Sébastien Loeb, Sébastien Ogier and Petter Solberg have been in the top three since the start of the Rally Guanajuato Mexico. The three Citroën DS3 WRCs have set five consecutive quickest times, and they have already opened up a considerable gap over their pursuers.
Yesterday evening, the three Citroën DS3 WRCs were already quickest on the asphalt of the Guanajuato Street special, a very spectacular stage laid out in the town.
Their domination continued this morning with another four fastest times for Loeb and Ogier, who bagged two each. The crews of the Citroën Total World Rally Team took advantage of a favourable starting order and had a fault-free run.
Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena were in the lead as the cars drove into the service park in the Poliforum de Léon: “Seeing the three Citroên DS3 WRCs in the first three places shows just how quick the car is,” commented Loeb. “I’m happy with the balance of the chassis. On the other hand, the altitude has robbed us of a lot of power. So far, our position is ideal.”
Sébastien Ogier and Julian Ingrassia, fourth out on the road, are currently lying second 1.3s behind their team-mates. “The handling of the Citroën DS3 WRC is just perfect,” confirmed Ogier. “To such an extent that we want to recuperate the horsepower that we’re lacking because of the altitude. I feel at ease, the car’s working very well. We’re going to continue pushing. It’s not yet time to weight up the odds.”
Petter Solberg and Chris Patterson in the third Citroën DS3 WRC prepared by Citroën Racing Technologies were in third place, 18.4s behind, at the end of SS5.
The morning was marked by the retirement of Frederico Villagra, and the punctures that hit Mads Ostberg and Jari-Matti Latvala.
This morning’s three gravel stages will again be covered this afternoon in the next loop. After a quick visit to the service park, the day will finish with a couple of super stages in Léon.