On the first day of Rally Mexico, four Citroën C4 WRCs fill the first four places in the provisionalclassification. Petter Solberg and Sébastien Ogier made the most of their advantageous startingpositions in the stages, while behind, Sébastien Loeb and Dani Sordo are waiting to pounce. TheCitroën Total World Rally Team drivers will be ideally placed to close the gap to the leaders on thesecond day of the rally.
As expected the passage order was the determining factor in the unfolding of the first day of the RallyMexico this Friday in the outskirts of Léon. The stages were covered with a thick layer of dust and werevery slippery for the first drivers who swept the line for their pursuers.
Sébastien Loeb and Dani Sordo, second and fourth in the world championship after Rally Sweden, filledthese positions today. Despite the treacherous conditions they pushed hard so as not to be left behind bydrivers who had a cleaner route.
At the end of the first loop of four stages, Sébastien Loeb was in third place, 26.1s behind PetterSolberg: “I’m pretty happy with the morning. I drove well and I think I’ve managed a good damagelimitationsexercise given the road conditions. We expected that drivers starting far back would be able totake advantage of the situation to open up a good lead. Peter seems very much at ease behind the wheelof his C4 and he’s driving well, but there are still 300 kilometres of specials to go! I think today will see amore level playing field for everybody.”
Dani Sordo who was lying fourth three seconds behind his team-mate was also very upbeat about his startto the rally: “The car’s sliding around a lot and it’s not always easy to stay on the right line, but it’s goingwell! We’ve made a few modifications to the C4 to adapt it to this afternoon’s conditions. With cleanerroads we should have more grip.”
In the second loop the leaders were unable to continue opening up a big gap. Loeb and Daniel Elenastayed in third place under thirty seconds behind the rally leader: “ Like our rivals we decided not to liftoff to have a better starting position on the road for tomorrow. I like fair play and I think we’re going tosee a great battle between five or six drivers tomorrow. With 160 timed kilometres compared to only sixtyon Sunday, the day will be crucial in deciding the outcome of the battle for victory. My third place isn’tideal but it’s not too bad either. I’ll have to push from the first to the last metre!”
Dani Sordo and Marc Marti who kept up the same pace were still lying fourth when they arrived back atthe service park in Léon: “I didn’t make any mistakes and the car went well all day. Although I’m fortyseconds behind Petter a good result is still a possibility. We’ve just got to have a super day tomorrow.”
THE RALLY IN FIGURES
Sébastien Loeb / Daniel Elena Dani Sordo / Marc MartiSS1 : Alfaro 1 (22,96 km) 4e +14’’0 4e +14’’0 3e +10’’8 3e +10’’8SS2 : Ortega 1 (23,83 km) 3e +8’’9 4e +22’’9 4e +10’’4 3e +21’’2SS3 : El Cubilete (18,87 km) 3e +3’’3 3e +26’’2 5e +7’’3 4e +28’’5SS4 : Coca-Cola Street (1,50 km) 2e +0’’2 3e +26’’1 4e +0’’9 4e +29’’1SS5 : Alfaro 2 (22,96 km) 3e +3’’1 3e +29’’2 4e +4’’2 4e +33’’3SS6 : Ortega 2 (23,83 km) 3e +1’’9 3e +31’’1 5e +5’’8 4e +39’’1SS7 : El Cubilete 2 (18,87 km) 2e +0’’8 3e +28’’6 4e +6’’3 4e +42’’1SS8 : Super Special 1 (2,21 km) 3e +0’’5 3e +28’’2 2e +0’’2 4e +41’’4SS9 : Super Special 2 (2,21 km) 2e +0’’8 3e +27’’5 3e +0’’9 4e +40’’8Fastest times in the stagesDay 1 – SS1 to 3 : Petter Solberg (Citroën C4) – SS4 : Sébastien Ogier (Citroën C4) –SS5 and 6 :Solberg – SS7 to 9 : Ogier.Best performers : Solberg, 5 quickest times – Ogier, 4.Leader : SS1 To 9 : Solberg.…/…Classification at the end of the first day1. P. Solberg / Mills Citroën C4 1h23’39’’92. Ogier / Ingrassia Citroën C4 +15’’03. Loeb / Elena Citroën C4 +27’’54. Sordo / Marti Citroën C4 +40’’85. Latvala / Anttila Ford Focus +1’01’’26. Hirvonen / Lehtinen Ford Focus +1’31’’57. H. Solberg / Minor Ford Focus +1’37’’58. Wilson / Martin Ford Focus +2’47’’29. Villagra / Perez Companc Ford Focus +4’19’’810. Block / Gelsomino Ford Focus +4’33’’3
