RALLY GUANAJUATO MEXICO 2012, March 8-11, 2012

[Desert Dog]

Your favourite rally driver is back on your doorstep!


2012 FIA World Rally Championship, round 3

For immediate release
Wednesday, March 7th, 2012

CITROËN SET TO LOCK HORNS WITH FORD AS RALLY GUANAJUATO MEXICO GETS UNDERWAY IN LEÓN

• Loeb and Hirvonen prepare for clash with Latvala and Solberg
• Qatar’s Al-Attiyah relishes WRC gravel challenge with new team
• Poland’s Michal Kosciuszko bids to extend PWRC lead in Mexico

LEÓN (Mexico): The Citroën Total World Rally Team will resume their fascinating tussle with the Ford World Rally Team in this weekend’s Rally Guanajuato Mexico, round three of the 2012 FIA World Rally Championship.

The French manufacturer has held the upper hand in recent years and, largely thanks to eight-time World Champion Sébastien Loeb, Citroën has won the last four Manufacturers’ titles and seven in the last nine years – Ford won in 2006 and 2007.

Both teams arrive in Central America buoyed by spirited performances at the opening two rounds of the series in France and Sweden. Loeb secured maximum points for Citroën in round one and Finland’s Jari-Matti Latvala redressed the balance for the Blue Oval in Sweden. It means that a mere 10 points separate the two teams, in Citroën’s favour, heading into this weekend’s Mexican showdown.

Loeb’s track record in Mexico is second to none. The Frenchman has won each of his last five Mexican forays and he and his experienced new team-mate Mikko Hirvonen – who switched from Ford before the new season – will be strong favourites to extend the French team’s lead in the Manufacturers’ series. Loeb leads his colleague by seven points in the Drivers’ Championship.

But Latvala’s confidence was boosted no end by his performance in Sweden and Petter Solberg is also a potent driver on gravel. The Norwegian is long overdue a WRC victory. The 2003 World Champion has not won a WRC event since the 2005 Wales Rally GB – a statistic he would dearly love to remove from his rallying curriculum vitae.

Ford’s second tier team – the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team – is fielding a pair of Ford Fiesta RS WRCs for Estonian Ott Tanak and Russian driver Evgeny Novikov. The latter has begun the new season well and lies fifth in the Drivers’ standings after two consistent finishes in Europe.

Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah is delighted to be competing on equal terms with the WRC’s top flight now that his Qatar World Rally Team has a Citroën DS3 WRC for the former PWRC champion and Dakar Rally winner to drive. Al-Attiyah is a proven talent and could surprise many of the established front-runners on the Mexican gravel stages.

Belgian Thierry Neuville represents the Citroën Junior Rally Team in his DS3 WRC and Norwegian Mads Østberg lines up in a Ford Fiesta RS WRC as the representative for the Adapta World Rally Team.

Australian Chris Atkinson spent five seasons with the works Subaru team and one WRC rally with the Citroën Junior Team before switching to the Asia-Pacific rallying scene. He returns to the WRC in a two-car Monster Energy World Rally Team alongside American Ken Block. The pair are entered in two Ford Fiestas and Block is on a high, confidence-wise, after winning an event in the USA at the end of February.

WRC Team Mini Portugal have taken over the reins of running the official Mini team from Prodrive and twice PWRC champion Armindo Araújo, from Portugal, and Brazilian Paulo Nobre represent the fledgling operation in Mexico.

Volkswagen Motorsport are continuing the development of a new car for entry into next year’s WRC and Frenchman Sébastien Ogier and Dutchman Kevin Abbring will be giving valuable feedback to team technicians through their exploits in a pair of Škoda Fabia S2000s.

Mexico is also hosting the second round of the FIA Production World Rally Championship (PWRC) and Poland’s Michal Kosciuszko arrives in Leon with the goal of extending his seven-point championship lead at the wheel of a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X.

He faces competition from four series regulars and local wildcard entrant Rodrigo Salgado. Peruvian Nicolas Fuchs returns to the series for a second season and Mexican Benito Guerra will be hoping to please home fans now that he has joined up with Ralliart Italy, the team that took Armindo Araújo to a pair of PWRC titles in 2009 and 2010.

