Rally Mexico 2011

 Rally Mexico 2011

Racing data
2nd of 13 races in the 2011 World Rally Championship
Surname:	Rally Guanajuato México
Date:	3rd-6th March 2011
Begin:	Guanajuato
Exams:	22 tests over 364.87 km
Distance:	1031.30 km
Covering:	gravel
Podium
First:	Sébastien Loeb Citroën Total WRT
Second:	Mikko Hirvonen Ford World Rally Team
Third:	Jari-Matti Latvala Ford World Rally Team

The eighth Rally Mexico (officially Rally Guanajuato México ) was the second round of the FIA - World Rally Championship in 2011 and the first gravel rally of the season.

At this event, which started in accordance with the new regulations , the new WRC vehicles Citroën DS3 WRC and Ford Fiesta RS WRC were used for the second time . According to the new regulations, a power stage was held for the second time at this rally , in which the three fastest drivers achieved bonus points for the drivers' world championship. The rally was held from March 3 to 6, 2011 in the vicinity of Guanajuato in the state of the same name in central Mexico . This event also included the first of eight rounds of the Super 2000 World Rally Championship (SWRC) in 2011.

Routing and conditions

The paddock was set up in León . The ceremonial start took place on the evening of March 3rd, right before the first spectator rating test in Guanajuato and. This short paved stage called “Guanajuato Street Stage” did not affect the starting order of the next day. The other special stages largely consisted of gravel roads and gravel mountain paths. At this event, in the Sierra de Lobos mountains, from Ortega to La Esperanza, they were driven to an altitude of 2737 meters above sea level. This also represented the height record of the World Rally Championship season and makes the Mexico Rally an extraordinary event in the World Rally Championship. The vehicles lost around 20% of their engine power due to the height of the venue. Twenty-two special stages with a length of 364.87 km were started as planned. The total length including connecting stages was 1031.30 kilometers.

Reports

Day 1 (Thursday, March 3)

Sébastien Ogier (Citroën) was the fastest in the shakedown. He relegated Petter Solberg (Citroën) and Sébastien Loeb (Citroën) to their places. This special stage is a pure spectator test and was not counted for the overall classification. Solberg won the first special stage over 1.05 kilometers ahead of Loeb and Ogier. The best Ford driver was Jari-Matti Latvala in fourth place.

Day 2 (Friday, March 4th)

In the second special stage, Ogier took the lead from Loeb. In SS 5 Loeb took the lead. Latvala fell back to ninth place a lot because of a puncture. Solberg dropped from third to sixth place due to engine problems . Ogier stayed as the overall leader with a 1.6 second lead over Loeb.

3rd day (Saturday, March 5th)

In the 11th special stage, Loeb took the lead again from Ogier. Loeb won four out of nine special stages on Saturday, as many went to Solberg and Latvala won one. Due to a defect, Loeb arrived at the start of SS 15 five minutes late. He received a 50-second penalty and fell behind Ogier, who ended the day with a 10-second lead. In third place was Mikko Hirvonen, more than 1.50 minutes behind.

4th day (Sunday, March 6th)

Sébastien Ogier led the rally up to special stage 20. After around 14 kilometers he flew off the road and broke his left front wheel. Loeb (Citroën) won the Rally Mexico ahead of Hirvonen and Latvala (both Ford). After engine problems on Friday, Solberg worked his way up to fourth place. Quote Loeb: "It was a very hard weekend".

Classifications

Bottom line

rank	driver	Co-driver	automobile	time	Residue	Points + power stage
WRC
01	Sébastien Loeb	Daniel Elena	Citroën DS3 WRC	3: 53: 17.0		25 + 2
02	Mikko Hirvonen	Jarmo Lehtinen	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	3: 54: 55.4	01: 38.4	18 + 3
03	Jari-Matti Latvala	Miikka Anttila	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	3: 55: 40.9	02: 23.9	15th
04th	Petter Solberg	Chris Patterson	Citroën DS3 WRC	4: 00: 35.4	07: 18.4	12 + 1
05	Mads Østberg	Jonas Andersson	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	4: 02: 00.5	08: 43.5	10
06th	Henning Solberg	Ilka Minor	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	4: 03: 07.0	09: 50.0	08th
07th	Martin Prokop	Jan Tománek	Ford Fiesta S2000	4: 06: 52.0	13: 35.0	06th
08th	Juho Hänninen	Mikko Markkula	Škoda Fabia S2000	4: 08: 05.7	14: 48.7	04th
09	Federico Villagra	Jorge Pérez Companc	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	4: 41: 34.2	48: 17.2	02
10	Ott Tanak	Kuldar Sikk	Ford Fiesta S2000	4: 46: 59.8	53: 42.8	01
SWRC
01 (7)	Martin Prokop	Jan Tománek	Ford Fiesta S2000	4: 06: 52.0		25th
02 (8)	Juho Hänninen	Mikko Markkula	Škoda Fabia S2000	4: 08: 05.7	01: 13.7	18th
03 (10)	Ott Tanak	Kuldar Sikk	Ford Fiesta S2000	4: 46: 59.8	40: 07.8	15th
04 (15)	Karl Kruuda	Martin Järveoja	Škoda Fabia S2000	5: 06: 17.4	59: 25.4	12

Special stages

Day	WP number	begin	WP name	length	WP winner	time	Ø km / h	leader
1 (March 3-4)	WP1	20:06	Guanajuato Street Stage	1.05 km	Petter Solberg	00: 53.2	071.05 km / h	Petter Solberg
	WP2	08:43	Alfaro 1	26.01 km	Sébastien Ogier	15: 30.7	100.61 km / h	Sébastien Ogier
	WP3	10:16	Ortega 1	23.83 km	Sébastien Ogier	13: 58.5	102.31 km / h
	WP4	11:04	El Cubilete 1	18.87 km	Sébastien Loeb	11: 42.1	096.76 km / h
	WP5	12:12	León Street Stage 1	01.33 km	Sébastien Loeb	01: 17.4	061.86 km / h	Sébastien Loeb
	WP6	13:47	Alfaro 2	26.01 km	Sébastien Ogier	15: 16.6	102.16 km / h	Sébastien Ogier
	WP7	15:20	Ortega 2	23.83 km	Sébastien Ogier	13: 48.0	103.61 km / h
	WP8	16:08	El Cubilete 2	18.87 km	Sébastien Loeb	11: 33.9	097.90 km / h
	WP9	19:45	Super special 1	02.21 km	Sébastien Loeb	01: 39.7	079.80 km / h
	WP10	19:50	Super special 2	02.21 km	Sébastien Ogier	01: 37.9	081.27 km / h
2 (March 5th)	WP11	08:54	Ibarrilla 1	29.90 km	Sébastien Loeb	18: 25.8	097.34 km / h	Sébastien Loeb
	WP12	10:17	Duarte 1	23.27 km	Petter Solberg	17: 57.8	077.72 km / h
	WP13	11:08	Derramadero 1	23.28 km	Petter Solberg	13: 58.7	099.93 km / h
	WP14	12:11	León Street Stage 2	01.33 km	Sébastien Loeb	01: 16.9	062.26 km / h
	WP15	13:57	Ibarrilla 2	29.90 km	Petter Solberg	18: 11.8	098.59 km / h	Sébastien Ogier
	WP16	15:20	Duarte 2	23.27 km	Petter Solberg	17: 34.2	079.46 km / h
	WP17	16:11	Derramadero 2	23.28 km	Jari-Matti Latvala	13: 49.7	101.01 km / h
	WP18	19:43	Super special 3	02.21 km	Sébastien Loeb	01: 38.4	080.85 km / h
	WP19	19:48	Super special 4	02.21 km	Sébastien Loeb	01: 37.0	082.02 km / h
3 (March 6th)	WP20	08:28	Guanajuatito	29.13 km	Sébastien Loeb	20: 10.2	086.65 km / h	Sébastien Loeb
	WP21	09:51	Comanjilla	24.59 km	Jari-Matti Latvala	15: 11.3	097.14 km / h
	WP22	11:06	Guanajuato Power Stage	08.28 km	Mikko Hirvonen	04: 40.4	106.31 km / h

Web links

• Description on wrc.com
• Detailed results on ewrc.com

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Overview Rally Mexico 2011 , wrc.com, accessed March 28, 2011
2. ^ Itinerary Rally Mexico 2011 , ewrc.com, accessed March 28, 2011
3. ↑ motorsport-total.com website: Rallye News: motorsport-total.com/rallye/news.html? Y = 2011 & m = 3 & p = -1 & r = sn_13 & snb =. Retrieved March 5, 2014 .