WRC: Rally Mexico 2012

Steve · Mar 8, 2012

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAN1siCLV5U]Shakedown - 2012 WRC Rally Mexico - Best-of-RallyLive.com - YouTube[/ame]

Steve · Mar 8, 2012

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_3Ani32PEk]WRC 2012 Mexico Preview - Part 1/2 - YouTube[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JM64ky4GXvs]WRC 2012 Mexico Preview - Part 2/2 - YouTube[/ame]

Steve · Mar 9, 2012

Stage 2.

Solberg hits early drama (MaxRally.com)

9th March 2012

Fastest time on a qualifying stage and a short street special didn't exactly mean Petter Solberg had Rally Mexico victory in the bag, but it did seem like a generally good omen for how his weekend might unfold.

But just four kilometres into the rally's first full-length stage, that changed rather abruptly.

The man who led at dawn is now down to 13th place, nearly a minute off the lead, having picked up a rear puncture and then also had a spin while trying to nurse his Ford to the stage end.

Citroen is now back in its habitual Mexico lead, albeit with Mikko Hirvonen rather than five-time event winner Sebastien Loeb, who was slightly surprised to be only third behind Jari-Matti Latvala at the end of SS2. Thierry Neuville is a very impressive fourth right now in his first appearance on gravel in a World Rally Car.
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Steve · Mar 9, 2012

Araujo reporting that his engine mapping problems are yet unsolved, he's 11th on this stage.

SS3: Flying Latvala takes Mexico lead (WRC.com)

9 Mar 12

Wrc.com stage summary

Stage data: SS3, Las Minas 1 (15.21 kilometres)

Stage description:
By Citroen Total World Rally Team co-driver Daniel Elena: â€œThis is a brand new stage, and itâ€™s not really typical of the rest of the rally. Itâ€™s much more narrow and twisty, and the road goes up and down a bit. This is definitely one of the most technical parts of the rally, so itâ€™s important to have good pace notes as you could get caught out.â€

How the action unfolded:
Jari-Matti Latvala has become the third different leader in as many stages on Rally Guanajuato Mexico by going fastest of all on stage three of the FIA World Rally Championship powered by Nokia counter.

The Finnâ€™s pace in his Ford Fiesta RS WRC means he demotes countryman Mikko Hirvonen to second after the Citroen driver was unable to replicate the speed he showed on stage two. Hirvonenâ€™s team-mate Sebastien Loeb was 1.9s adrift of Latvala through the stage and remains third overall, 6.7s behind Loeb.

There was more frustration for overnight leader Petter Solberg who dropped almost 30 seconds to his rivals in his factory Fiesta. The Norwegian is now 1m23.2s behind Latvala.

Ott Tanak continued his strong start with the sixth quickest time in his M-Sport Fiesta, 1.7s faster than Chris Atkinson managed in his Monster-backed example. However, the Estonianâ€™s efforts were overshadowed by fellow rising star Thierry Neuville, who was 11.7s quicker for the Citroen Junior World Rally Team.

Neuvilleâ€™s pace was such that his time was only 9.2s slower slower than stage winner Latvala.
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Steve · Mar 9, 2012

SS4: Loeb lands first stage victory (WRC.com)

9 Mar 12

Wrc.com stage summary

Stage data: SS4, Los Mexicanos 1 (9.76 kilometres)

Stage description:
By Citroen Total World Rally Team co-driver Daniel Elena: â€œAnother new stage, which is quite similar in character to the Las Minas stage just before it. In fact there is a very short road section between the two stages, which climbs all the way above Guanajuato with some spectacular views. The stage itself is narrow and quite twisty: nothing like the other stages.â€

How the action unfolded:
Sebastien Loeb has bagged his first stage win on this yearâ€™s Rally Guanajuato Mexico by topping the timesheets through the fourth test of the FIA World Rally Championship powered by Nokia round.

Loeb, in a factory Citroen DS3 WRC, was 2.7s quicker than leader Jari-Matti Latvala and is now 4.0s behind the Finn in the overall classification.

Mikko Hirvonen was third fastest for Citroen with Latvalaâ€™s Ford team-mate Petter Solberg fourth as he begins his recovery from his early delays.

Mads Ostberg impressed with the sixth fastest time for the Norwegian Adapta World Rally Team, just 1.5s slower than the flying Thierry Neuville.

