Sebastien Ogier’s decision to take leave from the WRC in 2012 to help develop the Volkswagen Polo R WRC appears to have been a masterstroke as he notched up his second win in succession by taking out Rally Mexico on the weekend.
Winning in Sweden was one thing, but the domination of Ogier in the altitude of Mexico’s mountains was actually a little bit scary. By rally’s end Ogier was almost 3 minutes 30 seconds ahead of his nearest rival, Mikko Hirvonen, the bloke who was supposed to takeover from the great Sebastien Loeb and run away with this year’s championship in the hitherto unstoppable Citroën team. Ford driver Thierry Neuville, enjoying his first ever WRC podium, was more than 4 minutes behind.
Ogier and co-driver Julien Ingrassia topped the times in 16 of the 23 special stages and racked up the extra points on offer in the power stage as well. Ogier has finished second–first–first in the opening three events of 2013 and has accumulated 74 points, which is 44 ahead of third placed Hirvonen. Loeb is still in second on 43 points, but will only compete in two more rallies for the year.
As you can imagine Ogier is over the moon with his flying start to the year. “What a fantastic feeling. The Polo R WRC was perfect for every single minute of the Rally Mexico. I can only thank my team for that,” Ogier said. “This victory at our debut on gravel is very special and will always have a special place in my heart. We will definitely celebrate it in style tonight.
“We take every win as it comes. This morning I took an extremely cautious approach on the first special stage and steered around every stone. However, from midway through I put my foot down again. We obviously have a big lead now in the World Championship, but there are still another ten rallies to come.â€
While Ogier was sunning himself in his winning sombrero teammate Jari-Matti Latvala looks like he’s having one of those years you just want to forget. On the third corner of the rally proper Latvala clipped a rock damaging his suspension and ruining his chances of victory or even a podium. The rest of the rally became little more than a development exercise for him, although he says he is now feeling better about the the car.
“No sooner had the rally started than things took a turn for the worse for us. We had to give up after a matter of metres on Friday, due to suspension damage we received when we hit a stone. After that, we tried a few things with the car and I worked on my driving style,” Latvala said.
“By the end of the rally, I felt more comfortable than ever in the Polo. I now have a better understanding of the handling characteristics. That gives me a lot of motivation ahead of Portugal. Winning a point on the Power Stage was obviously a nice way to finish.â€
Australia’s Chris Atkinson finished the rally in sixth place in a one-off drive for the Citroën Abu Dhabi Racing team. He did well to recover after also collecting a rock and damaging his suspension on the opening day. A late charge saw him take sixth place from megastar Ken Block on SS21.
The WRC resumes for Rally Portugal from 11–14 April.
