RALLY MEXICO - NEWS AFTER STAGE 10 OF 17
Thirty-six of the original 39 competitors started today's second leg of this third round of the FIA World Rally Championship, with nine of those competing under SupeRally regulations having retired yesterday. Ahead lay another demanding day on the hard gravel tracks in the mountains north and east of the rally base in León, with temperatures again set to climb well over 30°C.
Drivers face two identical loops of three speed tests, divided by service back in León, before the day again ends with a second pass over the super special stage on the edge of the city. The total competitive distance is 148.92km.
BP-Ford World Rally Team drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen started in second just 4.8sec behind Petter Solberg. However, the Finns' victory bid ended just 1.7km into the opening 25.23km El Zauco stage. Hirvonen cleared a crest too quickly and his Focus RS World Rally Car rolled. Although it was not badly damaged, the car ended a long way from the road and there was no opportunity to regain the track. Time penalties for not completing the stages have dropped him to 10th so far but it is not known whether he will be able to restart under SupeRally rules tomorrow.
Team-mates Marcus Grönholm and Timo Rautiainen restarted under SupeRally regulations after crashing into retirement yesterday afternoon. The 38-year-old Finnish driver was again first on the road through the morning stages, handicapped by slippery loose gravel on the surface which his Focus RS swept clear to give a cleaner passage for those behind.
Despite this Grönholm was third fastest through both El Zauco and the 23.75km Duarte. He was then sixth in the 23.27km Derramadero to return to service in 16th and back in a manufacturers' points-scoring position.
"I'm not enjoying being first on the road again," said Grönholm. "It's a difficult rally to be in that position. Everything was OK this morning until the last stage. I overshot a junction before halfway and had to reverse back onto the road. Then I came round a corner and found about 20 goats in the middle of the track. I managed to avoid all of them except one. And, worst of all, I came across some large rocks which had been deliberately placed all the way across the road."
Leaderboard after stage 10 of 17
1. P Solberg/P Mills N Subaru Impreza 2hr 16min 37.9sec
2. S Loeb/D Elena F Citroen Xsara 2hr 16min 39.9sec
3. M Stohl/I Minor A Peugeot 307 2hr 19min 22.7sec
4. D Sordo/M Marti E Citroen Xsara 2hr 19min 49.5sec
5. H Solberg/C Menkerud N Peugeot 307 2hr 24min 34.6sec
6. G MacHale/P Nagle IRL Ford Focus RS 2hr 26min 03.8sec
7. T Arai/T Sircombe J Subaru Impreza 2hr 28min 26.7sec
8. R Trivino/C Salom MEX Peugeot 206 2hr 29min 45.9sec
9. N Al Attiyah/C Patterson QA Subaru Impreza 2hr 30min 30.5sec
10 M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen FIN Ford Focus RS 2hr 31min 31.0sec
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Rick (Rokie)
rtdring@yahoo.com
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