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Mexico WRC: Ogier wins as crash costs Meeke second

Sebastien Ogier claimed his second win of the season in Rally Mexico as his main rival Kris Meeke suffered a crash and lost second place late on.

Sébastien Ogier, Julien Ingrassia, M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta WRC

Sébastien Ogier, Julien Ingrassia, M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta WRC

M-Sport

Sébastien Ogier, Julien Ingrassia, M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta WRC
Sébastien Ogier, Julien Ingrassia, M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta WRC
Sébastien Ogier, Julien Ingrassia, M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta WRC
Dani Sordo, Hyundai Motorsport
Dani Sordo, Carlos Del Barrio, Hyundai Motorsport Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
Dani Sordo, Carlos Del Barrio, Hyundai Motorsport Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC

M-Sport Ford driver Ogier started Sunday with a 35-second lead over Meeke but his advantage got even safer after an incident for the Northern Irishman on the opening stage of the day.

Meeke tipped his Citroen on its side four kilometres from the end of the Alfaro stage and, while he managed to continue with the help of fans, he lost 47 seconds and fell behind Hyundai's Dani Sordo.

Ogier comfortably beat Sordo in the subsequent SS21 to have a 55s lead coming into the Power Stage, in which he took second and added a further four points to his championship tally.

Despite a puncture in the Power Stage, Sordo took second, his best result since the 2015 Rally Catalunya, with Meeke also securing his first podium of the season.

Hyundai's Andreas Mikkelsen was fourth, with Sebastien Loeb, who lost his lead due to a puncture on Saturday, grabbing fifth on his WRC return with Citroen.

Thierry Neuville was a further two and a half minutes behind Loeb in sixth, the Hyundai driver conceding the championship lead to Ogier.

WRC2 winner Pontus Tidemand took seventh, the best overall finish of the Swede's career in the WRC.

Jari-Matti Latvala, eighth, was Toyota's only representative in the top 10, the Finn's rally ruined by an alternator problem on Friday.

However, Toyota ended up topping all three Sunday stages with Latvala setting the pace in SS20 and then Ott Tanak going fastest in the next two, including the Power Stage.

Tanak beat Ogier by four tenths in the final tour, with Latvala, Neuville and Mikkelsen also scoring bonus points.

The top 10 was completed by WRC2 podium finishers Gus Greensmith and Pedro Heller, both drivers collecting their first main-class points.

Final results (Top 10)

Pos. Driver Car Time/Gap
1  Sebastien Ogier M-Sport Ford 3h53m58.0s
2  Dani Sordo Hyundai 1m13.6s
3  Kris Meeke Citroen 1m29.2s
4  Andreas Mikkelsen Hyundai 1m48.4s
5  Sebastien Loeb Citroen 2m34.6s
6  Thierry Neuville Hyundai 9m13.0s
7  Pontus Tidemand Skoda 10m34.7s
8  Jari-Matti Latvala Toyota 15m47.1s
9  Gus Greensmith Ford 17m19.3s
10  Pedro Heller Ford 24m28.1s

Points standings

Pos. Driver Car Pts.
1  Sebastien Ogier M-Sport Ford 60
2  Thierry Neuville Hyundai 51
3  Andreas Mikkelsen Hyundai 34
4  Kris Meeke Citroen 32
5  Jari-Matti Latvala Toyota 30
6  Ott Tanak Toyota 26
7  Esapekka Lappi Toyota 23
8  Craig Breen Citroen 20
9  Dani Sordo Hyundai 18
10  Hayden Paddon Hyundai 10

 

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