Ogier stripped of Mexico Power Stage bonus points

Ogier was penalised because he "did not go round the elements of the chicane as shown in the Road Book" on the final stage of the rally, a second run through Las Minas.

A stewards' report said the M-Sport driver "hit the first two-block element" of the chicane "with the front-right side of the car" and then "touched the last element" as he exited the chicane.

The Frenchman had finished second on the 11.07km test behind Ott Tanak's Toyota, earning four bonus points, but a 10-second time penalty dropped him to seventh.

"We are working on this to explain ourselves because it was not deliberate at all," Ogier said. "Before the stage, it was me who asked for clarification on what would happen [if you touched the barrier].

"I'm always the first one to try to fight for equal conditions and in this I wanted to be clear what would happen.

"I said to Julien [Ingrassia, co-driver] that we should suggest the organisers put water in the barriers [to make them heavier]. I wish I had done this.

"If we had gained a lot of time from this, but I'm sure we can prove on the data that we can prove this isn't the case – it's going to be one tenth [of a second] or two at the most.

"For me, this 10-second penalty is not in any way fitting with what happened."

It means Ogier, who opened up a nine-point lead in the standings with his Mexico victory, now leads by only four points over Hyundai's Thierry Neuville, with the Belgian gaining an extra bonus point.

Also being awarded an extra point apiece were Jari-Matti Latvala, Andreas Mikkelsen and Sebastien Loeb.

The revised points standings are subject to FIA confirmation and have been appealed by M-Sport.

Revised WRC points:

Pos.	Driver	Car	Pts.
1	Sebastien Ogier	M-Sport Ford	56
2	Thierry Neuville	Hyundai	52
3	Andreas Mikkelsen	Hyundai	35
4	Kris Meeke	Citroen	32
5	Jari-Matti Latvala	Toyota	31
6	Ott Tanak	Toyota	26
7	Esapekka Lappi	Toyota	23
8	Craig Breen	Citroen	20
9	Dani Sordo	Hyundai	18
10	Sebastien Loeb	Citroen	11