Italy’s Gianluca Linari starts his PWRC campaign with a Subaru Impreza in Mexico and Swedish lady Ramona Karlsson completes the Production car line-up.

Mexican drivers bolster the entry list: Ricardo Trivino and Spanish co-driver Alex Haro head the local contingent in a Ford Fiesta RS WRC and Francisco Name, Carlos Izquierdo, Ignacio De Izaurieta, Luis Orduna, Juan-Carlos Sarmiento and Guillermo Fonseca complete the local line-up, with Venezuelan driver Alberto Adriani rounding off the provision starting list.

Tomorrow (Thursday) the competitive action gets underway with a new qualifying stage to determine the starting order for the opening leg of special stages. This 5.18km test will enable the stage winner to choose his starting position and reduce the risk of losing time by sweeping gravel off the track surfaces on Friday morning.

This qualifying stage precedes the official start ceremony - to be held in front of the Alhóndiga de Granaditas in the historic town of Guanajuato – from 20.00hrs on Thursday evening. Cars then head straight into the first 1.05km DC Shoes Street Stage in Guanajuato, starting at 20.09hrs, before the overnight halt at the Poliforum in León.

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[Desert Dog]

For immediate release
Thursday, March 8th, 2012

PETTER SOLBERG SNATCHES SLENDER LEAD AFTER OPENING STREET STAGE OF RALLY GUANAJUATO MEXICO

• Second position on first stage for Loeb; Østberg in third
• Solberg wins qualifying stage; Loeb fastest on shakedown

LEÓN (Mexico): Norwegian Petter Solberg and his Ulster co-driver Chris Patterson held a tiny 0.4s lead after the opening 1.05km DC Shoes Street Stage of Rally Guanajuato Mexico, round three of the 2012 FIA World Rally Championship, in a packed Guanajuato on Thursday evening.

Thousands of spectators greeted 27 teams to the historic town for the ceremonial start of the event outside the ‘Alhondiga de Granaditas’ and twice former PWRC winner Armindo Araújo was the first driver over the podium and into the short stage at the wheel of his Mini John Cooper Works WRC.

Stage winner Solberg began from 14th position on the road and managed to set the fastest time, with Frenchman Sébastien Loeb slotting into second position ahead of Norway’s Mads Østberg.

“I have never seen so many people at a start of a rally,” enthused Brazilian Mini driver Paulo Nobre. “It was just unbelievable. It is so nice to start a rally like that. Congratulations to Mexico!”

A new 5.18km qualifying stage was introduced for the first time this year and that enabled the 14 leading WRC drivers to choose where they wanted to be positioned on the road, dependent upon their performance on the short stage.

The special ran straight after the traditional shakedown session – which was won by Loeb with a second run time of 2m 50.8s – but the Frenchman lost a little time on the start line of the qualifying special and posted a target of 2m 50.6s, which was beaten by Hirvonen (2m 49.5s) and eventual qualifying session winner Petter Solberg. The Norwegian posted a quickest time of 2m 48.6s and will now start from his chosen 14th position on the road through the opening gravel special stages on Friday.
“We were pushing for this regulation (qualifying),” said eight-time World Champion Loeb. “It is fairer. We were all fighting for our position and I will be 12th on the road on Friday and that is not a bad position. That means there will be two Fords and two Citroëns racing in the same conditions. Petter was faster this morning. I was hesitating a bit in some places on the qualifying stage. I did not have a perfect start. All drivers were fighting for one second, so it was not easy to be the fastest.”
Latvala was disappointed to be over two seconds adrift and Portugal’s Armindo Araújo – who had been forced to miss the second run through the shakedown stage because of turbo and throttle problems – continued to suffer in his Mini and finished 13th.
Brazilian Paulo Nobre erred on the side of caution on the qualifying stage and will now start last but one on the road on Friday after Araújo elected to start first. “I did what I could without doing any damage,” said Nobre. “If you make a problem here, you don’t make the rally!”

