Leg 2 Unofficial Results
1. S Loeb/D Elena Citroen C4 3hr 08min 27.0sec
2. M Grönholm/T Rautiainen Ford Focus RS 3hr 09min 27.8sec
3. D Sordo/M Marti Citroen C4 3hr 10min 02.3sec
4. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen Ford Focus RS 3hr 10min 05.1sec
5. C Atkinson/G MacNeall Subaru Impreza 3hr 10min 14.8sec
6. M Stohl/I Minor Citroen Xsara 3hr 11min 08.8sec
7. J-M Latvala/M Anttila Ford Focus RS 3hr 12min 17.4sec
8. M Wilson/M Orr Ford Focus RS 3hr 18min 52.5sec
9. H Solberg/C Menkerud Ford Focus RS 3hr 21min 27.0sec
10 M Higgins/S Martin Mitsubishi Lancer 3hr 25min 09.0sec
__________________________________________________ ________________
Leg 2 Unofficial News
Sébastien Loeb (Citroen) won four stages to extend his first day lead to a
fraction over a minute. A rejuvenated Marcus Grönholm and Timo Rautiainen
charged up the Rally Mexico leaderboard to end the second leg in second
place tonight in their Ford Focus RS World Rally Car. Behind Grönholm, Dani
Sordo (Citroen) was able to capitalise on Hirvonen's spin to climb to third.
Second this morning was Chris Atkinson (Subaru) but the Australian could not
match the pace of his rivals after fluctuating turbo boost pressure and he
slipped to fifth, 9.7sec behind Hirvonen. His cause was not helped when he
damaged the front of his car after being forced off the road by a
non-competing car this afternoon. Manfred Stohl (Citroen) rounded off the
top six despite differential troubles this afternoon.
The second day was cloudy in the morning, but remained dry and sunny. The
temperature ranged from 13 degrees Celsius in the morning to a high of 28
degrees Celsius.
The final leg is the shortest of the rally with just 62.06km of competition.
After leaving León at 07.45, drivers face three stages to the north and east
before a third and final visit to the super special stage, at which
competitors will make a double pass of the test. They return to León for
the finish ceremony at 13.00.
Team-by-Team News
1. BP-Ford
2. Citroen Total
3. Subaru
4. OMV Kronos Citroen
5. Stobart M-Sport Ford
6. Munchis Ford
1. BP-Ford
http://ford.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=2
A rejuvenated Marcus Grönholm and Timo Rautiainen charged up the Rally
Mexico leaderboard to end the second leg in second place tonight in their
Ford Focus RS World Rally Car. The Finns emerged on top of an enthralling
four-car battle in the dusty mountain roads of central Mexico on this fourth
round of the FIA World Rally Championship. The BP-Ford World Rally Team
pair will start tomorrow's third and final leg with a 34.5sec advantage over
their closest rivals. Team-mates Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen are
fourth in another Focus RS, just 2.8sec behind Dani Sordo on the final step
of the podium. They had a grip on third until a costly high-speed spin
midway through the afternoon sent them back into the fight for the position.
Marcus Grönholm/Timo Rautiainen: "Today was much better," said Grönholm. "I
lost time yesterday with a small problem but everything was back to normal
today. My aim was to catch those ahead of me and take second and that's
what I achieved. "I made a few changes to the car between stages 10 and 11
and it feels perfect now. It's a bit late but now I'm happy with the way it
feels and I was able to push hard for the first time in this rally on that
last stage this morning. My pre-rally test wasn't perfect so I started with
a similar set-up to the one we used in Sweden and Norway and that wasn't
right for here. Now it feels right. I'm a minute behind Loeb so to catch
him isn't possible unless he has problems but I want second," he said.
Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen: Hirvonen started in third and climbed to
second before Grönholm moved ahead. However, the 26-year-old Finn opened a
18sec lead over Sordo before spinning on the second stage of the afternoon
loop and dropping to fourth. He regained third on the next test but was
edged out by Sordo on the final two super special stages. "I lost about
25sec when I spun," he said. "About 3km after the start I went into a
fourth gear right-left combination bend too fast and just slid wide and
spun. I punctured both rear tyres but the mousse system worked perfectly to
keep the tyres inflated. I was a little bit lucky that I only spun because
it could have been more serious. To fight for second place I had to take
risks otherwise my only option was to lift off the accelerator and settle
for third which I wasn't going to do. "Second is now out of reach which I'm
disappointed about but I'm still in the battle for a podium place. There
will be a big fight for third tomorrow and I'm ready for that. I don't want
to let Dani take third from me," added Hirvonen.
2. Citroen Total
http://citroen.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=1
With just four stages to come tomorrow, Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena
continue to lead the 2007 Rally Mexico with their Citroën C4 WRC, while Dani
Sordo and Marc Martí have profited from today's action to join their
team-mates on the overnight podium in the second C4 WRC.
Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena: "Today's stages are more technically
challenging," commented Sébastien at breakfast before heading off for the
morning's loop. "It should be easier to pull out a gap." Backing up his
words with action, the three-time World Champion profited from the 30.20km
of the day's opening test (Ibarrilla, SS9) to post his third best time since
the start. He then took his score to four fastest times on SS10 before
controlling from in front on Derramadero (SS11), the last stage of the
group. "Everything went well this morning," he reported back at service. "I
enjoy these stages where the numerous slippery portions mean your driving
has got to be spot on. I was able to push hard, but I wasn't at maximum
attack all the time because we already have a reasonable lead over our main
rivals. And even though the characteristics of the stages were quite
different, my C4 WRC continued to handle very well."
