Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier as won the FIA World Rally Championship’s (WRC) Rally Mexico which ended only Saturday itself due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.
Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville (co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul) led the way to start WRC Rally Mexico on Thursday after winning SS1 and SS2 but the Belgian lost it on SS3 to teammate Ott Tanak (co-driver Martin Jarveoja) to drop to fourth then.
Tanak had won SS3 in the Hyundai i20 Coupe but Ogier was not far behind as a SS4 win helped him to take the lead, which he held for the rest of the rally. The Frenchman stage by stage extended his advantage, which included wins in SS10 and SS11.
M-Sport’s Teemu Suninen (co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen) was a surprise package in the Ford Fiesta as he ended Friday WRC running in second behind Ogier. Amazingly the Finn did not win any stages but was consistent as others around him faltered.
Toyota’s Elfyn Evans (co-driver Scott Martin) was another gainer to end up third. He struggled overall but had enough to get his nose ahead from several others including Tanak by just the 0.2s margin, with the Estonian staying in after wins in SS7 and SS9.
The SS12 winner and the third Toyota of Kalle Rovanpera (co-driver Jonne Halttunen) slotted in fifth as M-Sport’s Gus Greensmith (co-driver Elliott Edmonson) rounded out the WRC runners in sixth after the grid lost Neuville, Esapekka Lappi and Dani Sordo.
Neuville stopped on SS9 due to electrical issues, the same reason Hyundai teammate Sordo (co-driver Carlos del Barrio) did on SS6. M-Sport’s Lappi (co-driver Janne Ferm) was forced out on SS9 after his Ford Fiesta caught massive fire.
During the course of Saturday, it was decided by everyone in WRC that Rally Mexico should be finished after the day’s running due to the travel restrictions to come in for COVID-19 outbreak. This meant, there was no Power Stage to run, with it ending after SS21.
Even though Ogier only won SS13 but the Frenchman still had enough to play with as he took home his first WRC win with Toyota in Rally Mexico by 27.8s margin. Hyundai’s Tanak was the biggest gainer as he moved up to be second after wins in SS15, SS17 and SS18.
M-Sport’s Suninen hung on to the podium position though as he finished third to register his first Top 3 finish of 2020 WRC season. As a result, Evans dropped to fourth with Rovanpera fifth as Greensmith was ninth amid the WRC2 drivers.
Hyundai’s Neuville targeted a Power Stage win after returning on Saturday but the changed schedule hampered his chances. He won SS14, SS16, SS19, SS20 and SS21 but could only be ranked 16th overall with no points to his name.
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