Tomorrow (Friday), teams will tackle an unprecedented 11 special stages, including two runs through the brand new Las Minas and Los Mexicanos tests. Action gets underway with the revised El Cubilete special at 8.08hrs and teams will face three more stages before they are able to service at the Poliforum in León.

El Cubilete, Las Minas, Los Mexicanos and Ortega are repeated in the afternoon from 13.36hrs and a run through the 1.23km Monster Street Stage (17.24hrs) precedes a return to the Poliforum service park. Two runs through a 2.21km super special (20.13hrs and 20.18hrs) bring the hectic day’s action to a close after 147.21 competitive kilometres in a route of 464.69km.

Positions after SS1:
1. Petter Solberg (NOR)/Chris Patterson (GBR) Ford Fiesta RS WRC 53.7s
2. Sébastien Loeb (FRA)/Daniel Elena (FRA) Citroën DS3 WRC 54.1s
3. Mads Østberg (NOR)/Jonas Andersson (SWE) Ford Fiesta RS WRC 54.3s
4. Mikko Hirvonen (FIN)/Jarmo Lehtinen (FIN) Citroën DS3 WRC 54.5s
5. Jari-Matti Latvala (FIN)/Miikka Anttila (FIN) Ford Fiesta RS WRC 54.7s
5. Ott Tänak (EST)/Kuldar Sikk (EST) Ford Fiesta RS WRC 54.7s
7. Chris Atkinson (AUS)/Stéphane Prévot (BEL) Ford Fiesta RS WRC 55.2s
8. Armindo Araújo (PRT)/Miguel Ramalho (PRT) Mini JCW WRC 55.4s
9. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Giovanni Bernacchini (ITA) Citroën DS3 WRC 55.6s
9. Thierry Neuville (BEL)/Nicolas Gilsoul (BEL) Citroën DS3 WRC 55.6s
11. Sébastien Ogier (FRA)/Julian Ingrassia (FRA) Škoda Fabia S2000 56.1s, etc

[Desert Dog]

For immediate release
Friday, March 9th, 2012

LOEB AND ELENA TAKE HARD-EARNED 11.2-SECOND LEAD INTO OVERNIGHT HALT IN RALLY GUANAJUATO MEXICO

• Second position for Hirvonen; Østberg moves into third place
• Punctures ruin Solberg’s challenge; Neuville sheds a wheel
• Mexican Benito Guerra holds slender PWRC lead over Kosciuszko

LEÓN (Mexico): The French duo of Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena led Rally Guanajuato Mexico 2012 by just 11.2 seconds after a punishing day’s action over 10 demanding special stages, near Guanajuato and León, on Friday.

The Citroën Total World Rally Team duo - who are chasing an unprecedented sixth successive Mexican WRC victory - were pushed all the way on the opening gravel day of the third round of the 2012 FIA World Rally Championship by team-mates Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen, who now hold second overall in a second DS3 WRC.

“I know I have to continue to push because Mikko is pushing and Jari-Matti (Latvala) is very fast. There is a long way to go and we need to make sure we stay ahead,” said Loeb.

Predictably, a fierce battle waged in hot, sunny conditions between Citroën and their rival Ford World Rally Team, with the French manufacturer holding the upper hand when two costly punctures delayed the Blue Oval’s overnight leader Petter Solberg and damaged front suspension cost Jari-Matti Latvala his Friday morning lead.

With a rebuilt car after the mid-day service, Latvala began a fight back through the field and climbed to fourth overall at the end of the day behind Loeb, Hirvonen and third-placed Mads Østberg. Solberg recovered from 13th to hold fifth, Estonian Ott Tänak dropped to sixth with a 10-second time penalty imposed and Russia’s Evgeny Novikov, Australia’s Chris Atkinson, Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and Portugal’s Armindo Araújo completed the top 10.

Twelfth-placed Mexican driver Benito Guerra delighted the home fans by leading the PWRC category in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X after Friday’s special stages. Guerra heads into the second of the long days with a slender lead over Poland’s Michal Kosciuszko, the leader of the FIA Production series after round one.

