Ogier takes Rally Mexico lead as rivals suffer punctures
Sebastien Ogier has taken the lead of Rally Mexico going into the final day of the World Rally Championship event, with early frontrunners Dani Sordo and Sebastien Loeb falling victim to punctures.
In his first Rally Mexico in five years Loeb led for a brief spell before losing over two minutes changing a punctured tyre in SS14 and falling back to fifth.
A puncture on the same stage for Sordo caused delamination of the front left tyre of the Hyundai, dropping him down to third after starting the day rally leader.
Ogier holds a +35.9s lead over second-placed Kris Meeke with three stages to run on Sunday.
Andreas Mikkelsen slots in fourth position, with the Norwegian disappointed at his inability to find his rhythm all weekend.
Thierry Neuville continued his rally of attrition when his engine cut out after the water splash just one kilometre into the first stage of the morning and spent the day plagued by punctures, spins and slides but the Belgian holds on to sixth position.
Toyota’s weekend of woe also continued, with Ott Tanak retiring from Saturday’s running after his overheating engine had a significant drop in power output.
Jari-Matti Latvala was able to continue after Friday’s alternator problems and sits in ninth, with Esapekka Lappi continuing under Rally2 conditions in 12th.
Pontus Tidemand is the leading WRC2 entrant in seventh, with fellow WRC2 drivers Gus Greensmith and Pedro Heller also sitting in the top ten.