Chris Atkinson continues to acclimatise to rigours of World Rally Championship competition after more than three years away. The ace Australian has slipped behind the young Russian driver Evgeny Novikov into eighth overall.
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Steve · Mar 9, 2012

Troubles for others are helpful for Araujo who finished 8th. The story doesn't mention Block finishing nearly 5 minutes out. Looks like Nobre is broken down somewhere. Must be a tough stage.

SS5: Despair for Latvala (WRC.com)

09 Mar 12

Wrc.com stage summary

Stage data: SS5, Ortega 1 (23.69 kilometres)

Stage description:
By Citroen Total World Rally Team co-driver Daniel Elena: â€œThis is a stage that has been part of Rally Mexico since it joined the World Championship, but itâ€™s the first time that it has ever been run in the reverse direction. So we have brand new notes this year, but at least we know the basic character of the stage well, which is wide and flowing.â€

How the action unfolded:
Jari-Matti Latvala has dropped out of the lead of Rally Guanajuato Mexico after a broken front suspension arm struck his Ford Fiesta RS WRC.

The Finnâ€™s misfortune means he slips more than 90 seconds behind new leader Mikko Hirvonen, who was second fastest to Citroen team-mate Sebastien Loeb through the final stage of Fridayâ€™s opening loop of tests. Hirvonenâ€™s lead over Loeb is a slender 0.6s.

Petter Solberg has climbed from 10th to seventh overall with the third best time in his Ford World Rally Team Fiesta.

Mads Ostberg impressed with the fourth fastest time to move ahead of Thierry Neuville in the overall classification. Latvalaâ€™s woes mean Ostberg is now third with Neuville fourth.

Crews are now heading back to Leon for the midday service halt. Stage six, the repeat of the El Cubilete run, gets underway at 13:36hrs local time.
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Steve · Mar 9, 2012

Araujo vows to fight on in Mexico (WRC.com)

09 Mar 12

Armindo Araujo says he is remaining positive on Rally Guanajuato Mexico despite a frustrating start to round three of the FIA World Rally Championship powered by Nokia.

After turbo boost and throttle problems on Thursday, Araujo has reported further troubles on his WRC Team MINI Portugal entry during Fridayâ€™s opening loop of stages.

â€œWeâ€™re struggling with the electronic mapping,â€ said Araujo, who is also losing time by running first on the road. â€œWe have no anti-lag, no turbo - nothing. When we have no problems I know that we can be fast, but that hasnâ€™t happened so far.â€

Araujo last competed in Mexico in 2010, winning the Production Car World Rally Championship class and finishing 10th overall, his current position after five stages.

â€œWe committed no mistakes so I am happy for this,â€ said Araujo. â€œItâ€™s difficult being first on the road because we are always sliding a lot but we are finding a good set-up. Now we must make some changes to the anti rollbar and the suspension clicks because the road will be a bit more destroyed on the second loop. We are confident.â€

While Araujo remains on course for a top-10 finish, his team-mate Paulo Nobre is out following a roll on stage five. His restart under Rally 2 regulations on Saturday is dependent on the outcome of a technical inspection by his team later today.
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Steve · Mar 9, 2012

Wow, Stage 9 (re-run of Stage 5) is "cancelled on security grounds after rocks were thrown at a competitor on the first run through the stage this morning."

Steve · Mar 9, 2012

Looks like there's some NIMBY (not in my back yard) retaliation from some of the locals.

Stage 9 on the rocks (best-of-rallylive.com)

by Chris
The organisers of the 2012 Rally Mexico have regretfully decided to cancel todayâ€™s second visit to SS9 (Ortega 2) after a rock was thrown at the CitroÃ«n DS3 WRC of Thierry Neuville. This isnâ€™t the first time such an incident has occurred in this part of the Leon region.

â€œA spectator threw a rock at my car along a sixth-gear portion of this morningâ€™s last stage,â€ reported Neuville, calmly pointing to the impact in the middle of his CitroÃ«nâ€™s windscreen. â€œIt wasnâ€™t a pleasant experience and I lost my rhythm after that. It took me some time to find the right pace again.â€ The Belgian youngster is provisionally fourth overall (after SS5), 5.2 seconds behind Ford/Michelin privateer Mads Ostberg.

