WRC Ford press release below:
Ford BP Rallye Sport drivers Markko Märtin and Michael Park led the Corona Rally Mexico after today's dramatic second leg through the tough mountain roads of central Mexico. Their Ford Focus RS World Rally Car headed Carlos Sainz by 14.5 seconds with Ford BP team-mates François Duval and Stéphane Prévot 18.1seconds behind in third place in a similar car, after a day in which the demanding gravel tracks proved too much for many of their rivals.
Overnight rain left the roads slightly damp this morning as the drivers departed the rally base in Leon for the longest leg of this third round of the FIA World Rally Championship. However, they quickly dried in the sunshine with just the odd patch of mud remaining. Two loops of three long speed tests, totalling 154.34km, comprised the day on roads which drivers regarded as slower but more demanding on the cars than yesterday.
Märtin and Park ended the opening leg in fifth but re-started this morning in fourth after an overnight penalty was applied to Petter Solberg. The Ford BP duo posted top three times on all the first three stages to power their Castrol-backed Focus RS into a 9.7 second lead by the middle of the day. They extended that during the afternoon with another set of consistent times, despite incurring a 10 second penalty for arriving late at the start of the final test.
"It was a strange morning," said 28-year-old Märtin. "I finished yesterday in fifth, started this morning in fourth and then within two stages I was leading. But I'm not complaining! My driving was better than yesterday but still not perfect. I'm fighting against myself and still can't find exactly the right rhythm so it was all a bit messy sometimes.
"We always have to hope, but to expect a lead like this yesterday was too optimistic to think about. It's a good example of how unpredictable rallying is. We have to expect the unexpected and hope it doesn't happen to us. It's been hard work today, certainly not a joy ride, but I'm happy and I have to ensure I don't make a mistake tomorrow," added the Estonian.
His biggest difficulty today came near the end of stage eight when smoke started to fill the car. "It came from the console between myself and Michael and was thick enough to make us cough. On the faster sections it disappeared but when the road became slower again, it came back. We checked the car at the end of the stage but could find nothing so we put various settings into 'safe' mode for the final two stages," explained Märtin. The smoke was later traced to a leak in the gearchange actuator.
The progress of Duval and Prévot up the leaderboard was just as rapid. They ended yesterday's stages in seventh but a second fastest time and two fourth quickest times lifted the Belgians into third after the first loop. They moved ahead of Sainz to claim second on the penultimate test but the Spaniard retaliated on the final stage to leave 23-year-old Duval in third tonight.
"We've had a really good attack today," he said. "Tomorrow will be exciting but I would prefer to finish third than risk going off the road chasing second. I need to finish in the points for Ford and I need to finish to improve my experience here so to go off wouldn't be good. I've made no mistakes and the car has been absolutely perfect but there's still a long way to go.
"Today's stages were generally slower than yesterday's and we reduced the pressure in the front differential to make the handling more suitable. It locked less and the car felt easier to drive. I lost a little traction as a result but that wasn't a problem. There were some mud patches which made driving difficult and on quite a few occasions we came over a crest to find mud in the road," added Duval, whose visibility problems of yesterday were solved by raising the height of his seat.Ford BP team director Malcolm Wilson was delighted with his drivers' progress today. "The rally has proved more difficult than it looked from the outset. Markko went out with a fresh approach this morning after a steady day yesterday and that's paid dividends. François is doing exactly what I asked of him. He's kept the car on the road, gained experience and is in a good position for tomorrow. It's been a hard day for the cars but ours have stood up to the test superbly," he said.
News from our Rivals
The drama began late last night when leader Petter Solberg (Subaru) received a five minute penalty after his car was illegally pushed into the final service park when it refused to start and he dropped to 13th. However, the Norwegian was fastest on all six stages to climb to fifth. Sebastien Loeb (Citroen) therefore started in the lead but the Frenchman's car landed on a rock after a jump on stage six. The impact cracked the sump and although the crew tried to make repairs on the following liaison section, the oil leaked from the engine and they retired. Midway through the previous stage the power steering broke on Marcus Grönholm's (Peugeot) car and he drove that test and the following two with no power assistance. He lost almost five minutes, dropping to seventh before regaining a place. Team-mate Harri Rovanperä dropped 16 minutes on stage seven when his car's front right suspension arm broke shortly before the finish. The Finn stopped to remove the wheel before completing the stage on three wheels. Carlos Sainz (Citroen) is the closest challenger to Märtin, although he drove the afternoon stages on the same rubber he used this morning when his team mistakenly nominated exactly the same tyres. Behind the Spaniard is Mikko Hirvonen (Subaru), the Finn escaping with damaged suspension after hitting a rock on the final stage of the first loop. Gearbox problems this morning and an overheating engine this afternoon slowed Gilles Panizzi (Mitsubishi) while team-mate Gigi Galli retired on the first stage with broken suspension.
Tomorrow's Route
The final leg returns to the mountains north and east of Leon for five more tests covering 132.06km. After leaving Leon at 06.30, drivers face three stages before service back in the city. They then repeat two of them before returning to Leon for the finish at 14.30. The day includes two runs at the longest test of the event, the 30.47km journey from Ibarrilla to Mesa.
Leaderboard after Leg 21. M Märtin/M Park EE Ford Focus RS 2hr 48min 09.4sec 2. C Sainz/M Marti E Citroen Xsara 2hr 48min 23.9sec3. F Duval/S Prévot B Ford Focus RS 2hr 48min 27.5sec4. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen FIN Subaru Impreza 2hr 50min 50.2sec5. P Solberg/P Mills N Subaru Impreza 2hr 51min 51.1sec6. M Grönholm/T Rautiainen FIN Peugeot 307 2hr 52min 33.9sec7. J Valimaki/J Honkanen FIN Hyundai Accent 2hr 55min 02.3sec8. G Panizzi/H Panizzi F Mitsubishi Lancer 2hr 57min 14.5sec9. A Warmbold/G Price D Ford Focus RS 2hr 57min 28.6sec10 D Sola/X Amigo Colon E Mitsubishi Lancer 3hr 00min 21.4sec
