WRC WRC - 2015

Steve · Mar 4, 2015

Rally Guanajuato Mexico: Recce Notes (WRC.com)

04 MAR 2015

Tuesday and Wednesdayâ€™s pre-event recce was the first opportunity for competitors to see the stages they will tackle at full speed later this week.

We drove them as well, to give you a driverâ€™s eye view of the challenge ahead. Here are some of the highlights:

Dust in Los Mexicanos
Mexican stages are notorious for the loose dirt and gravel that covers them and Fridayâ€™s 9.9km Los Mexicanos was particularly bad. The corner below is about 800 metres from the start and the surface is covered with a deep layer of fine, powdery dust. Not only will this make things slippery for the front-runners, it also has the potential to cause dust clouds, hampering visibility for the cars following. Organisers can increase the start gaps from two to three minutes if this becomes an issue.

The Guanajuato Street Stage tunnel
Soon after the start of Thursdayâ€™s opening stage, crews will dart into Guanajuatoâ€™s subterranean tunnel system and attempt the tricky right-hander the bus is negotiating below. Even though itâ€™s dry as a bone outside, leaky drains keep the cobbled road wet here. Ken Block has been one of the many casualties of this corner.

High altitudes
This rally features the highest altitudes of the season, with Fridayâ€™s El Chocolate stage peaking at 2,781metres above sea level. Weâ€™re on the way up that climb in the picture below - the GPS showing 2,647metres.

El Brinco under construction
Crews will tackle the famous jump on the El Brinco stage three times - twice on Saturday and once on Sunday as part of the Power Stage. The jump is in the foreground in the picture below - in-line with the blue and red painted pole. By Saturday, the concrete hump will be painted Guanajuato blue (you can just make out some of last yearâ€™s paint). The fields to the side have been turned into campsites and up to 10,000 spectators are expected to flock to the area to watch the cars fly.

The deceptive Ibarrilla kink
Saturdayâ€™s Ibarrilla stage has caught out many drivers in the past, and this high-speed section in particular has proved tricky. Cars approach downhill from the right and tackle this deceptive left-right kink before a long left-hander. Ken Block and Ott Tanak have both ended up in the deep ditch that lines the left-hand side of the road.

The Otates descent
Another tricky downhill section on Saturday's itinerary. Pictured near the top is the spot where Andreas Mikkelsen clipped a corner and rolled his Volkswagen Polo last year. Nasser Al Attiyah has also had a moment here - slipping off the road and along a bank in 2013.

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RallyMini370 · Mar 5, 2015

All of the Costa Rica rally guys are there. Those roads look perfect for the Mini!

Steve · Mar 5, 2015

News in Brief: Rally Mexico (wrc.com)

05 MAR 2015

A selection of stories that are making the news at Rally Guanajuato Mexico.

Sordo accident: Hyundai has confirmed that Dani Sordo will take the start in Guanajuato tonight following his accident at shakedown this morning (above and below). The Spaniardâ€™s i20 was undamaged in the off but Sordo and co-driver Marc Marti were unable to regain the road.

Cautious Mikkelsen: Andreas Mikkelsen has dampened expectations of a repeat of the performance that almost carried him to victory at Rally Sweden.

â€œIâ€™ve only done this rally once. That was last year and I had two crashes in three days, so not a very good history. I donâ€™t have the experience I have from other events so it will be difficult to fight like I did in Sweden.

â€œI think itâ€™s hard to go really flat out. There are so many things you can hit and things that can catch you out. I believe consistent fast stages are the way to go,â€ he said.

Guerra to Europe? Benito Guerra is targeting two European WRC rounds following his home rally this weekend. â€œWe have to be in Europe. I would like to do Argentina but itâ€™s an expensive rally for sponsors because it is outside Europe. We will try to be in Portugal and Poland,â€ said the Mexican, who finished sixth here last year.

Michelin to the rescue: When one of DMACKâ€™s two sea freight containers failed to arrive in Mexico, tyre rival Michelin was quick to offer help.

Although the container holding its tyres reached LeÃ³n, a second unit containing the fitting equipment failed to do so. The French company generously offered the required machinery to allow DMACK staff to fit its rubber onto the wheels.

â€œDMACK and Michelin have had a strong working relationship since we started WRC in 2011. We have the utmost respect for them and this gesture is very much appreciated,â€ said DMACK motorsport director Dick Cormack.

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Steve · Mar 5, 2015

A couple good pics from the shakedown. Kubica & Meeke.

Steve · Mar 5, 2015

Only two short stages today. One to Neuville, the other to Ogier.

SS2: Ogier leads overnight in Mexico (WRC.com)

06 MAR 2015

SÃ©bastien Ogier set fastest time in Thursday’s second and final speed test to claim the overnight lead at Rally Guanajuato Mexico.

He defeated Thierry Neuville in the headline heat at LeÃ³n motor racing circuit to relegate the Belgian, winner of the opening special stage in Guanajuato, to second. The gap between the two is 1.2sec.

“It’s a good start to the rally. Tomorrow all I can do is go flat out,” said the Volkswagen Polo R pilot, who faces a tough job to hold onto his advantage from first in the start order over mountain roads covered in a thick layer of loose gravel.

