RALLY GUANAJUATO MEXICO – 03-06/03/2011 DAY 3

Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena, who have been unbeaten in Mexico since 2006, racked up their fifth consecutive victory in this event yesterday. But above all, they scored the Citroën DS3 WRC’s maiden win, which showed its potential on gravel throughout the three days of the rally. Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia went off in the first stage  and had to retire. This win has put Loeb / Elena in second place in the Drivers’ World Championship.

After a couple of long days, the final leg of Rally Mexico was little more than a sprint with only 62 timed kilometers. The loop consisted of three stages without a service break: Guanajuatito (29 km), Comanjilla (24 km) and the Guanajuato Power Stage (8 km), that rewarded the first three with bonus points.

Only 10.5s separated Sébastien Ogier and Sébastien Loeb when they left the Poliforum de León servicepark. Their aim was to give the Citroën DS3 WRC a double. But the race was turned on its head inGuanajuato. Ogier went off halfway through the stage and had to retire with a broken left-hand front upright:“I had to push to hold on to my first place as my position of being first out forced me to sweep the roads yetagain,” explained the Citroën Total World Rally Team driver. “In a corner, the car understeered and I went abit wide. I couldn’t avoid a stone on the verge and the left-hand front upright broke. I gambled and I lost, butabove all I’m feeling gutted for the whole team. We’d done a great job since the start of the weekend and Ididn’t manage to make it pay off by scoring precious points for Citroën.”

When Loeb saw his team-mate stopped in the stage he lifted off a little until the finish: “Seeing Sébastienand Julian on the side of the road didn’t give me much pleasure. We could have fought till the very end andit’s a pity it finished like that. We went back into the lead of the rally with more than 1m 30s in hand overMikko. We just nursed it home.”

After losing a few seconds in Comanjilla, Loeb arrived at the start of the Power Stage with the firm intentionof adding a few more points to his tally. By snatching the second-quickest time from Petter Solberg the seventimeworld champion bagged an additional two points rounding off a very exciting weekend: “We’ve just hada very tricky rally. I had a great scrap with Sébastien Ogier, a few teething troubles with the car, and myvictory only came at the end of the race. It’s a good result where points are concerned, as we’re in secondplace in the world championship. The season’s really begun for us here.”

“It’s another exceptional result for Citroën,” smiled Olivier Quesnel. “It was a really great rally. We lostSébastien Ogier along the way; it’s unfortunate but that’s how it goes. In the first event on gravel we showedthe speed and reliability of the DS3 WRC, even if we had a few glitches. I’m feeling confident for the rest ofthe season as I’m convinced that we’ve got the best car and the best crews. We’ve now got to use our brainsto fight for the two world titles.”

Petter Solberg and Chris Patterson drove a cautious third leg and brought their DS3 WRC home in fourthplace as well as scoring a bonus point in the Power Stage.

The figuresSébastien Loeb / Daniel Elena Sébastien Ogier / Julien IngrassiaSS20 : Guanajuatito (29,13 km) 1str 1str - -SS21 : Comanjilla (24,59 km) 2nd +9’’9 1str - -SS22 : Guanajuato PS (8,28 km) 2nd +2’’1 1str - -

Fastest times in the stagesDay 1 – SS1: Petter Solberg (Citroën DS3) – SS2 and 3: Sébastien Ogier (Citroën DS3) – SS4and 5:Sébastien Loeb (Citroën DS3) – SS6 and 7: Ogier – SS8 and 9: Loeb – SS10: Ogier.day 2 – SS11: Loeb – SS12 and 13: P. Solberg – SS14: Loeb – SS15 and 16: Solberg – SS17: Jari-MattiLatvala (Ford Fiesta) – SS18 and 19: Loeb.Day 3 – SS20: Loeb – SS21: Latvala – SS22: Hirvonen.

Best performers : Loeb, 9 – Ogier and P. Solberg, 5 each – Latvala, 2 – Hirvonen, 1.Leaders: SS1 : Solberg – SS2 to 4: Ogier – SS5: Loeb – SS6 to 10 : Ogier – SS11 to 14: Loeb – SS15 to19: Ogier – SS20 to 22: Loeb.

Provisional final classification1 S. Loeb / D. Elena Citroën DS3 WRC 3h52m27.0s2 M. Hirvonen / J. Lehtinen Ford Fiesta RS WRC +1m38.4s3 J. Latvala / M. Anttila Ford Fiesta RS WRC +2m23.9s4 P. Solberg / C. Patterson Citroën DS3 WRC +7m38.4s5 M. Ostberg / J. Andersson Ford Fiesta RS WRC +8m43.5s6 H. Solberg / I. Minor Ford Fiesta RS WRC +9m50.0s7 N. Al Attiyah / G. Bernacchini Ford Fiesta S2000 +13m21.5s8 M. Prokop / J. Tomanek Ford Fiesta S2000 +13’m35.0s9 J. Hänninen / M. Markkula Skoda Fabia S2000 +14m48.7s10 F. Villagra / J. Perez Companc Ford Fiesta RS WRC +48m17.2s