Unfortunately, this sort of dangerous incident isnâ€™t rare on Rally Mexico. SÃ©bastien Loeb famously returned to service with a smashed windscreen during the 2008 event. â€œEvery year, there is a problem with rocks being placed on the road between two attempts at this stage,â€ says the Frenchman. â€œIt only concerns a short stretch of about three kilometres, but there are clearly some people who donâ€™t want the rally in their part of the mountains.â€

It is being suggested that the rock which caught out Latvala (see previous story) was deliberately placed on the stage by rogue spectators. Indeed, Evgeny Novikov (Ford/Michelin), who is running ahead of the Finn on the road today, believes he would have seen the rock in the middle of the road had it already been there.

A Group N Mitsubishi also arrived at the lunchtime service break with a damaged windscreen.
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Steve · Mar 9, 2012

SS6: Podium bid over for Neuville (WRC.com)

09 Mar 12

Wrc.com stage summary

Stage data: SS6, El Cubilete 2 (22.12 kilometres)

Stage description:
By Citroen Total World Rally Team co-driver Daniel Elena: â€œWe know this stage well, but heading in the other direction: itâ€™s the first time that it will have been used in this way. The road is very wide and flowing but what is really odd is that this year there is an eight-kilometre paved section at the end, which is sure to be very slippery. The second run over this stage will obviously be a bit easier than the first run, although the problems of road-sweeping have been much improved now that we can choose our start order after the Qualifying Stage. This is the sort of stage where you can lose a lot of time if you arenâ€™t totally committed.â€

How the action unfolded:
Thierry Neuvilleâ€™s bid for a podium finish on Rally Guanajuato Mexico is over after the Belgian ace crashed his Citroen Junior World Rally Team DS3 WRC midway through the test.

Neuville was battling for third place with Mads Ostberg but is reported to have taken a wheel off his car. â€œIt was in a narrow place between two kerbs,â€ said Ostberg.

In the battle for first place Sebastien Loeb has moved ahead of Citroen team-mate Mikko Hirvonen by a margin of 2.2s. However, neither driver had an answer to the pace of Jari-Matti Latvala, who was quickest through the stage by 6.9s in his Ford Fiesta RS WRC to move into sixth overall.

â€œI was flat out but Jari-Matti was seven seconds faster,â€ said Loeb. â€œIâ€™m pushing very hard. I donâ€™t say Iâ€™m scared about Latvala but we have 300 kilometres to go so we have to push.â€

Latvala, who is trying to recover the time lost when he suffered a broken suspension arm on stage five, said: â€œThe car is perfect now but the mechanics had to do a lot of work in service to make everything okay. Of course itâ€™s a big disappointment to get problems when you are leading the rally. But you need to keep the faith and keep fighting.â€

Ott Tanak reported altering his driving style due to the onset of understeer and the need to preserve his tyres in the rising ambient and ground temperatures. M-Sport team-mate Evgeny Novikov said a gearshift problem that hampered him in the morning had been cured.

Chris Atkinson said his decision to carry two spare tyres rather than one had caused his Monster Fiesta to understeer. He was ninth fastest and is now up to eighth overall.

Nasser Al-Attiyah said he had softened the suspension settings of his Qatar World Rally Team Citroen. He set the eighth fastest time.
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SS7: Latvala continues to fly (WRC.com)

09 Mar 12

Wrc.com stage summary

Stage data: SS7, Las Minas 2 (15.21 kilometres)

Stage description:
By Citroen Total World Rally Team co-driver Daniel Elena: â€œThis is a brand new stage, and itâ€™s not really typical of the rest of the rally. Itâ€™s much more narrow and twisty, and the road goes up and down a bit. This is definitely one of the most technical parts of the rally, so itâ€™s important to have good pace notes as you could get caught out.â€

How the action unfolded:
Jari-Matti Latvala has continued his impressive recovery on Rally Guanajuato Mexico by winning stage seven in his Ford Fiesta RS WRC.

The Finn, who dropped out of the lead on stage five when his car suffered a broken front-right suspension arm caused by an impact with a rock, was 4.2s faster than five-time Mexico winner and event leader Sebastien Loeb. As a result he moves up to fourth overall behind third-placed Mads Ostberg, albeit 1m21.1s adrift of Loeb.

French hero Loeb continues to head the battle for supremacy within the factory Citroen team in first position after going 1.5s faster than team-mate Mikko Hirvonen. It means he has grown his overall advantage to 3.7s.

