Sebastien Ogier wins Rally Mexico
Beginning the final day of Rally Mexico with a 27 second advantage over Elfyn Evans, Ogier took victory from Ott Tanak, who had past Elfyn Evans on the loop opening Alfaro test to finish 19.7s ahead of the Welshman, who completed the podium. Ogier had eclipsed Kris Meeke for the Power Stage victory by only 0.025s, ending up with 30.2s in hand over Tanak and secured the maximum 30 champiopship points, moving him up to second in the table ahead of Thierry Neuville on 61 points and four behind Toyota driver Tanak on 65.
Neuville finished a distant fourth, also collecting three bonus points for third on the Power Stage, but now lies 10 points adrift of Tanak. Following tyre and wheel issues, Kris Meeke, completed the top five after coasting through the morning stages to save his tyres for a push on the Power Stage, which yielded the Toyota driver four bonus points.
Mexican driver Benito Guerra scored his first WRC2 win on home soil with sixth overall in his Skoda Fabia R5 amid high attrition in the top class. Jari Matti Latvala, who retired with alternator failure on Friday and returned under Rally2, lost out to WRC2 driver Marco Bulacia Wilkinson in their fight over seventh place, his Yaris completing the stage with its radiator sealed by glue and its front bumper missing. But, he collected a 40 second penalty due to emergency repairs forcing him to check out late from the regroup. Dani Sordo, Hyundai, finished ninth on his return from Friday retirement and also picked up two bonus points for fourth on the Power Stage, with Ricardo Trivino completing the top 10 in his Fabia R5.
Final Results - Rally Mexico
Pos. Driver/Co-driver Car Class Time/Gap
1. Ogier/Ingrassia Citroen RC1 3h37m08.0s
2. Tanak/Jarveoja Toyota RC1 +30.2s
3. Evans/Martin Ford RC1 +49.9s
4. Neuville/Gilsoul Hyundai RC1 +1m27.0s
5. Meeke/Marshall Toyota RC1 +6m06.2s
6. Guerra/Zapata Skoda RC2 +15m35.5s
7. Wilkinson/Cretu Skoda RC2 +18m51.5s
8. Latvala/ Anttila Toyota RC1 +18m55.9s
9. Sordo/del Barrio Hyundai RC1 +22m41.1s
10. Trivino/Marti Skoda RC2 +30m13.8s
2019 World Rally Drivers Championship
1. Ott Tanak 65
2. Sebastien Ogier 61
3. Thierry Neuville 55
4. Kris Meeke 35
5. Elfyn Evans 28
6. Esapekka Lappi 20
7. Sébastien Loeb 18
8. Jari-Matti Latvala 14
9. Andreas Mikkelsen 12
10. Benito Guerra 8
11. Gus Greensmith 6
12. Marco Bulacia 6
11th March, 2019