WRC Round 3 - Corona Rally Mexico

[khanak]

Based:Leon
Surface:Gravel
Stages:20
2007 winner:Sebastien Loeb/Citroen C4 WRC
Rally website:Rally Mexico 2008

Mexico made an eagerly-awaited debut on the World Rally Championship schedule in 2004 and has quickly proved to be a popular addition to the calendar, with a compact series of well-organised, high-speed gravel stages through the Sierra de Lobos and Sierra de Guanajuato mountains and plains around the cities of Guanajuato and Leon. The FIA’s new event rotation system was going to cause the event to be missed this year but it unexpectedly re-entered the series because organisers wished to be in the world calendar again in 2010, the country’s foundation anniversary year.
The high-altitude stages make for spectacular viewing as they climb over one peak, down through a flat, open valley and then back up a hill the other side. The altitude has downsides, though, as the engines struggle to breathe in the thin air and suffer a drop in power of about 20 percent. The road surface is dry and sandy, but rocks can get on the road, so drivers have to balance high speeds with caution.
All-in-all, Mexico is a great event for rallying fans. Leon - located about 400km north-west of Mexico City - is one of the more modern towns in the country, although there's still plenty of genuine local colour for tourists to enjoy.
This year Corona Rally Mexico will feature a more condensed route of 839km, with 43 percent of the distance as competitive stages. The new route is even shorter than last year’s, which was then the shortest in the history of the world championship rally, so this year Mexico promises to break another record! Though it may still be winter in North America at the time of the event, this event counts as the first clear-condition rally of the season.

World Rally Championship - Rallies - Corona Rally Mexico

[madan80]

Unofficial Leaderboard after Leg 1

1. J-M Latvala/M Anttila FIN Ford Focus RS 1hr 23min 38.6sec
2. S Loeb/D Elena FRA Citroen C4 1hr 23min 48.2sec
3. C Atkinson/S Prévot AUS Subaru Impreza 1hr 24min 01.0sec
4. P Solberg/P Mills NOR Subaru Impreza 1hr 24min 40.5sec
5. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen FIN Ford Focus RS 1hr 24min 49.2sec
6. H Solberg/C Menkerud NOR Ford Focus RS 1hr 26min 22.2sec
7. M Wilson/S Martin GBR Ford Focus RS 1hr 26min 31.5sec
8. F Villagra/J Perez Companc ARG Ford Focus RS 1hr 29min 08.6sec
9. R Trivino/C Salom MEX Peugeot 206 1hr 31min 57.2sec
10 S Ogier/J Ingrassia FRA Citroen C2 1hr 32min 51.6sec

[madan80]

Unofficial Leaderboard after Leg 2
1. S Loeb/D Elena FRA Citroen C4 3hr 08min 39.8sec
2. C Atkinson/S Prévot AUS Subaru Impreza 3hr 09min 41.2sec
3. J-M Latvala/M Anttila FIN Ford Focus RS 3hr 10min 46.2sec
4. H Solberg/C Menkerud NOR Ford Focus RS 3hr 12min 31.4sec
5. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen FIN Ford Focus RS 3hr 12min 47.3sec
6. M Wilson/S Martin GBR Ford Focus RS 3hr 14min 50.4sec
7. F Villagra/J Perez Companc ARG Ford Focus RS 3hr 26min 54.1sec
8. R Trivino/C Salom MEX Peugeot 206 3hr 28min 10.9sec
9. S Ogier/J Ingrassia FRA Citroen C2 3hr 31min 10.6sec
10 J Mölder/F Miclotte EST Suzuki Swift 3hr 32min 42.7sec

[madan80]

And Loeb wins .... again!!!

1. S Loeb/D Elena F Citroen C4 3h33m29.9s
2. C Atkinson/S Prevot AUS Subaru Impreza +1m06.1s
3. J-M Latvala/M Anttila FIN Ford Focus RS +1m39.7s
4. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen FIN Ford Focus RS +3m38.7s
5. H Solberg/C Menkerud N Ford Focus RS +4m57.9s
6. M Wilson/S Martin GB Ford Focus RS +6m28.9s
7. F Villagra/J P Companc RA Ford Focus RS +19m03.0s
8. R Trivino/C Salom MEX Peugeot 206 +21m07.9s
9. S Ogier/J Ingrassis F Citroen C2 +25m00.4s
10. J Molder/F Miclotte EE Suzuki Swift +26m35.5s

Looks like the skoda's did not match up... and there seem to be a lot of ford focus RSs.
Wasnt mitsubishi slated to re-enter motorsports in this season?

[nitrous]

I didnt open this thread yesterday since I didn't want to spoil the suspense. It was worth it.A lot of surprises.

Latvala proved he didnt just get lucky in the last rally. This fellow is a real threat to Loeb who was chasing him down for the first half of the rally.After climbing up, he talks about his time difference and says " Im gonna need more than 5 seconds if Im gonna be the first car and cleaning the roads tomorrow."
Chris Atkinson got real lucky. When he was placed third on day 2, he expected a "top 5" and so #3 is awesome and he wouldn't be taking "stupid" risks and ended the rally #2 after Latvala's turbo piping issue.
These non-RFTs are a real pain for these drivers,but entertaining to us audience. One never knows how the finishing order will be. Hirvonen jumped from #5 to #4 even after 2 punctures.

Next rally, is almost a month later at Argentina(i think).Im cheering for Latvala!

[PAVAN KADAM]

S Loeb is to WRC what M Shumi is for F1.

Results will start varying after his retirement.