Mexico WRC: Meeke extends lead as Ogier spins
Citroen’s Kris Meeke furthered his lead in the afternoon loop of Rally Mexico, while a spin for Sebastien Ogier cost him ground in the lead battle.
Photo by: Citroën Communication
M-Sport driver Ogier lost 10 seconds on SS13 with the spin, meaning Meeke’s lead is up to 33.4s with one super special remaining this evening.
Meeke had taken a different tyre strategy to Ogier by picking four hard tyres and two softs.
The hards held up better and didn’t lose as much tread, meaning they were competitive against the drivers on softs whose tyres went off, losing tread despite the compound having more grip.
However, Ogier still would have closed the gap to Meeke, had he not suffered the spin.
The reigning champion has refused to push too hard in chasing Meeke, and appears happy with another points haul, which would see the Rally Monte Carlo winner retake the championship lead.
Neuville set for third
Thierry Neuville suffered with degrading tyres on his Hyundai and holds third, towing Ogier’s line of refusing to push unnecessarily. He trails Ogier by 39.5s with three stages to go.
Ott Tanak seems destined for fourth, his first potential finish outside of the podium in 2017, as he struggled to catch Neuville over Saturday’s stages. The Estonian M-Sport driver appeared happier in the afternoon, as he took a stage win after setup maladies in the morning’s running.
Hayden Paddon, like Hyundai teammate Neuville, struggled with his tyres, and headed two Toyotas in fifth.
Jari-Matti Latvala admitted the event has become an extended test for Toyota, who are experimenting with engine settings and tyres.
Juho Hanninen has been suffering with illness but felt better in the afternoon to hold seventh overnight in his sister Toyota.
The man of the morning was Dani Sordo, who topped two out of three stages.
His pace curtailed in the afternoon, but he was rewarded after a 10-minute penalty levied to him by the organisers for not completing Friday’s special stage was overturned by the stewards, reinstating him in eighth and 45 seconds behind Hanninen with three stages to go.
Elfyn Evans, who incurred a pre-event five-minute penalty for an engine change, has worked his way into the top 10 in ninth.
Rounding out the top 10 was WRC2 leader Pontus Tidemand, who retook the class lead on the last stage of the loop.
The Rally Sweden winner was overturned early on Saturday morning by M-Sport Fiesta driver Eric Camilli, but leads by 0.6s at the end of the day.
Results after SS17
| Cla | Driver/Codriver | Car | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Kris Meeke  Paul Nagle |
Citroën C3 WRC | |
| 2 |  Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia |
Ford Fiesta WRC '17 | 30.9 |
| 3 |  Thierry Neuville Nicolas Gilsoul |
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC | 1'10.5 |
| 4 |  Ott Tanak Martin Jarveoja |
Ford Fiesta WRC '17 | 2'12.6 |
| 5 |  Hayden Paddon John Kennard |
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC | 3'25.5 |
| 6 |  Jari-Matti Latvala Miikka Anttila |
Toyota Yaris WRC | 4'32.6 |
| 7 | Juho Hanninen Kaj Lindstrom |
Toyota Yaris WRC | 4'32.9 |
| 8 |
|
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC | 5'16.1 |
| 9 | Ford Fiesta WRC '17 | 8'41.9 | |
| 10 | Škoda Fabia R5 | 9'26.4 |
Dani Sordo
Be part of Motorsport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Hamilton secures BTCC return with Team Hard
Ekstrom joins Cupra for first Pure ETCR season
The driver who gained most from F1's famous farce
Meeke wins on rally return in Craig Breen’s honour
Meeke could get a career lifeline in form of Pirelli role
Why Tanak's 'head or heart' call will shape WRC 2020
Ostberg gets full WRC2 season with Citroen
Citroen open to making WRC car available to privateers
How Ogier's Citroen dream died
2024 NASCAR at Dover schedule, entry list, and how to watch
The plot twist that gave Arrow McLaren’s Ward his first win as team principal
WRC looking to add F1-style team radio to TV broadcasts
Formula E’s new Gen3 Evo car breaks cover
The eight minutes of madness that saw Ogier strike in Croatia
How Rovanpera showed his class above his WRC rivals in Kenya
How a new 'old' challenge is capturing the spirit of British rallying lore
How Lappi survived Swedish snow carnage to snap his lengthy WRC drought
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments