The reigning FIA World Rally Champion Sébastien Ogier won the Rally Mexico on Sunday with his co-driver Julien Ingrassia. This was his second win this season putting him ahead in the leadership board after this third round of the 2014 WRC season. Ogier won in his Volkswagen Polo R WRC with a time of 4hr 27min 41.8sec and finished ahead of teammates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila who finished second.
Ogier said;
It was the perfect week, a victory in the rally and the Power Stage,”said Ogier. “I came here very angry after a small mistake in Sweden and that’s the best way to restart my winning ways in the championship. Now we are looking forward to continuing like that.
The biggest podium surprise of the day was that of Hyundai Motorsports with Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul finishing third in their Hyundai i20 WRC. This was the first-ever podium in the WRC for Hyundai Motorsports. The fourth pace went to Elfyn Evans and Daniel Barritt who also put the first Ford on the map, in the Ford Fiesta RS WRC. The next two places fifth and sixth were also taken by Ford cars.
The results from day 2 did not change for the top three positions as the two VW drivers and Hyundai team managed to stick close together despite this day having the longest route. Unfortunately, Andreas Mikkelsen and Robert Kubica did not participate in the second day after retiring in the previous day. Both rolled their cars in different stages and were forced out of the competition.
Ogier is now leading the drivers standings with 63 points followed closely by teammate Jari-Matti Latvala who has 60 points. Volkswagen Motorsports is also leading in the manufacturers’ points thanks to the resilience of these two drivers. The next round will be the Vodafone Rally de Portugal which will be held on 3rd April.
Results from Day 3
1. Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia – Volkswagen Polo R WRC
2. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila – Volkswagen Polo R WRC
3. Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul – Hyundai i20 WRC
4. Elfyn Evans/Daniel Barritt – Ford Fiesta RS WRC
5. Martin Prokop/Jan Tomanek – Ford Fiesta RS WRC
6. Benito Guerra/Borja Rozada – Ford Fiesta RS
7. Chris Atkinson/Stephane Prévot – Hyundai i20 WRC
8. Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen – Ford Fiesta RS WRC
9. Mads Østberg/Jonas Andersson – Citroën DS3 WRC
10. Yuriy Protasov/Pavlo Cherepin – Ford Fiesta RS
