The WRC 2 support category is led by Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari, his Ford Fiesta RRC 2min 24.3sec ahead of Nicolas Fuchs.
Making his season debut in Mexico, the Qatari driver took the lead on Thursday night’s super special and has held it ever since, winning all but one of the tests in his state-of-the-art Ford Fiesta RRC.
“Everything was fine apart from the last long stage this afternoon,” he said. “I was told to raise the suspension but I didn’t listen and the car was touching the road everywhere. In some places I was on the limit, and in others I was cautious.”
Fuchs, driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Eco IX, moved ahead of Armin Kremer’s Subaru Impreza this afternoon and holds a 1min 36.7sec advantage. Ricardo Trivino was second but fell to fourth when his Lancer lost its brakes.
Yuriy Protasov retired his Subaru Impreza with broken suspension, after earlier puncturing the left front tyre and suffering broken power steering.
Lorenzo Bertelli retired late this afternoon after ECU problems and a broken driveshaft.