Hyundai’s Neuville was tied in second with Andreas Mikkelsen’s Polo R. The Norwegian edged out team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala in the penultimate heat, crossing the finish just a tenth of a second ahead, and the two were split by 0.6sec overall.

Mads Ã˜stberg defeated Elfyn Evans to hold fifth in Citroen’s DS 3, Evans losing confidence after a lurid slide under braking at a wet part of the circuit. Just behind Ã˜stberg in sixth was team-mate Kris Meeke, who outpaced Dani Sordo.

Ott TÃ¤nak, Robert Kubica, Sordo and Lorenzo Bertelli completed the top 10, while Hayden Paddon was 16th after spinning his Hyundai i20.
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Steve · Mar 5, 2015

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6xU5gDu4Bw"]Shakedown - 2015 WRC Rally Mexico - Best-of-RallyLive.com - YouTube[/ame]

RallyMini370 · Mar 6, 2015

One car went off into the lake , the crew were quick to get out.

Steve · Mar 6, 2015

Horrifying Tanak crash explained (irallylive.com)

06.03.2015 18:31

In the drama of Rally Mexico's Friday morning proceedings, it became clear that M-Sport Ford driver Ott Tanak and co-driver Raigo Molder were put out of the rally by an sizeable incident that saw them leave the road – however none of the following drivers saw where the car had gone, and it's now clear why.

The crew in fact crashed into a reservoir, after rolling off the road approximate two miles into the Los Mexicanos stage. Terrifyingly the car is said to have been submerged in less than thirty seconds – thankfully the crew were able to exit the car and swim to safety, and are now safely back in their hotel recovering; they're said to be shaken, but ok. It's a huge relief that the crew escaped unharmed, and we hope that they can make a speedy recovery and put the ordeal behind them.
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Steve · Mar 6, 2015

Wilson said:

There’s a huge sense of relief in the team. Nobody in the team really knew what had happened. Organisers sent a helicopter to try to find them, but they couldn’t be seen. By then we had studied the tracking system and could see the reservoir beside where they went off, so you start to fear the worst.

“I suppose the next thing is to try and retrieve the car. It is not visible, so that gives you an indication of how deep it is there,” explained Wilson.
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Steve · Mar 6, 2015

Steve · Mar 6, 2015

About the co-driver:

Raigo Molder is a legend. Crash into the lake, car underwater and still pacenotes book in his hands while swimming out.
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Steve · Mar 6, 2015

They got out of the car before it fully submerged. See a few good pics here.

Steve · Mar 6, 2015

And Tanak is eager to get back on the horse!

Ott TÃ¤nak said:

"It was a different experience today. I braked too hard into a compression which damaged the front-right suspension. We couldn't steer the car around the next left-hand corner and went off the edge of the road. The drop was so steep that we rolled into the water.

"Luckily the car landed on its wheels but the water was so deep that the car sank really fast. As soon as we opened the doors the car was gone in just a few seconds. I also had a problem with my intercom wire because it didn't come loose and was dragging me under the water. We were really lucky. It was not a nice moment to have.

"After that there was no chance to contact the team. The radio was gone and there was very little phone signal where we were. No one back at the team knew what had happened to us for almost 20 minutes and that â€“ as you can imagine â€“ was a big concern for everyone back in the service park.

"I've never had this type of feeling before. It's an empty feeling but the best thing is to get back in the car. The team are trying to get the car back as soon as possible and they are ready to fight all night to repair it ready for tomorrow. It sounds like a crazy plan, but if there is any chance to restart the rally I know my team can make it happen."
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Steve · Mar 6, 2015

Raigo, drying his pace notes:

Steve · Mar 6, 2015

Video!

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPnjMhXNQ3Y"]WRC Rally Guanajuato MÃƒÂ©xico 2015: Crash Ott TÃƒÂ¤nak - YouTube[/ame]

Steve · Mar 6, 2015

Steve · Mar 6, 2015

Neuville was another of many unlucky today.

Steve · Mar 6, 2015

MAXRALLY turbo tweet (maxrally.com)

7th March 2015

Leading after two Thursday night superspecials, Sebastien Ogier was supposed to be slaughtered on Friday’s gravel stages. He binned that script, wrote his own and led for the duration after another brilliant day behind the wheel of his Polo. The talking point of the leg was Ott Tanak’s departure when he rolled into a lake in Los Mexicanos. He and Raigo Molder emerged from being submerged unhurt. Kris Meeke and Robert Kubica looked quick this morning before they both crashed out in SS4. Thierry Neuville looked to be the man most capable of threatening Ogier, until he rolled on the final long stage of the day. Jari-Matti Latvala ended the leg second behind his VW team-mate, while Citroen’s Mads Ostberg took the final provisional podium position, despite a return of the gearbox glitch which hampered him in Sweden last month.
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Crashton · Mar 6, 2015

Wow that is scary stuff that car sank like a stone. Good to see the crew come out so fast, they didn't have much time.

Steve · Mar 7, 2015

They pulled the car out of the reservoir and brought it back to service. Had a strict 3-hour limit to rebuild it. They made it under the wire.

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