Sebastien Ogier took a commanding Rally Mexico lead after his chief rival, Esapekka Lappi, crashed out on the opening stage of the day. The WRC legend pulled a gap of over 30s over his teammate who had spent the whole day being hunted down by the Hyundai of Thierry Neuville.
Saturday
Ibarrilla, El Mosquito, Derramadero and Las Dunas are the three morning tests on which the crews will start their day. After the midday service, they then repeat the same three routes with another run through Distrito Leon Mx Rock and Rally to close off the penultimate day of the event.
The morning saw high anticipation for the resumption of the battle between Esapekka Lappi and Sebastien Ogier, however, it failed to materialise. The two started the day separated by 5.3s with both drivers knowing they had to be on it from the get-go, however, 10km into SS11, Lappi crashed his Hyundai after being caught out by a sequence of turns. The Finn collided with a utility pole before briefly catching fire.
“There was a right with a cut, and it went straight into a left over crest,” explained a disconsolate Lappi. “I was a bit caught out with this cut and I was delayed on the entry to the left. We went wide and hit the bank which spun us out immediately and we hit the rear of the car.”
Lappi’s accident meant that Ogier was virtually unchallenged for the rest of the morning. The Frenchman held a 28.5s lead over teammate Evans after dialling back on the aggressiveness now his primary challenger had gone. Evans however is in a battle for second with Thierry Neuville. The Belgian put yesterday’s troubles behind him to have a smooth morning and cut the gap to 8.7s at service.
Kalle Rovanpera finished the morning a further 36.6s behind due to suffering a lack of traction from his Toyota. Evans had been complaining of a similar issue so it may be the case that Toyota hasn’t got on top of its rough gravel issues from last year. Despite this Rovanpera still headed Dani Sordo in the morning by 43.1s.
Lappi’s crash had a knock-on effect on the field as SS15 had to be cancelled due to not being able to clear the Irrabilla stage. The WRC2 field had only run one stage all morning due to stage interruptions.
Throughout the afternoon, Ogier continued to manage his pace and extend his lead over Evans. A stage win on El Mosquito 2 meant the Frenchman had a dominant 35.8s lead heading into the final day at a rally in which he made his first WRC debut in 2008.
“I think the lead is good,” said Ogier. “It’s been another strong day for me. We had a little bit of a different approach after Esapekka went off in the first stage in the morning.”
Evans had a fight on his hands with Thierry Neuville charging him down. Although the Belgian failed to jump the Welshman by the end of the day, the deficit would only be 4.3s with four stages still to go. Rovanpera lost more time to the duo due to a stall in Derramadero 2 which left the Finn 54s behind Neuville.
Sordo finished the day fifth albeit 47.2s back from the reigning champion. The Spaniard was focused on trying new set-ups as he battled a car with a loose rear end however he is the last Rally1 car in the overall top 6.
Standings after Day 3
- Ogier 2hr 35min 37.6s
- Evans +35.8s
- Neuville +40.1s
- Rovanpera +1min 34s
- Sordo +2min 21.2s
- Greensmith (WRC2) +10min 33.4s