Friday – as it happened

Armindo Araújo led cars into the opening 22.12km mixed surface El Cubilete stage, where Ken Block lost time jammed in first gear and overnight leader Solberg lost considerable time with a rear puncture. Hirvonen won the stage by just 0.8s from Latvala and moved into a one-second lead. Loeb, Neuville and Østberg held third, fourth and fifth places.

“Four kilometres and we had a puncture on the right-hand corner,” said a dejected Solberg, who is bidding to end a seven-year WRC victory drought here in Mexico. The Norwegian slipped to 13th overall.

Latvala won the new Las Minas stage, which wound its way through the local silver mines, and moved ahead of Hirvonen by 1.2s. Loeb set the second fastest time and maintained third, but closed to within 5.5s of his team-mate. Solberg punctured again and dropped another 29.5s, Al-Attiyah survived a wild spin and several of the front-runners complained of excessive tyre wear on the abrasive stage surfaces.

“That was the most difficult stage in Mexico,” admitted Latvala. “At the beginning it reminded me of Cyprus. Then it was very fast at the end. I have a big fight with Mikko. He looks like he is being cautious, but I know he is coming, believe me!”

Loeb set his first fastest time of the event through Los Mexicanos and maintained third position, as Latvala extended his advantage over Hirvonen to 2.2s. Solberg recovered from his woeful start to record the fourth quickest time and climbed to 10th.

But broken front suspension cost Latvala over half a minute through the fifth Ortega stage and he dropped to eighth overall, as Hirvonen took the lead and saw his advantage trimmed to just six-tenths of a second by Loeb. Østberg held third, albeit 39.9s adrift of the leading Finn, and Neuville and Tanak rounded off the top five, as crews returned to León for much-needed service.

Block lost over three minutes with a broken driveshaft, but the fourth fastest time moved Solberg up to seventh. Paulo Nobre was forced out after an accident and Guerra reached the end of the fifth stage with a 13.7s lead over PWRC championship leader Kosciuszko. Peruvian driver Nicolas Fuchs was third.

Event officials cancelled the second run through the Ortega stage for security reasons, after stones were thrown Thierry Neuville’s car during the morning. Action resumed on schedule with the second El Cubilete special, however, and a resurgent Latvala benefited from a rebuilt car to set the quickest time.

Belgian Thierry Neuville lost fourth place when he clouted a kerbing and the impact wrenched a wheel off his Ford Fiesta, as Loeb moved into an overall 2.2s lead. Škoda’s Kevin Abbring never made it out of service: he had been running in 12th overall before reported fuel pressure issues sidelined his Fabia S2000.

Latvala continued his impressive form through SS7 and clawed another 4.2s back on the leading Frenchman, who edged a further 1.5s ahead of Hirvonen. The Finn also moved up to fourth place; he passed Tanak and also benefited from a reported slow puncture for Solberg.

Latvala gained 8.2s on Østberg through SS8 – where the Norwegian was forced to play football with an errant electrical box that had worked loose in his foot well on the stage. The Finn also beat leader Loeb by 0.2s, but trailed the defending World Champion by 1m 19.9s heading towards the remaining three short spectator stages. Hirvonen maintained second position and needed to claw back 4.5s to tie for the overnight lead.

Loeb managed to edge 0.8s further ahead through the Monster street stage and eventually reached the overnight halt with an advantage over Hirvonen of 11.2 seconds.

The León area was affected by a freak, torrential thunderstorm less than an hour before the last two super special stages, where Al-Attiyah and Atkinson set the fastest times because adverse conditions affected several of the later crews. The result marked the first ever WRC stage win for Al-Attiyah, the former Dakar winner.

Tomorrow

Seven special stages feature in the timetable for Saturday, with 183.80 competitive kilometres on the agenda in a total route of 427.53km. The action gets underway with the 29.90km of the Ibarilla special (06.54hrs) and continues with the daunting 41.88km Otates stage at 08.12hrs.

After a return to León for service, the two special stages are repeated at 11.06hrs and 12.24hrs, before another service break precedes the 17.91km of Comanjilla – run twice at 15.30hrs and 17.23hrs – and two consecutive laps of the short 2.21km super special stage at 16.45hrs.