â€œWe have to go on the limit because Mikko keeps pushing and Jari-Matti is very fast but itâ€™s okay,â€ said Loeb.

Hirvonen added: â€œI really tried to push but Seb pushed and took one second out of me. I guess he knows how to push in this car but Iâ€™m happy.â€

Chris Atkinson said he has been â€œannoyedâ€ that heâ€™s not been able to match the pace of some of the leading drivers on his WRC return in a Monster World Rally Team Fiesta. â€œI donâ€™t know why, weâ€™ll have to keep working,â€ said the Australian, who was ninth quickest.

Armindo Araujo reported his MINI John Cooper Works WRC has been restored to full working order following earlier troubles. â€œThe car is better now, we are making some adjustments and itâ€™s working well,â€ said the Portuguese ace.
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SS8: Podium in sight for Latvala (WRC.com)

09 Mar 12

Wrc.com stage summary

Stage data: SS8, Los Mexicanos 2 (9.76 kilometres)

Stage description:
By Citroen Total World Rally Team co-driver Daniel Elena: â€œAnother new stage, which is quite similar in character to the Las Minas stage just before it. In fact there is a very short road section between the two stages, which climbs all the way above Guanajuato with some spectacular views. The stage itself is narrow and quite twisty: nothing like the other stages.â€

How the action unfolded:
Jari-Matti Latvala has closed to within 17.8s of third placed Mads Ostberg with another impressive performance in his Ford World Rally Team Fiesta.

The Finn was 8.2s faster than his Norwegian rival as he bids to land the final podium spot on round three of the FIA World Rally Championship powered by Nokia following his earlier delay.

â€œWe have to try to attack if we want to fight back to a podium,â€ said Latvala. â€œItâ€™s been going well in the afternoon with a really good feeling. If I can keep the pressure to them thatâ€™s always good but they have a too comfortable lead at the moment.â€

Ostberg, meanwhile, reported a build up of dust in his Adapta Fiesta caused by a hole in the bottom of his car. He also explained that a GPS tracking module had worked loose during the run and that had affected his concentration.

Out front Sebastien Loeb continues to lead Rally Guanajuato Mexico. The French ace was 1.2s slower than Latvala but, crucially, quicker than his Citroen team-mate Mikko Hirvonen who he heads in the overall standings by 4.5s.

Petter Solberg was second quickest, 1.0s down on Ford team-mate Latvala.
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Steve · Mar 9, 2012

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HX5wWASKPno]Start of the Rally Mexico - 2012 WRC Rally Mexico - Best-of-RallyLive.com - YouTube[/ame]

Steve · Mar 9, 2012

I like this. Here's Paulo Nobre:

Ten questions to: Paulo Nobre (WRC.com)

09 Mar 12

Paulo Nobre is embarking on a full season in the FIA World Rally Championship powered by Nokia in a WRC Team MINI Portugal John Cooper Works WRC. Wrc.com caught up with the Brazilian in the Rally Guanajuato Mexico service park.

If you could represent your country at any sport during the Olympics, what would you choose? â€œI always wanted to be a football player, so thatâ€™s easy. But then as a teenager I realised I was never going to be good enough so I got into football management instead.â€

Who was the best football player in the world? â€œAnother easy question: some say Pele, other people say Maradona but my biggest idol was always Evair, the striker for Palmeiras in the 1990s.â€

Do you believe in God? â€œYes of course, but I respect that everyone believes in God in their own way, and that every religion deserves respect.â€

Buddhists believe in reincarnation. Which animal would you like to come back to earth as? â€œThatâ€™s easy: Iâ€™d love to be a pig. I read somewhere that pigs have a 30-minute orgasm during sexual intercourse - but I donâ€™t know if itâ€™s true!â€

Whatâ€™s your favourite holiday destination? â€œMany Brazilians overlook their own country in favour of abroad. I would go for Fernando de Noronha: itâ€™s an island off the north coast of Brazil and a real paradise.â€

Who was the greatest Brazilian racing driver? â€œAyrton Senna. I really respect him even though he was a Corinthians fan, which is the biggest rival of my team, Palmeiras. That says something about how much I admired him.â€

What was the last book you read? â€œIt was a football book, all about Barcelona and how their football team restructured themselves. I want to be the president of Palmeiras, so this was a really useful book.â€

