Sebastien Ogier keeps on extending his lead at the Rally Mexico. At the end of the first leg the Frenchman in the Volkswagen works team leads the overall classification by exactly 33 seconds ahead of Mads Ostberg (Ford). I am really surprised that we are in the lead with the Polo R WRC on the first gravel event, said a beaming Ogier. It was a perfect day for us. On Friday he won seven out of eleven special stages including the two short tarmac special stages in the streets of Len to wrap up the first leg.
Mikko Hirvonen (Citroen, + 42,0 seconds) and Thierry Neuville (Ford, + 1.07,1 minutes) are ranked behind Ogier and Ostberg. Meanwhile the overall victory is already out of reach for Jari-Matti Latvala in the second Volkswagen Motorsport Polo R WRC. During the third special stage the Finn was unfortunate to hit a rock which damaged his front wheel suspension. On Saturday, Latvala will start the second leg with his overhauled car. The teams will then face seven special stages with a total length of 150 kilometres.
Statements from the Volkswagen team.
Jari-Matti Latvala, Volkswagen Polo R WRC #7That was the shortest stage I have ever driven. The dust from the previous car was still in the air, so vision was not great. 300 metres after the start we were rounding a right-hander when we came across a stone the size of a melon right on the racing line. As it was not possible to avoid the stone at the speed we were travelling, I tried to position it centrally between the two front wheels and line it up as well as possible with the underride protection. The impact was not particularly strong, but the stone damaged the right wishbone. It was just unlucky.
Sebastien Ogier, Volkswagen Polo R WRC #8I am obviously very happy with todays result. The special stages were not easy, with a lot of stones, loose gravel and little grip. The 30 kilometres on El Chocolate, in particular, were extremely demanding. That made it all the more pleasing that we had built up a small cushion by then. Everyone in the team is delighted that the Polo R WRC appears also to be quick on gravel. However, we have to bear in mind that there is still a very long way to go at this rally, and the toughest stages are still ahead of us.
Jost Capito, Volkswagen Motorsport DirectorA day of ups and downs for Volkswagen. The good news is that the Polo R WRC is also competitive on gravel and that Sbastien Ogiers outstanding performance behind the wheel means he leads the rally after over 160 kilometres. We would have liked to have seen how Jari-Matti Latvala faired, but unfortunately he was unlucky today and had to give up after only a few metres. The broken wishbone shows that there is still work to be done on the car. However, this is precisely the kind of thing you experience when a new car makes its first appearance at a gravel rally.
