Frenchman Sébastien Ogier and Norwegian Mads Østberg fought out a tense day one battle in the 11th Rally Guanajuato Corona on Friday and it was Ogier who reached the end of 11 timed gravel special stages with an overnight lead of 26.1 seconds.
With championship leader Jari-Matti Latvala of Finland acting as the ‘road sweeper’ through the day’s stages, the door was open for his Volkswagen team-mate Ogier to snatch an early lead courtesy of running in a more favourable second position on the road.
But Østberg had other ideas and the DS3 WRC driver delivered an impressive performance for the Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team, setting three quickest times on his way to second position. Oversteering issues cost him valuable time on the second run through the El Chocolate stage and that was the decisive moment in a tense opening day of the third round of the FIA World Rally Championship.
“It was a difficult day, with the temperatures and the tricky stages but a good afternoon for us in the end,” said Ogier, who was quickest on six of the day’s 10 specials. “Obviously I am happy with my position.”
Østberg was also upbeat: “To be honest I am very pleased with the day. We struggled a bit in the afternoon, and we need experience of the car to know what to do. We tried something and it did not work out as well, but there is a long way to go.”
Pneumatic gearshift system problems cost Robert Kubica time during the morning and the Pole looked set for fourth position until he dramatically rolled his Ford Fiesta in front of the crowds on the penultimate super special stage and was refused permission to start the final test of the day with his damaged car.
His demise handed fourth position to Welshman Elfyn Evans in another M-Sport Ford. Evans’s cause was helped no end when Finland’s Mikko Hirvonen and Ulster’s Kris Meeke hit heat-related electrical and suspension problems in the eighth Las Minas stage. Meeke had overtaken third-placed Latvala on the previous special after finding a useful rhythm in his DS3 WRC.
Hyundai Motorsport struggled to find the right set-up during the morning and had to overcome a number of niggling issues, but Thierry Neuville’s and Chris Atkinson’s stage times improved in the afternoon, with Neuville reaching Parc Ferme in an excellent fifth position, a mere one and a half seconds behind Evans, after using the loose surface stages to gather technical data for the team.
Czech Martin Prokop, who complained of too hard a suspension set-up over the second loop of stages and top Mexican driver Benito Guerra were sixth and seventh. Atkinson crashed into a series of plastic bollards on the super special stage and managed to keep going to maintain eighth place.
Estonian Ott Tanak and Peruvian Nicolas Fuchs left the WRC 2 fight on the first loop of morning stages and this paved the way for the Ukraine’s Yuriy Protasov to reach the overnight halt with a comfortable lead over Lorenzo Bertelli; the ninth-placed Ford Fiesta R5 driver’s cause was helped when his 10th-placed Italian rival lost time with brake issues and then a puncture on stage seven.
Frenchman Sébastien Ogier and Norwegian Mads Østberg fought out a tense day one battle in the 11th Rally Guanajuato Corona on Friday and it was Ogier who reached the end of 11 timed gravel special stages with an overnight lead of 26.1 seconds.
With championship leader Jari-Matti Latvala of Finland acting as the ‘road sweeper’ through the day’s stages, the door was open for his Volkswagen team-mate Ogier to snatch an early lead courtesy of running in a more favourable second position on the road.
But Østberg had other ideas and the DS3 WRC driver delivered an impressive performance for the Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team, setting three quickest times on his way to second position. Oversteering issues cost him valuable time on the second run through the El Chocolate stage and that was the decisive moment in a tense opening day of the third round of the FIA World Rally Championship.
“It was a difficult day, with the temperatures and the tricky stages but a good afternoon for us in the end,” said Ogier, who was quickest on six of the day’s 10 specials. “Obviously I am happy with my position.”
Østberg was also upbeat: “To be honest I am very pleased with the day. We struggled a bit in the afternoon, and we need experience of the car to know what to do. We tried something and it did not work out as well, but there is a long way to go.”
Pneumatic gearshift system problems cost Robert Kubica time during the morning and the Pole looked set for fourth position until he dramatically rolled his Ford Fiesta in front of the crowds on the penultimate super special stage and was refused permission to start the final test of the day with his damaged car.
His demise handed fourth position to Welshman Elfyn Evans in another M-Sport Ford. Evans’s cause was helped no end when Finland’s Mikko Hirvonen and Ulster’s Kris Meeke hit heat-related electrical and suspension problems in the eighth Las Minas stage. Meeke had overtaken third-placed Latvala on the previous special after finding a useful rhythm in his DS3 WRC.
Hyundai Motorsport struggled to find the right set-up during the morning and had to overcome a number of niggling issues, but Thierry Neuville’s and Chris Atkinson’s stage times improved in the afternoon, with Neuville reaching Parc Ferme in an excellent fifth position, a mere one and a half seconds behind Evans, after using the loose surface stages to gather technical data for the team.
Czech Martin Prokop, who complained of too hard a suspension set-up over the second loop of stages and top Mexican driver Benito Guerra were sixth and seventh. Atkinson crashed into a series of plastic bollards on the super special stage and managed to keep going to maintain eighth place.
Estonian Ott Tanak and Peruvian Nicolas Fuchs left the WRC 2 fight on the first loop of morning stages and this paved the way for the Ukraine’s Yuriy Protasov to reach the overnight halt with a comfortable lead over Lorenzo Bertelli; the ninth-placed Ford Fiesta R5 driver’s cause was helped when his 10th-placed Italian rival lost time with brake issues and then a puncture on stage seven.