Positions after SS12 (unofficial):
1. Sébastien Loeb (FRA)/Daniel Elena (FRA) Citroën DS3 WRC 1h 24m 46.4s
2. Mikko Hirvonen (FIN)/Jarmo Lehtinen (FIN) Citroën DS3 WRC 1h 24m 57.6s
3. Mads Østberg (NOR)/Jonas Andersson (SWE) Ford Fiesta RS WRC 1h 25m 58.3s
4. Jari-Matti Latvala (FIN)/Miikka Anttila (FIN) Ford Fiesta RS WRC 1h 26m 14.3s
5. Petter Solberg (NOR)/Chris Patterson (GBR) Ford Fiesta RS WRC 1h 26m 21.8s
6. Ott Tänak (EST)/Kuldar Sikk (EST) Ford Fiesta RS WRC 1h 26m 23.1s
7. Evgeny Novikov (RUS)/Denis Giraudet (FRA) Ford Fiesta RS WRC 1h 26m 48.4s
8. Chris Atkinson (AUS)/Stéphane Prévot (BEL) Ford Fiesta RS WRC 1h 27m 20.1s
9. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Giovanni Bernacchini (ITA) Citroën DS3 WRC 1h 27m 35.0s
10. Armindo Araújo (PRT)/Miguel Ramalho (PRT) Mini JCW WRC 1h 28m 16.6s
11. Sébastien Ogier (FRA)/Julian Ingrassia (FRA) Škoda Fabia S2000 1h 29m 01.6s

[9five9]

I haven't been following this season very closely, but why is Ogier in an S2000 car?

[Desert Dog]

For immediate release
Saturday, March 10th, 2012

LOEB AND ELENA EXTEND ADVANTAGE IN RALLY GUANAJUATO MEXICO HEADING INTO FINAL DAY

• Hirvonen maintains second; Latvala displaces Østberg to take third
• Brake problems sideline Atkinson; Nobre crashes; engine woes for Abbring
• Mexican Benito Guerra maintains advantage in PWRC; Novikov loses a wheel

LEÓN (Mexico): The French duo of Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena extended their overall lead in
Rally Guanajuato Mexico 2012 to 36.2 seconds after a further eight mixed surface special stages on Saturday.

The eight-time World Champions are chasing a sixth successive WRC win in Mexico and began the day with an 11.2-second advantage over Citroën World Rally Team colleagues, Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen.

The wily Loeb mastered his tactics to perfection over the challenging special stages, often held at altitude around Guanajuato and León, to gradually tighten his vice-like grip on the event. Hirvonen had no answer to the champion’s strategy, but maintained a comfortable second overall nonetheless

“There was no chance today to take it easy,” said Loeb. “The Fords were pushing hard and I knew Mikko would be going fast as well. There were places with rocks in the track and I had to be careful. I managed to build up a good lead. It was a good day, but tomorrow we have a long stage. But I am in a good position.”

Predictably, the Ford duo of Jari-Marti Latvala and Petter Solberg mounted a brave and determined challenge and maintained the pressure on the leading duo throughout the morning. But a puncture and a shredded tyre ruined Latvala’s charge in SS15 and his priority duly changed to trying to preserve third overall. After disposing of Mads Østberg during the morning, the Finn briefly ceded third to Solberg, before speeding up over the closing stages to consolidate the final podium position.

Norwegian Mads Ostberg was realistic about his chances of catching the factory Fords and was content to hold a solid fifth. A flat tyre nearly dropped Estonian Ott Tänak into Evgeny Novikov’s clutches after the 15th stage, but Tänak responded in an impressive manner to confirm sixth at the end of the day.

Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah, who had become the first Arab driver ever to win a WRC special stage on Friday evening, held eighth after being embroiled in his own battle with Aussie Chris Atkinson, before the latter’s retirement with brake woes. The Qatari inherited seventh on the final stage of the day when Novikov wrenched a wheel off his Ford.

