Dust was the big issue as drivers emerged from the opening 9.88km Los Mexicanos stage. Organisers increased the interval between cars from the normal two minutes to three, but there was no breeze and dust lingered in the still morning air after the passage of each car.
Among the worst affected was Andreas Mikkelsen whose Volkswagen Polo R was sporting damage to the front bumper. “We hit a rock on the third corner. The dust was so bad I couldn’t see the road and clipped something. The dust was terrible - really bad,” he said.
Chris Atkinson drove the stage with no turbo anti-lag system in his Hyundai i20 after the switch fell off before the start. “No ALS, no power,” said the Australian who dropped almost 30 seconds.
Mikko Hirvonen punctured the left front tyre on his Ford Fiesta RS about 5km from the finish but the Finn’s time loss over the short stage was minimal.
Fastest was overnight leader Sébastien Ogier, whose Polo R was quickest by 0.6sec from Mads Ostberg’s Citroen DS3 with Mikkelsen third.