When was the last time you cried? â€œIâ€™m a very emotional person so I cry a lot, both when Iâ€™m happy and when Iâ€™m said. I donâ€™t remember the last time I cried but it would have been recently for sure, maybe at a film or after someone was really kind to me.â€

What is your philosophy of life? â€œDonâ€™t give somebody a fish; teach them how to fish instead.â€

Are you re-starting the rally tomorrow? â€œI think so; Iâ€™m 90 per cent sure. The damage seems not to be toobad, even though we rolled, so Iâ€™m confident the team will be able to fix it.â€
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Steve · Mar 9, 2012

:fingerscrossed:

Storms could shake up Rally Mexico order (AUTOSPORT.com)

By David Evans | Saturday, March 10th 2012, 00:24 GMT

There is concern that passing rainstorms could affect the leaderboard of Rally Mexico on Saturday.

The Leon-based event has not seen rain in seven years, but all that could change on day two courtesy of a cold front moving through the country.

Ford World Rally Team weather expert Mike Croft-White said: "There is big cold front coming and there is a chance it could bring some significant storms. If the rain does come then it is likely to mean some heavy and localised showers."

Run in a mountainous area, the rally is unlikely to be hit by prolonged and wide-ranging rain, but Croft-White said if a driver was unlucky it could have a big effect on the conditions of the stage.

"It's the sort of thing where the storm could come while a driver's sitting on the startline and have a significant impact on them," he said, "but then the rain would be likely to stop quickly and the roads dry very quickly. It could have an impact on the event, but it's not the sort of odds which will have the team considering a set-up change."
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Steve · Mar 10, 2012

Not the usual suspects? Thank the rain.

SS11 and SS12: Wins for Al-Attiyah, Atkinson (WRC.com)

10 Mar 12

Wrc.com stage summary

Stage data: SS11 and SS12, Super Special 1 and 2 (both 2.21 kilometres)

Stage description:
By Citroen Total World Rally Team co-driver Daniel Elena: â€œThis is what I mean about the variety - itâ€™s another superspecial stage, but with a bit of everything: jumps, watersplashes and a bridge, all to give the fans something good to watch. Itâ€™s run on a rallycross circuit, so itâ€™s not particularly complicated and a nice way to finish the day.â€

How the action unfolded:
Nasser Al-Attiyah and Chris Atkinson were the surprise winners on the Super Specials at Leonâ€™s race circuit this evening as a sudden downpour created adverse stage conditions for the some of the leading drivers running further down the order.

Al-Attiyah was fastest through the first run in his Qatar World Rally Team Citroen DS3 WRC to claim his maiden stage victory in the World Rally Championship powered by Nokia. Atkinson was second with Ott Tanak third and MINI driver Armindo Araujo fourth.

Atkinson, in a Monster World Rally Team Ford Fiesta RS WRC, then reversed the top two positions on the second run with Araujo taking third and Tanak fourth.

Rally Guanajuato Mexico leader Sebastien Loeb was one of several drivers caught out by the deteriorating conditions. The factory Citroen driver was eighth on both runs but has nevertheless managed to extend his overall advantage to 11.2s after team-mate and rival Mikko Hirvonen also lost time.

Saturdayâ€™s action gets underway with the 29.90-kilometre Ibarilla at 06:54hrs local time.
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Steve · Mar 10, 2012

Nobre to head the field on day two in Mexico (WRC.com)

10 Mar 12

Paulo Nobre and co-driver Edu Paula will run first on the road on day two of Rally Guanajuato Mexico in their WRC Team MINI Portugal John Cooper Works WRC.

The Brazilians are returning to the event under Rally 2 restart regulations following their exit on stage five on Friday, when they rolled.

They will be followed by the Citroen Junior World Rally Team pairing of Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul, who are also continuing under Rally 2 rules after they hit trouble and retired from third place on stage six yesterday.

Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino run third for the Monster World Rally Team with Volkswagen Motorsport duo Sebastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia next to go.

Rally leaders Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena are 14th on the road after the leading positions were reversed in accordance with the new running order regulations for 2012. In theory, the Citroen pair should be able to take advantage of a â€˜cleanedâ€™ road surface rather than having to sweep a line through the loose surface gravel, which the cars running at the head of the field will have to do.