Portugal’s Armindo Araújo was better pleased with his Mini’s set-up over Saturday’s stages and finished the day in eighth. Sébastien Ogier struggled to match the more powerful WRC cars in his Skoda Fabia S2000 and held ninth, Ken Block climbed to 10th in the Monster Ford Fiesta and Benito Guerra strengthened his grip on the PWRC category.

Saturday – as it happened

Latvala posted his intent from the outset and set a stunning time through the 29.90km Ibarilla stage, the Finn beating Hirvonen by 5.3s and, in so doing, he snatched third overall from Østberg. Hirvonen managed to reduce Loeb’s overall lead to 8.7s. Guerra was suffering from tyre wear and kept his PWRC lead, but lost 12th place to a resurgent Ken Block. Brazilian Paulo Nobre left the road again and retired.

A clean run and the lack of tyre issues was critical in the 41.88km Otates special stage – the 14th and longest stage of the event so far – and Loeb set the fastest time to extend his advantage over Hirvonen to 18.2s. Latvala earned the second fastest time to reduce his former team-mate’s hold on second place to 67.4s, but the top 10 held station on the return to León for service.

“I am probably going a little too much sideways,” admitted Latvala. “We have a different set-up this year for Mexico. It is normally set for the faster roads and we did not expect so much twisty. I cannot catch the top two with the difference. I just need to keep the pressure on.”

But keeping the pressure on came with its own risks and Latvala clouted a rock four kilometres into the re-run of the Ibarilla stage and collected a puncture. He was forced to complete the stage on the shredding front tyre and the lost time pushed him three seconds behind Solberg - into fourth overall - and enabled Ostberg to close to within 1.8s of fourth overall.

Loeb was his usual calm and determined self and another fastest time stretched his lead over Hirvonen to 21.7s. Tänak also punctured on the tricky stage and reached the finish still in sixth overall, but a mere 4.2s in front of Novikov’s similar Ford Fiesta.

Guerra strengthened his grip on the PWRC category when series leader Michal Kosciuszko was delayed on the road section to the 15th stage and ultimately retired soon afterwards after removing a wheel. Engine oil pressure problems had already accounted for Škoda’s Kevin Abbring.

A resurgent Latvala was quickest through the second Otates stage and regained third position from Solberg. Loeb admitted that he had taken it easy over the last few kilometres to avoid damaging the car and his tyres on some larger rocks in the track, but he still managed to extend his overall lead over Hirvonen to 28.7s.

Atkinson crossed the flying finish line and was given a stage time, but he clouted a banking, spun across the track, reversed and was forced to park his damaged Ford at the side of the stage after brake issues. He had been beaten on the special by Al-Attiyah in any case and the Qatari duly climbed to eighth position. In the other close battle within the top 10, Tänak extended his hold on sixth over Novikov to 5.8s.

Loeb erred on the side of caution through the 17.91km of the first Comanjilla stage and admitted that other cars had been flicking a few stones into the track, which could have caused problems. Latvala duly set the fastest time and beat Hirvonen by over 12 seconds into the bargain, but the Citroën duo remained well clear in first and second overall.

Two runs through the 2.21km super special stage were merged, rather than run them both as individual entities, and Loeb and Solberg set the equal fastest time of 3m 14.3s. There were no major dramas for the leaders and Loeb headed to the last stage of the day – the rerun of the Comanjilla stage – with an overall lead of 36.5s.

Novikov took a wheel off his Ford Fiesta and was unable to go any further. His demise promoted Al-Attiyah to seventh, Araújo to eighth, Ogier to ninth and Ken Block into the unofficial top 10. Latvala set the quickest time, but the day belonged to Loeb – the Frenchman had a lead of 36.2 seconds to take into the final day.

Tomorrow

Sunday’s third and final leg of Rally Guanajuato Mexico provides a true sting in the tail. There are only four stages on the agenda, but they include the daunting 54.30km of the Guanajuatito special (10.33hrs) after an opening encounter with the 4.42km of the super special stage (09.30hrs), near León.

The long stage precedes the 10.58km of Derramadero at 12.06hrs and the final run through the 5.46km VW Power Stage at 13.18hrs. The finish podium is scheduled for 15.00hrs in León.