Dani Sordo/Marc Marti: Dani also had a good morning, although his run wasn't
entirely trouble-free. "I don't think I drove too badly on SS10 and 11 and I
was able to see how much I have come on since last year, especially over the
most slippery portions. Unfortunately, I dropped a little time on SS9 when I
was unsighted by the dust thrown up by the cars running ahead of us on the
road. The stage was very narrow and it would have been easy to make a
mistake, so I preferred to lift, even if that meant dropping from 4th to 5th
place. But there's still everything to play for..." The Spaniard couldn't
have known how right he was.
3. Subaru
http://subaru.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=5
The Subaru World Rally Team's quest for points continued on the second day
of Rally Mexico, with Chris Atkinson/Glenn Macneall ending the leg in fifth
position. Although it was a tough day, Chris felt he learned a lot more
about the characteristics of the Impreza WRC2007, which is still being
developed by the team throughout its first-ever World Rally Championship
event. With four special stages left to run, Chris is on target to achieve
the team's pre-event target of a top-five finish.
Petter Solberg/Phil Mills: Retired
Chris Atkinson/Glen MacNeall: We're still in the fight, that's the main
thing. We had a bit of a technical problem on the first stage after service
this afternoon. It cost us a bit of time on the subsequent stages as well
and we haven't been able to push as hard as we wanted to. Somehow we're
still only a few seconds behind the guys in front, so if it's working well
tomorrow, then we've still got a chance of a podium finish. We'll just have
to wait and see how it feels on the first corner. For sure, we'll do all we
can to get the best possible finish tomorrow."
4. OMV Kronos Citroen
http://citroen.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=1
It was a restrained start for the OMV Kronos Citroen World Rally Team in the
morning of leg two. The reason was a less than optimal choice of tyres which
prevented a better place for now. The OMV duo Manfred Stohl/Ilka Minor is
nevertheless confident to move up in the afternoon. In any case, they are
not far behind a place on the podium.
Manfred Stohl/Ilka Minor: Stohl: Almost anything is still possible at the
"Corona Rally Mexico", the fourth run to the FIA World Rally Championship.
The OMV Kronos Citroen World Rally Team is only 46,8 seconds away from a
podium place. Reason enough for Manfred Stohl to be quite confident for the
remainder of the rally. "Grönholm has proven that three near perfect special
stages are good for moving up three places. The time differences are, apart
from Loeb, still very small. I didn't have a bad feeling during the morning
and several split-times were very good. But I am somewhat irritated by the
fact that we are as fast as Grönholm during five kilometres of a special
stage and then four seconds slower during the next five kilometres. If we
find the cause for this we'll be with the best again in the afternoon ",
explains the OMV driver.
5. Stobart M-Sport Ford
http://ford.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=2
Both Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud and Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila now
sit in Manufacturer point scoring positions for the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford
team after day two of Corona Rally Mexico. Team-mates Matthew Wilson/Michael
Orr are on course for their first championship point of the year in eighth,
with Latvala and Solberg in seventh and ninth respectably.
Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud: "On the first stage this morning everything
was ok but there was a bit of dust at the end of the stage which made it
difficult to see braking points. The afternoon stages were feeling much
better, we had a bit of gravel in the front of the car on stage 14 but no
problems. The car is running well and I am very happy with my times today; I
was working hard, it is not easy to be second on the road here I can tell
you that. It is actually still difficult on the second time over the stages
because some of the lower cars actually throw gravel back onto the road
which does not make it easy. I'm happy we are in ninth and we'll try our
best tomorrow and see what happens."
Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila: "It was a pressure-free day today because
we didn't really have anything to gain but everything to lose. There was no
point to push today and throw it all away, and without the pressure I seemed
to be able to find my confidence in the car and myself. I really enjoyed the
afternoon and the times were quite good so I am very happy, much better than
yesterday. The car has been performing really well today and we kept the
ride height up so not to damage it. We will do the same tomorrow and see
what happens, it is nice to be in the points again this rally."
Matthew Wilson/Michael Orr: "It was ok today, just a lot of little problems
that slowed us down a bit which weren't so good for the confidence levels. I
was feeling quite good this morning but on stage 10 we lost about 30 seconds
after a few things went wrong. We stalled on the first hairpin and then
over-shot a junction towards the end of the stage which didn't help our
time. I also drove through a steel gate which was closed over the road,
luckily for us it did not damage the car but we still lost time slowing down
for it. On the plus side however, we are looking fine for some points and I
haven't made any mistakes at all during this event."
6. Munchis Ford
http://ford.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=2
Luis Perez Compan lies 20th, over 40minutes off the leading pace while Juan
Pablo Raies is 13th 19minutes from the leades and 20seconds adrift or Austin
MacHales Focus WRC. Drivers suffered brakes problems on Leg 1 and were
driving without brake hiderence in Leg 2.
Luis Perez Companc/Joes-Maria Volta: "On the first stage today I had a spin
and, although the stages were all less dusty than yesterday, the gaps
between my times was still close." SS13 Quote: The stage was okay. There
were some stones on the corners, but I am working better and taking cleaner
lines."
Juan Pablo Raies/Jorge Perez Companc: "My brakes are working better now. It
was good fun!"
__________________________________________________ ________________
Remaining Event Schedule
Sunday 11 March: Leg 3 León - León
Serv F León Poliforum (10 mins) 07.45
SS17 León 16.29km 08.23
SS18 Guanajuatito 23.34km 08.54
SS19 Comanjilla 18.01km 10.17
SS20 Super Special 5 4.42km 11.28
Serv G León Poliforum (20 mins) 12.01
Finish León 13.00
He'll crash.
Gooooo Atko
: Take your pick.... 
Reasonable rates and Professional service
Linear Mode
