WRC: Rally Mexico. Triumph Loeb

Last weekend was the third stage of the championship WRC - Rally Mexico. Winner of the two-day race was world champion last season, Sebastien Loeb, who finished with a minute advantage over closest rival, who was Chris Atkinson, who plays for the team Subaru World Rally Team. Before the start of the race chances Loeb to win looked very unlikely, because during sheykdauna the car Seb found problems with the motor. Sebastien was preparing to change the motor and, consequently, to five-minute penalty, which is expected under the rules of WRC. But at the last moment mechanics Citroen have done the impossible and managed to solve the problem, and Loeb went to the race fully prepared. Leadership in the first stage of Rally of Sweden captured the victor - the young Finn from the BP-Ford team Jari-Matti Latvala, who from the beginning of the championship in 2008 with their performances suggests that he, rather than team-mate Hirvonen, is the main rival Seb in the fight for the title . However, his leadership in Mexico was short-lived. The reason for this was the failure of the turbine on the car the young racer than not failed to take advantage of Sebastien, take the lead. "When you do not lidiruesh in the championship, always feel a lot of pressure - said Loeb. - But we were hoping for a good result in Mexico. Rivalry with Latvaloy was not easy, but in the end we won, and it is the most important thing. " In addition to Sebastien Loeb malfunctions Ford Focus Latvaly advantage and Chris Atkinson, escaped into second place. Aussie imposed Loeb real struggle was for the Alsatians real threat, but it also summed up the technique. Once on the Impreza started having problems with the clutch, Atkinson could not fight on equal terms with Seb, but eventually managed to retain second place in the overall classification, behind Loeb in a minute. "This is an excellent result for our team that is working hard on a new car - said the Australian. - This is my best finish, and I'm really happy. The car was perfect, for it thanks to everyone who has worked with her. Let's see if we can improve the car and its results. " Despite the problems with the turbine, up to the weekend, Jari-Matti Latvala took the third place, which proves that the BP-Ford boss Malcolm Wilson made no mistake with the choice of a new pilot. The potential of the young Finn is huge, and if not for problems with the car, he could easily take the top podium in Mexico. "The beginning of the rally was very successful. But, unfortunately, on Saturday we had technical problems. On the second day of the race once again everything went pretty well. I really want to fight with Sebastien throughout the season, "- said Latvala. As a result of Rally Mexico lead in the overall standings kept Ford driver Mikko Hirvonen, who at the weekend took only fourth place. Its advantage over Loeb dropped to a point. During the race for fourth place battle unfolded between Hirvonen and Henning Solberg. As a result, the places in the standings impact punctures tires. First wheel punctured Mikko, yielding Solberg Jr. Later the same trouble befell Henning than not failed to take advantage of Hirvonen. "I just did not have the speed to contend with Sebastien and Jari-Matti - admitted Mikko. - This weekend was really difficult - first puncture on Friday, and then two on Saturday. " "Of course I'm disappointed, but Ford's best to Mikko was ahead - said Henning. - I wanted to be a fourth, and if you look at my intermediate results, it was very easy to achieve. " There were rallies in Mexico with no retirements. Gigi Galli of Ford Stobart and Dani Sordo of Citroen Sport went down due to suspension damage. Peter Solberg had a great chance to fourth place, but on Saturday his Impreza ran into a strong rock, the result - failure of shafts. Results of Rally Mexico: 1. Sebastien Loeb, Citroen C4 WRC 3:33.29,9 2. Christian Atkinson, Subaru Impreza WRC +1.06,1 3. Jari-Matti Latvala, Ford Focus RS WRC +1.39,7 4. Mikko Hirvonen, Ford Focus RS WRC +3.38,7 5. Henning Solberg, Ford Focus RS WRC +4.57,9 6. Matthew Wilson, Ford Focus RS WRC +6.28,9 7. Federico Villarga, Ford Focus RS WRC +19.03,0 8. Ricardo Trivino, Peugeot 206 WRC +19.31,1 9. Sebastien Oger, Citroen C2 S1600 +22.30,8 10. Jan Molder, Suzuki Swift S1600 +24.02,9