Positions after SS20 (unofficial @ 18.45hrs):
1. Sébastien Loeb (FRA)/Daniel Elena (FRA) Citroën DS3 WRC 3h 25m 17.5s
2. Mikko Hirvonen (FIN)/Jarmo Lehtinen (FIN) Citroën DS3 WRC 3h 25m 53.7s
3. Jari-Matti Latvala (FIN)/Miikka Anttila (FIN) Ford Fiesta RS WRC 3h 27m 10.5s
4. Petter Solberg (NOR)/Chris Patterson (GBR) Ford Fiesta RS WRC 3h 27m 28.4s
5. Mads Østberg (NOR)/Jonas Andersson (SWE) Ford Fiesta RS WRC 3h 28m 01.7s
6. Ott Tänak (EST)/Kuldar Sikk (EST) Ford Fiesta RS WRC 3h 29m 39.6s
7. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Giovanni Bernacchini (ITA) Citroën DS3 WRC 3h 31m 18.3s
8. Armindo Araújo (PRT)/Miguel Ramalho (PRT) Mini JCW WRC 3h 35m 59.6s
9. Sébastien Ogier (FRA)/Julian Ingrassia (FRA) Škoda Fabia S2000 3h 37m 20.2s
10. Ken Block (USA)/Alex Gelsomino (USA) Ford Fiesta RS WRC 3h 39m 09.3s

[Desert Dog]

I haven't been following this season very closely, but why is Ogier in an S2000 car?

Not sure why. Maybe someone else can help?

[axeman]

he's signed to drive the vw polo thats testing this year until its ready to compete so really just keeping his hand in on events

[Desert Dog]

For immediate release
Sunday, March 11th, 2012

LOEB AND ELENA CONFIRM SIXTH VICTORY IN RALLY GUANAJUATO MEXICO 2012

• Hirvonen confirms 1-2 finish for Citroën Total World Rally Team
• Solberg snatches podium for Ford; Latvala rolls and is forced out
• Benito Guerra clinches PWRC win; 10th-placed Trivino top local driver

LEÓN (Mexico): The French duo of Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena confirmed their sixth victory in Rally Guanajuato Mexico and extended their lead in the FIA World Rally Championship after the final four special stages, near Leon, on Sunday.

Leading by 36.2s overnight, the eight-time World Champions mastered their tactics to perfection over the final day and Loeb avoided trouble and took no risks on his way to a 42.4s victory over Citroën Total World Rally Team colleagues, Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen.

I am very happy,” said Loeb. “I always win here! It is a great result for the team as well, with Mikko finishing second, a one-two for us.” Hirvonen was also delighted: “I am quite happy with the result. It is my first time with this car on gravel and I was able to stay on a good pace with Sébastien all the way.”

Finland’s Jari-Matti Latvala looked comfortable in third position in the leading Ford Fiesta RS WRC until he was distracted by Evgeny Novikov’s stricken Ford in the daunting Guanjuatito stage. The Finn took avoiding action, thinking that the Ford was in the stage, but the Russian had actually left the road himself and Latvala crashed heavily with the loss of over seven minutes. After an FIA inspection of the damaged Fiesta, the devastated Finn was not able to continue.

Norwegian Petter Solberg and his Ulster co-driver Chris Patterson – leaders of the event after the opening stage – were promoted to the final podium position and managed to take the three bonus points for winning the final Power Stage. “I am delighted with the position but I am still disappointed that I had the four punctures and the brake problem,” said Solberg.

Norwegian Mads Ostberg punctured on SS22 and completed the stage on the rim, but managed to finish in a fine fourth overall and Estonia’s Ott Tänak was fifth. Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah, partnered by the Italian co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini, was delighted to confirm sixth overall on an event where he won his first ever WRC special stage.

Portugal’s Armindo Araújo confirmed seventh in his Mini JCW WRC. “I started the rally with the electronic problem and then we improved from the first day,” said Armindo. “I am pleased with the Mini. It is the best result of my career in Mexico.”

