Notes and quotes from dramatic stage 14 in Mexico 10.03.2018: WRC RALLYES - MEXICO Rally 2018 Saturday, March 10th 2018 Ogier - All the drama in this test means we have a new rally leader. Step forward Sébastien Ogier! He's gone from third to first in one stage and now leads Meeke

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





Ogier  -  All the drama in this test means we have a new rally leader. Step forward Sébastien Ogier! He's gone from third to first in one stage and now leads Meeke by 3.8sec.


1.     1     FRA S. OGIER     2:55:14.1    
   
2.     10     GBR K. MEEKE     2:55:17.9     +3.8     +3.8

3.     6     ESP D. SORDO     2:55:31.5     +13.6     +17.4

4.     4     NOR A. MIKKELSEN     2:56:27.0     +55.5     +1:12.9

5.     11     FRA S. LOEB     2:57:22.3     +55.3     +2:08.2

6.     5     BEL T. NEUVILLE     2:59:32.6     +2:10.3     +4:18.5


Sat 15:04 - SS14: Sordo
He's lost 30sec and dropped to third after also hitting tyre trouble. "There was a small stone at the beginning of the stage. The tyre broke and then delaminated close to the end."



Sat 15:01 - SS14: Loeb
He completes safely. But having to change a tyre and dropping more than two minutes has dropped him from first to fifth. "It was a stone on the line. Nothing really bad. I didn't think I'd have a puncture for that but I had one."



Sat 14:56 - SS14: Meeke
The Citroën driver is slower than Ogier and surrenders third place by 3.8sec. "I couldn't do much in there. I tried everything. In five corners I probably lost a tenth of a second. I couldn't do much more."



Sat 14:55 - SS14: Loeb
Disaster! The rally leader has stopped to change a front puncture. He's 21.5km through. They've changed the wheel in around 2 minutes but their lead is no more.



Sat 14:52 - SS14: Ogier
Wow! He's fastest by 21.7sec in this one. "I was pushing hard."



Sat 14:51 - SS14: Mikkelsen
He's second fastest. "In the position we're in, there's not much we can do. We went soft on the rear tyres and it felt okay but its still early days. I'm still not in the place I want to be."



Sat 14:48 - SS14: Latvala
He goes 3.7sec faster than Neuville in this test. "The target is to catch the car in front of me [Gus Greensmith]. He's four minutes ahead but we need to push."



Sat 14:44 - SS14: Neuville
He completes in 20m 35.5sec and his Hyundai is sporting some rear end damage after his early off. "The car is working fine. The rear is sliding a lot with the hard tyre and I hit the bank. I wasn't pushing hard."



Sat 14:40 - SS14: Ogier
The Frenchman is now the fastest man in the stage. He's already 6.7sec faster than Neuville at the first split (7.26km).



Sat 14:36 - SS14: Latvala
The Finn is currently the fastest man in the stage. He's 5.2sec up on Neuville at the third split (18.05km)




Sat 14:31 - Tyre update
All of the Michelin runners have taken 5 Hard (H4) tyres this afternoon, apart from Mikkelsen who has chosen 3 Soft (S5) and 2 Hard.





Sat 14:24 - SS14: Neuville
The Belgian has a big moment a short distance into the stage! He slides wide on a left-hand bend and the rear of his Hyundai clouts the bank hard. He recovers and gets back on his way.






Sat 14:07 - A quick recap
WRC returnee Sébastien Loeb holds a narrow 2.9sec lead over Dani Sordo heading into this afternoon's stages. A little further back, Kris Meeke and Sébastien Ogier are locked in third-equal place, 15.5sec off the lead. The Hyundai pairing of Andreas Mikkelsen and Thierry Neuville are next up, but some distance behind the leaders.




Sat 14:02 - Stage info: SS14
Guanajuatito 2, 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.





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