However, the prospect of heavy rain falling over parts of the route could mean running further down the order will be less advantageous in the event of the stage surface deteriorating.
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Steve · Mar 10, 2012

SS13: Latvala snatches third place (WRC.com)

10 Mar 12

Wrc.com stage summary

Stage data: SS13, Ibarrilla 1 (29.90 kilometres)

Stage description:
By Citroen Total World Rally Team co-driver Daniel Elena: â€œAfter all the new things on the first day itâ€™s good to get back to something that we know better. This one is a typical Mexico stage, very wide and classic. At the beginning it climbs a bit and then the stage finishes going downhill. The loose gravel is quite slippery so you need to be careful.â€

How the action unfolded:
Jari-Matti Latvala has demoted Mads Ostberg for third place on Rally Guanajuato Mexico with his sixth stage win on round three of the FIA World Rally Championship powered by Nokia.

As a result, the factory Ford driver is now 1m20.1s behind overall leader Sebastien Loeb, who was 7.8s slower in his works Citroen.

â€œLoeb has always been very fast in this stage and Iâ€™ve never been so competitive on this stage against him,â€ said Latvala. â€œIt was slippery on some of the corners because of the [overnight] rain but it has been good.â€

A frustrated Ostberg could only manage the sixth fastest time in his Adapta Fiesta. He said: â€œFor sure Iâ€™m not happy to lose the position. At the beginning the [low] sun was against the screen and it was very difficult because it was also dusty inside.â€

Loeb reported losing time towards the end of the stage in the damper sections, while team-mate Mikko Hirvonen, who was 5.3s slower than Latvala, continues to hold second in the overall classification.

Chris Atkinson said he had struggled for visibility in the early morning low-lying sun. He was seventh quickest.

Monster team-mate Ken Block completed the run with minor rear bodywork damage on his Fiesta. â€œThe car stepped out on a tight left corner but it was no big deal,â€ said the American. â€œItâ€™s my favourite stage here but it was hard to do before the sun comes up. I really enjoyed it though.â€

WRC Team MINI Portugalâ€™s Paulo Nobre, running first on the road, said he was struggling to restore his confidence on his return under Rally 2 regulations following his hefty crash on Friday.
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Steve · Mar 10, 2012

Nobre is out again...for now.

SS14: Loeb back in control (WRC.com)

10 Mar 12

Wrc.com stage summary

Stage data: SS14, Otates 1 (41.88 kilometres)

Stage description:
By Citroen Total World Rally Team co-driver Daniel Elena: â€œItâ€™s not quite the longest stage of the rally but of the 42 kilometres that make it up we know only about 10 of them. The start is completely new and then we have parts of the old Alfaro and Duarte stages, but reversed. Itâ€™s a long stage but not too hard on the tyres as we donâ€™t have the same power output as we do normally because of the altitude.â€

How the action unfolded:
Sebastien Loeb has underlined his supremacy on Rally Guanajuato Mexico by setting the fastest time through the punishing 42-kilometre Otates test.

Driving a Citroen DS3 WRC, the five-time Mexico winner completed the stage 5.5s faster than Ford driver Jari-Matti Latvala, who claimed his sixth stage win on the previous test in his Fiesta RS WRC.

In doing so Loeb has extended his lead on round three of the FIA World Rally Championship powered by Nokia to 18.2s over Citroen team-mate Mikko Hirvonen.

â€œI had to push,â€ said world champion Loeb. â€œThe situation was not so good with Hirvonen coming close. I really tried hard on this one.â€

Mads Ostberg credited his upturn in pace after struggling on stage 13 to a few set-up changes prior to the run. He was fourth fastest in his Adapta Fiesta. Ostbergâ€™s fellow Norwegian Petter Solberg, who was fifth quickest, said the brakes on his Fiesta had begun to fade nearing the stage finish.

Chris Atkinson suffered a slow spin nearing the stage end after he reported a significant amount of tyre wear on his Fiesta. Sebastien Ogier, in a Volkswagen Motorsport Skoda Fabia Super 2000, also spun, albeit closer to the stage start.

Ott Tanak was another driver to suffer a spin and the Estonian lost more time when his M-Sport Fiesta refused to restart for a time after it stalled.