Sébastien Ogier enjoyed his run in the Skoda Fabia S2000, entered by Volkswagen Motorsport, and finished in eighth overall. Ken Block confirmed ninth in the Monster Ford Fiesta. “A nice event, but I did not enjoy sweeping the roads,” said the American. “I think the new qualifying system kind of screws the privateers, but I learned some new stuff with the car.”

Benito Guerra confirmed victory in the PWRC category with a fine 11th overall, but was beaten to the rank of being the highest-placed Mexican finisher by 10th-placed Ricardo Trivino.

Sunday – as it happened

Loeb began the final day’s four special stages with a 36.2s overall lead, but it was Belgian driver Thierry Neuville who opened the day’s proceedings through the 4.42km super special stage in his Citroën Junior World Rally Team DS3. He lined up alongside Australia’s Chris Atkinson for the benefit of the four laps of the Autodromo spectator stage.

Preserving the tyres was an important factor, with three punishing gravel stages to follow, and Neuville set the fastest time of 3m 12.5s to record his first ever WRC stage win. Block stalled on the start line and Loeb beat Hirvonen to extend his overall lead to 36.5s. “It was the biggest honour in my career to be on the stage against Sébastien (Loeb) and the best team in the world,” enthused Brazilian driver Paulo Nobre.

The mammoth 54.3km Guanajuatito special was next on the agenda, although Hirvonen had openly admitted that the fast, flowing nature of the longest timed test of the entire event would make it less of a challenge than the Ibarilla and Otates stages everyone had tackled on Saturday.

Hirvonen may have been confident, but the stage provided the drama of the rally: Atkinson pulled out with a broken damper 20km into the special, Novikov left the road and retired from 11th place and Al-Attiyah set the early target time of 36m 51.1s.

Solberg managed to beat the Qatari, but Hirvonen pipped Loeb by 0.7s to set the fastest time. Østberg punctured and finished the stage on the rim, but Latvala’s determined charge to try and pressurise the leading duo came to an end when he rolled his Ford Fiesta and lost over seven minutes. He dropped to seventh overall.

“I saw from far away Novikov’s car and I was very confused,” said the Finn. “I first thought the car was on the road and I made a movement to avoid it and my car went off, away, and rolled. It took a lot to get it back on the road. I think I can continue but I lost a lot of points.”

Unfortunately for the Finn, an FIA technical official would not let the Finn start the penultimate Derramadero stage, because of damage to the roll cage, and Latvala’s misery was complete. Loeb pipped Solberg to the fastest time and headed into the Power Stage with a 41-second lead over Hirvonen.

But Ford had something to smile about after the Power Stage; Solberg managed to set the fastest time and pick up the three bonus points, with Loeb taking two points for second and Østberg collecting a bonus point for third. Guerra confirmed the PWRC victory, although was beaten to being the top Mexican finisher by Ricardo Trivino.

Positions after SS24:
1. Sébastien Loeb (FRA)/Daniel Elena (FRA) Citroën DS3 WRC 4h 15m 32.7s
2. Mikko Hirvonen (FIN)/Jarmo Lehtinen (FIN) Citroën DS3 WRC 4h 16m 15.1s
3. Petter Solberg (NOR)/Chris Patterson (GBR) Ford Fiesta RS WRC 4h 17m 44.1s
4. Mads Østberg (NOR)/Jonas Andersson (SWE) Ford Fiesta RS WRC 4h 20m 24.2s
5. Ott Tänak (EST)/Kuldar Sikk (EST) Ford Fiesta RS WRC 4h 20m 35.3s
6. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Giovanni Bernacchini (ITA) Citroën DS3 WRC 4h 22m 14.1s
7. Armindo Araújo (PRT)/Miguel Ramalho (PRT) Mini JCW WRC 4h 28m 19.6s
8. Sébastien Ogier (FRA)/Julian Ingrassia (FRA) Škoda Fabia S2000 4h 30m 30.5s
9. Ken Block (USA)/Alex Gelsomino (USA) Ford Fiesta RS WRC 4h 37m 59.5s
10. Ricardo Trivino (MEX)/Alex Haro (ESP) Ford Fiesta RS WRC 4h 39m 03.4s