
Rally Mexico Day Three
2012 FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP
RALLY GUANAJUATO MEXICO
(8 - 11 MARCH 2012
11.03.2012
Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena claimed their sixth consecutive victory in Rally Mexico today, winning the event ahead of their team-mates Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen by 42.4 seconds. Third position was claimed by Petter Solberg and Chris Patterson, after team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala rolled with only two stages left to contest.
In the FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers, Loeb’s victory – along with two additional points for second position in the Power Stage – sees the Frenchman claim a 16 point lead in the series. Behind second-placed Hirvonen, Petter Solberg, who took honours in the Power Stage, is third with team-mate Latvala a disappointing 21 points further adrift after his second non-point scoring round of the season. In the Manufacturers’ Championship, Citroën continues to head Ford.
Today’s route was the shortest of the rally at just 74.76 competitive kilometres. However it included the longest stage of the rally - the 54.30 kilometre Guanajuatito test - and it was here that misfortune struck a number of the crews. Third-placed Jari-Matti Latvala crashed in the stage, distracted by the retired car of Evgeny Novikov, who had also gone off the road. Mads Østberg lost time with a puncture, Chris Atkinson was also forced on to the side-lines with broken front suspension, and Ken Block lost time when he stopped to change a puncture. As a consequence, behind Loeb and Hirvonen, Solberg moved into the final podium position and all following crews moved a place up the leaderboard.
The fourth round of the FIA World Rally Championship takes the crews back to Europe for the Rally de Portugal (29 March-01 April).
Rally Mexico – Final Unofficial Results (subject to final scrutineering)
1. Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena 2. Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen 3. Petter Solberg/Chris Patterson 4. Mads Østberg/Jonas Andersson 5. Ott Tänak/Kuldar Sikk 6. Nasser Al-Attiyah/G Bernacchini 7. Armindo Araújo/Miguel Ramalho 8. Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia 9. Ken Block/Alex Gelsomino 10. Ricardo Triviño/Alex Haro |
Citroën DS3 WRC Citroën DS3 WRC Ford Fiesta RS WRC Ford Fiesta RS WRC Ford Fiesta RS WRC Citroën DS3 WRC MINI Cooper Works WRC Skoda Fabia S2000 Ford Fiesta RS WRC Ford Fiesta RS WRC |
4 hr 15 min 32.7sec 4 hr 16 min 15.1sec 4 hr 17 min 44.1sec 4 hr 20 min 24.2sec 4 hr 20 min 35.3sec 4 hr 22 min 14.1sec 4 hr 28 min 19.6sec 4 hr 30 min 30.5sec 4 hr 37 min 59.5sec 4 hr 39 min 03.4sec |
FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers (after 3 of 13 rounds)
Sébastien Loeb (FRA) Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) Petter Solberg (NOR) Mads Østberg (NOR) Jari-Matti Latvala (FIN) Evgeny Novikov (RUS) Dani Sordo (ESP) Ott Tänak (EST) Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT) François Delecour (FRA) Armindo Araújo (PRT) Henning Solberg (NOR) Pierre Campana (FRA) Sébastien Ogier (FRA) Patrik Sandell (SWE) Martin Prokop (CZE) Ken Block (USA) Eyvind Brynildsen (NOR) Ricardo Triviño (MEX) |
66 points 50 points 47 points 28 points 26 points 21 points 18 points 14 points 8 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 6 points 4 points 4 points 4 points 2 points 1 point 1 point |
FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers (after 3 of 13 rounds)
Citroën Total World Rally Team Ford World Rally Team M-Sport Ford World Rally Team MINI WRC Team Qatar World Rally Team Adapta World Rally Team Citroën Junior World Rally Team |
108 points 70 points 38 points 26 points 16 points 12 points 6 points |