Paulo Nobre failed to complete the stage after crashing his MINI John Cooper Works WRC, fortunately without injury to neither he nor co-driver Edu Paula, one kilometre from the stage start. The Brazilian tore a wheel from his car during the incident but hopes to return under Rally 2 rules on Sunday.

Nobreâ€™s exit meant Thierry Neuville, running behind the WRC Team MINI Portugal driver on the road, was forced to sweep the stage clear of the loose surface gravel. Afterwards the young Belgian Citroen driver said: â€œThere was so much loose gravel, I was always sliding and sliding with no grip at all. Each corner I lost two seconds but it was okay, good for the experience.â€

A service halt in Leon awaits before stage 15, the repeat of Ibarrilla, goes live at 11:06hrs local time.
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Steve · Mar 10, 2012

Araujo happy with MINI progress (WRC.com)

10 Mar 12

Armindo Araujo says that he's finally happy with the speed and reliability of his WRC Team MINI Portugal entry - and now it's a question of driving to the finish to maintain his 10th place, despite the handicap of running first on the road.

â€œWe had no problems at all this morning,â€ said the 34-year-old, who also finished 10th on his last outing in Mexico in 2010. â€œItâ€™s just a pity that we are running first on the road, because we know we can go much quicker. But the feeling with the car is nice and the reliability is perfect. Now we are just concentrating on keeping our position: itâ€™s too far to catch Nasser Al-Attiyah in front, but nobody is coming from behind us either.â€

With Araujoâ€™s turbo problems solved, he is confident that he can put an unlucky start to the season behind him and concentrate on improving. â€œWeâ€™re making progress with the car all the time,â€ he added. â€œWith the situation we are in now there is no point to push so hard, which means that we can try some things that will be useful for the future.â€

Araujoâ€™s team-mate, the Brazilian driver Paulo Nobre, went off for the second time on the Rally Guanajuato Mexico this morning, taking a wheel off his John Cooper Works WRC just one kilometre into the 41-kilometre Otates stage.

He reported that there was no other damage to the car, so he should be able to re-start the final day tomorrow.
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Steve · Mar 10, 2012

Yesterday's video recap, 2 parts:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbA-dVabCs4]WRC 2012 Mexico Day 1 - Part 1/2 - YouTube[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QXoA8On_y0]WRC 2012 Mexico Day 1 - Part 2/2 - YouTube[/ame]

Steve · Mar 10, 2012

I find it hard to hard to get my brain around the thought that he could have run 25km of a rough 29.9km loose surface rally stage with a broken wheel and flat tire and still managed to finish only 49.9sec slower than the stage winner (Loeb)! How do you do that?!

SS15: More bad luck for Latvala (WRC.com)

10 Mar 12

Wrc.com stage summary

Stage data: SS15, Ibarrilla 2 (29.90 kilometres)

Stage description:
By Citroen Total World Rally Team co-driver Daniel Elena: â€œAfter all the new things on the first day itâ€™s good to get back to something that we know better. This one is a typical Mexico stage, very wide and classic. At the beginning it climbs a bit and then the stage finishes going downhill. The loose gravel is quite slippery so you need to be careful.â€

How the action unfolded:
Jari-Matti Latvala has admitted his outside hopes of winning Rally Guanajuato Mexico are over after he broke the front-left wheel on his Ford Fiesta RS WRC.

The Rally Sweden winner had been on a charge to recover the time lost with a broken front suspension arm on day one of the third round of the FIA World Rally Championship powered by Nokia. However, he lost almost 50s to leader and stage winner Sebastien Loeb when the broken wheel led to a loss of air in his front-left tyre.

â€œNow we can forget the fight for the first two positions, Iâ€™ve tried but that is the conclusion,â€ said Latvala, who is now 2m15.2s off top spot. â€œWe went over some bed rock on the inside of the corner. It broke the wheel, not the tyre but the air came out. We did 25 kilometres on this tyre. Now we need to concentrate to get third place.â€

Latvalaâ€™s team-mate Petter Solberg has moved into third, climbing ahead of countryman Mads Ostberg and Latvala to snatch the final podium spot.

â€œI was very pleased with that driving,â€ said Solberg, who was second fastest through the stage. â€œI must say the brakes are working very good now and we made some changes in service, which helped a lot.â€

Ott Tanak lost vital time with a front-left puncture early in the stage. As a result his advantage over M-Sport team-mate Evgeny Novikov is down to 4.2s.
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