WRC Round 2. Corona Rally Mexico 4th-7th March 2010

[Jari]

WRC Rally Mexico – Results

1. Sebastien Loeb (F) > Citroen C4 > 3:42:41.7 (+0:00.0)
2. Petter Solberg (N) > Citroen C4 > 3:43:05.9 (+0:24.2)
3. Sebastien Ogier (F) > Citroen C4 > 3:43:07.0 (+0:25.3)
4. Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) > Ford Focus > 3:44:29.2 (+1:47.5)
5. Jari-Matti Latvala (FIN) > Ford Focus > 3:44:56.8 (+2:15.1)
6. Henning Solberg (N) > Ford Focus > 3:45:29.7 (+2:48.0)
7. Federico Villagra (RA) > Ford Focus > 3:52:55.1 (+10:13.4)
8. Xavier Pons (E) > Ford Fiesta > 4:01:26.1 (+18:44.4)
9. Martin Prokop (CZ) > Ford Fiesta > 4:01:43.7 (+19:02.0)
10. Armindo Araujo (P) > Mitsubishi Lancer > 4:04:14.2 (+21:32.5)
15. Dani Sordo (E) > Citroen C4 > 4:22:34.1 (+39:52.4)
17. Matthew Wilson (GB) > Ford Focus > 4:25:58.9 (+43:17.2)
18. Ken Block (USA) > Ford Focus > 4:29:32.0 (+46:50.3)
DNF. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) > Citroen C4 > SS 7 off-road


Championship Standings

1. Sebastien Loeb (F) > 43
2. Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) > 37
3. Jari-Matti Latvala (FIN) > 25
4. Sebastien Ogier (F) > 25
5. Petter Solberg (N) > 20
6. Henning Solberg (N) > 16
7. Dani Sordo (E) > 12
8. Matthew Wilson (GB) > 6
9. Federico Villagra (RA) > 6
10. Mads Ostberg (N) > 4

[Everso Biggyballies]

Thanks for posting them N1K.... Seems Petter only took the 2nd place from Ogier in the final short SuperSpecial..... Ogier led Petter by 0.6 secs going into that SS, with Petter beating him by just over a second in the end.

None the less a superb result for both Petter, a privateer, and Ogier, who is now being labelled as the next Loeb, following his form this year. (Note for Kimi fans, this time last year Ogier was pretty much in the same mould of quick but dont bank on a crash free run.)

It seems that Latvala, despite having been the quickest of the Ford Finns all weekend, had to succumb to team orders and allow Hirvonen to take 4th place from him as a dutiful #2

One thing this rally has really brought home to me is my pet hate with the current WRC rulings relating to running order and some of the strategies and indeed the disadvantage of running first. The disadvantage particularly on Gravel of running first is huge, and in effect the leader at the start of each day plummeted in times, with even Loeb, having gained a turnaround of a minute and a half over Solberg on Saturday then lost by himself having to play track sweeper on the final day to only win by less than half a minute in the end.

Had the final day's action been any longer (one of the stages was cancelled for safety reasons, and there were only 3 stages of which one was a Tarmac Super Special and not affected too much ) then he too may have lost his lead, although no doubt Loeb, with a minute to play with wasnt taking to many chances.

[Everso Biggyballies]

Just to update on the Championships as we have had a turnaround here with Loeb now ahead of Hirvonen, thanks to his 1st and 2nd place finishes this year, and the 'awful' Ford performance this weekend. (It seems that they took a completely dud direction in settings with the cars being set up way to soft, and only becoming competitive when they stiffened their cars up substantially. A bad error for a full factory team with all the resources and data at their disposal (even though there was not a Mexican round last year)

Drivers Championship
1. Sebastien Loeb 43
2.Mikko Hirvonen 37
3.Jari-Matti Latvala 25
4.Sebastien Ogier 25
5.Petter Solberg 20
6.Henning Solberg 16
7.Dani Sordo 12
8.Matthew Wilson 6
9.Federico Villagra 6
10.Mads Ostberg 4

Manufacturers / Team Championship
1.Ford 67
2.Citroen 61
3.Citroen Junior Team 32
4.Stobart M-Sport Ford 28
5.Munchi's Ford 8

[Jari]

Kimi so doing well as you say EB, Ogier was doing the same stuff last year.

Plenty of top 10 times so far in 2 rallies.

He was out of contention anyway [Kimi] with that problem early on.

Hopefully he can keep it on the road.

Jari-Matti won't be dissapointed with letting Mikko through as it wasn't for a win and I think he is happy that Ford stuck with him last year and acknowledged he is #2 at Ford.