It was the first gravel event of 2011’s World Rally Championship and it produced the expected cheers from the rally fans and the hammer-and-tongs fighting spirit from the rally crews. Frenchman and seven-times World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena topped the timesheets come the finish ramp, to record their fifth consecutive victory on Rally Mexico. As expected, Loeb controlled the pace of the field from the front, but had stiff competition from his rivals. His cool head and experience over the rough and demanding terrain saw the best driver of the weekend stand atop the winners’ podium.
What wasn’t expected was the pace of this new generation of WRC machines: in comparison to the previous running of this event, the fastest stage times this year were as much as 13sec quicker!
What wasn’t expected was the outright speed and reliability of the Ford Focus RS WRC on an event strongly favoured by Citroen Racing over previous editions: the top ten overall positions were dominated by the Blue Oval’s crews, while Citroen only managed to see one factory entry reach the finish and privateer Petter Solberg finish fourth overall.
Having said that, Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team’s Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen and Jari-Matti Latvala/Miika Anttila finished over 01min 38sec and 02min 23sec respectively behind the winners Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena’s Citroen Total World Rally Team DS3 WRC. With absolute carnage on and between stages, no one expected to see the crews and cars be punished to the degree they were in the Mexican hills and mountains, but Loeb/Elena were consistently quick and drove a measured rally to see them bring in the Citroen DS3 WRC’s first win.
Loeb was embroiled in a rally-long battle with team-mate Sebastien Ogier/Julian Ingrassia, both crews testing the mettle of their machines. This, not to be the last of a Loeb-Ogier battle in 2011, came to an anti-climatic conclusion on the first stage of Day Three. Ogier and Loeb were trading places at the top of the leader board, with only a handful of seconds separating them. If I was a betting man I don’t know whom I’d place my hard-earned money on,as Ogier was showing all why he deserved the factory Citroen seat and Loeb was driving in his characteristic inch-perfect style. Ogier was in the lead of the rally at this point and pushed hi scar’s grip levels to their maximum in a bid to outsprint his team-mate, but it ended in tears. (Click here to see a video of the crash:
http://youtu.be/XlsAo8wOWhE).
That left Loeb, all on his own, to cruise through to the finish. For rally enthusiasts, however, there was plenty of action behind the fighting French at the front. Mikko Hirvonen, rally winner in Sweden, came home in second place overall and his lead in the Drivers’ Championship standings still intact with a healthy nine points over Loeb. Hirvonen, due to his leading the Championship, served as road sweeper on Day One. The slippery gravel cost him valuable time as fought to keep in touch with the leaders. Running behind the rally leaders on Days Two and Three, Hirvonen was able to make up some of the lost time but was too far off Loeb, Ogier and Petter Solberg to hassle them for position.
Team-mate Latvala drove maturely through the stages, but his speed was hindered by two punctures. Without these punctures, I wonder whether Latvala would have battled it out with the Citroen boys…
Petter Solberg’s enthusiasm and love of the sport is infectious. To see him at the front of the rally field, fighting for a win, is magical: his commitment behind the wheel was unmatched in Mexico’s speed tests. However, the Norwegian ace suffered mechanical problems on Day One that ruled him out of contention for the overall win but in for a podium finish.
With aggression and talent, Solberg whipped his Citroen DS3 WRC through the twists and turns of the stages, but his rally almost also ended abruptly when his gear lever broke off causing him to spin 360 degrees to then continue on his way to the stage finish. This bizarre moment can be seen here: http://youtu.be/aQm0btlJQH8.
As the fastest privateer in Mexico and his pace in Sweden, Solberg has signaled to the factory teams he is in the hunt not only for wins but for the Championship title.
Mads Ostberg/Jonas Andersson (M-Sport Stobart Ford World Rally Team) finish in fifth place with a powerful recovery drive, followed by his team-mates Henning Solberg/Ilka Minor who braved a unfortunate spate of mechanical gremlins to end the treacherous event in sixth place overall.
The only other remaining WRC Class machine to finish was that of Ken Block/Alex Gelsomino (Monster World Rally Team). They too suffered a host of electrical issues to drop them well down the leader board, saw them retire from the event a handful of times and restart under SupeRally regulations to bring his Ford Fiesta RS WRC to parc ferme in 11th overall.
There remain many unanswered questions after this event. Many are still wondering about the pace of the two cars, the Citroen DS3 WRC and the Ford Focus RS WRC. Which is faster and more reliable? It would be unwise to stick my neck out at this stage to proffer a name, and it helps nothing when even the drivers of these cars don’t know the answer. This is the first season of the last few that I feel all drivers have a fair and straight shot at the Championship title. And, that includes privateer entries. Don’t miss WRC Rally de Portugal later this month when we head to the scene of Ogier’s first WRC win.