Notes and quotes from Mexico Rally stage 11 10.03.2018: WRC RALLYES - MEXICO Rally 2018 Saturday, March 10th 2018 Sat 09:41 - Mexico WRC 2 after SS11: 1.Tidemand 2h14m42.9s, 2.Greensmith+3m49.9s, 3.Heller+8m27.8s, 4.Bulacia-Wilkinson+8m47.0s, 5.Huttunen+37m35.7s, 6.Rovanperä

WRC RALLYES - MEXICO Rally 2018
Saturday,  March 10th 2018




Sat 09:41 - Mexico WRC 2 after SS11:
1.Tidemand 2h14m42.9s, 2.Greensmith+3m49.9s, 3.Heller+8m27.8s, 4.Bulacia-Wilkinson+8m47.0s, 5.Huttunen+37m35.7s, 6.Rovanperä+1h2m48.2s



Sat 09:34 - SS11: WRC 2 Greensmith
The Briton has safely completed Saturday's first stage. He's 42.5sec slower than leader Tidemand but still remains second overall in the WRC 2 category.



Sat 09:32 - Next stage: 1011hrs
The leading crews are now heading to the 26.37km Otates 1 stage. Just 40 minutes until that one gets underway...



Sat 09:30 - SS11: WRC 2 Tidemand
The WRC 2 leader has completed the first test of the day. He's ninth fastest overall with 21m41.9sec



Sat 09:27 - Mexico after SS11 –
1.Loeb 2h08m38.2s, 2.Sordo+5.1s, 3.Meeke+26.2s, 4.Ogier+27.3s, 5.Mikkelsen+51.9s, 6.Tänak+2m50.2s



Sat 09:24 - SS11: Lappi
The Toyota driver completes fifth fastest.



Sat 09:21 - SS11: Tänak
The Estonian's lack of power has dropped him from second to sixth place in this test. He's now 2m50sec shy of the rally lead.



Sat 09:20 - SS11: Meeke
To recap, the Citroën driver has capitalised on Tänak's problems and moved into third place overall. Ogier is now 0.1sec behind heading into SS12.



Sat 09:18 - SS11: Sordo
The Spaniard is only fourth fastest and loses the lead to Loeb. " I wasn't confident in the stage and the car was moving a lot. I also had brake problems. It's not a stage I like – very narrow and slippery."



Sat 09:15 - SS11: Loeb
The nine-time champion goes fastest and could take the rally lead in this test. "I tried to have a good wake up because the rhythm you have in the first stage is important for me. I pushed hard and had a goof feeing in the car. No problem."



Sat 09:13 - SS11: Tänak
Disaster for the Estonian. He'd completed the stage but dropped 2m46sec. "I don't know what the problem is, we have 20 horse power maybe."



Sat 09:10 - SS11: Tänak
The Toyota man is driving slowly through the stage. With tape trailing from his car, it looks like he's had an off-road excursion and picked up some damage. More as we get it...



Sat 09:06 - SS11: Ogier
The five-time champ is on a massive charge! He goes fastest by 24.6sec to see off Mikkelsen. "I tried my best for sure. The road position is better today with more grip. It's still cleaning so it might be hard to fight with people like Tänak."



Sat 09:03 - SS11: Mikkelsen
The Hyundai driver completes and is second fastest so far. But it looks like he'll drop quite a bit of time in his bid to chase Ogier. "There was one pace note I misunderstood; it was really fast but I thought it was slow. It was braking on a straight. I really have to do better."



Sat 09:00 - SS11: Latvala
The Finn completes and is the fastest so far by 7.5sec. "I was thinking why is there so much dust with three minute intervals? Thierry's problems explain it."



Sat 08:58 - SS11: Neuville
The Hyundai man has completed the stage. "It took more than a minute to start the engine after the water splash and then we had a slow puncture for the final seven kilometres."



Sat 08:58 - SS11: Neuville
The Hyundai man has completed the stage. "It took more than a minute to start the engine after the water splash and then we had a slow puncture for the final seven kilometres."



Sat 08:58 - SS11: Neuville
The Hyundai man has completed the stage. "It took more than a minute to start the engine after the water splash and then we had a slow puncture for the final seven kilometres."



Sat 08:56 - SS11: Ogier
The M-Sport man, currently fifth overall, is extending his advantage over Mikkelsen in this one. He's 12.2sec ahead of his rival at the third split.



Sat 08:49 - SS11: Neuville
He's now through the third split at 12.66km. But he's already 1.24sec slower than Latvala who's following behind.



Sat 08:43 - SS11: Neuville
His early drama in this test look to be behind him. He's reached the first split (4.27km) in a time of 6m17.3s.



Sat 08:40 - SS11: Latvala and Mikkelsen
Both men have now joined Neuville in the 30.97km stage.



Sat 08:38 - SS11: Neuville
We're hearing the Hyundai driver is back on the move again. More as we get it...



Sat 08:36 - SS11: Neuville
Oh dear. We're hearing Neuville has stopped 0.8km into the opener. Sounds like he's had an issue after the water splash...more as we get it.



Sat 08:34 - SS11: Neuville
The championship leader is into the opening stage...



Sat 08:27 - SS11: Standby
We're watching the countdown on WRC+ All Live. Neuville will leave the start line at 0833hrs.




Sat 08:21 - Start intervals
There will be three-minute intervals between the World Rally Car and WRC 2 entrants today.




Sat 08:20 - Saturday's running order
Drivers will go in reverse order today. Here's how the world rally car runners will line up: 1.Neuville, 2.Latvala, 3.Mikkelsen, 4.Ogier, 5.Meeke, 6.Tänak, 7.Loeb, 8.Sordo.




Sat 08:18 - Stage info: SS11
Guanajuatito 1, 30.97km This is a different stage from last year, blending roads from 12 months ago with all-new tracks and a final 11km section last driven three years ago. It is a stage of contrasts, blisteringly fast sections mixed with tight and technical parts. It contains a couple of steep downhill roads and some tricky blind crests early on.




Sat 08:17 - Weather
It's another glorious day in Mexico with sunshine, blue sky and a temperature of 12°C. We're expecting temperatures in Leon to peak at 28°C later on.




full results, videos and more on www.wrc.com    photo  Willy Weyens