MOTORSPORT NEWS Rally

SATURDAY MORNING: OGIER MOVES CLEAR IN MEXICO

Sébastian Ogier consolidated his position in the lead of Rally Guanajuato México by almost tripling his advantage on Saturday’s morning loop.

The Frenchman, driving a Toyota Yaris, claimed another stage win on the opening Guanajuatito speed test and steered clear of drama to round out the loop with a 28.3sec over M-Sport Ford driver Teemu Suninen.

“I took it easy, especially at the beginning. There were a lot of rocks on the line and I didn’t want to get a puncture,” he said.

Suninen was under pressure from a flying Ott Tänak. The reigning world champion delivered a trio of rapid stage times and, as the crews arrived back at the mid-leg service in León, had managed to slash the deficit to just 6.6sec.

Tänak showed great pace on the dusty stages to hunt down Suninen.

Elfyn Evans started the day in third, but dropped behind Tänak after the opening stage and trailed the Hyundai man by 9.4sec at service. His efforts weren’t helped when electrical problems on a liaison section saw Thierry Neuville drop down the running order, leaving the Welshman with a less than ideal road position.

Kalle Rovanperä rounded out the top five, 38.1sec behind his Yaris teammate. The young Finn was forced to open the road after Gus Greensmith hit trouble, but did his best to make the most of the situation. Greensmith hemorrhaged over ten minutes in the Alfaro stage when his Fiesta’s engine cut out. With the help of some mid-stage repairs, he and co-driver Elliott Edmondson were able to get back underway.

In WRC 2, Pontus Tidemand maintained a healthy 56.9sec lead over i20 pilot Nikolay Gryazin, whilst Marco Bulacia continued to build on his lead in WRC 3.