Jari-Matti Latvala and his co-driver Miikka Anttila dominated Rally Mexico this weekend to score their first win of the season in a VW Polo R WRC. The Finnish duo proved to be buoyant throughout the weekend denying their stable mates Sebastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia the overall victory.
2016 WRC Rally Mexico Results
1. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila – Volkswagen Polo R WRC
2. Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia – Volkswagen Polo R WRC
3. Mads Østberg/Ola Fløene – Ford Fiesta RS WRC
4. Dani Sordo/Marc Marti – Hyundai i20 WRC
5. Hayden Paddon/John Kennard – Hyundai i20 WRC
6. Ott Tanak/Raigo Molder – Ford Fiesta RS WRC
7. Martin Prokop/Jan Tomanek – Ford Fiesta RS WRC
8. Lorenzo Bertelli/Simone Scattolin – Ford Fiesta RS WRC
9. Teemu Suninen/Mikko Markkula – Skoda Fabia R5
10. Valery Gorban/Volodymyr Korsia – Mini Countryman WRC
Ogier managed to score a P2 victory giving VW a 1-2 finish and the 12th straight win for the Polo R WRC, VW now leads the championship by 36 points over Hyundai. Speaking of Hyundai, the pair of Dani Sordo and Marc Marti drove a perfect rally to finish third but were penalized for using the wrong tires in the rally – 29 instead of 28. The Hyundai team dropped to fourth, allowing Mads Østberg and Ola Floene to move up into third place.
Latvala entered the final day on Sunday with a comfortable lead over Ogier, the Guanajuato test was kicked off the eventful day where drivers covered a total of 80 km making it the longest WRC stage in nearly 30 years. Even so, Ogier managed to take both stage wins when the running order was reversed. The Frenchman also scooped the maximum Power Stage points but it was not enough to cover the gap created by Latvala.
Hayden Paddon and John Kennard finished in fifth place allowing Hyundai to maintain a strong second place in the championship standings. Ott Tanak and Raigo Molder crossed the finish line in sixth place in their Ford Fiesta RS WRC, leading a pair of similar cars belonging to comeback driver Martin Prokop and Lorenzo Bertelli who finished in seventh and eighth places respectively.
WRC 2 driver Teemu Suninen drove his Skoda Fabia R5 home in ninth place, scooping maximum points in this category. Valery Gorban and Volodymyr Korsia rounded off the top ten in their MINI Countryman WRC.
Ogier continues to lead the championship with 77 points away from Ostberg (42), Andreas Mikkelsen (33), Dani Sordo (30), Hayden Paddon (29) and Latvala (27).
