Behaviour of Ford

The "scratch" man of the weekend: Sebastien Loeb has directed six scratch times during the weekend in Mexico, although it had to share the best time with Chris Atkinson in ES16. The Alsatian has been particularly offensive during the first two days. Leading at the end of the 2nd stage, the four-time world champion then simply manage its advance. Also note the fine performances of the young Jari-Matti Latvala, a time at the controls of the race and author of four-time scratch. Released from the first special, Dani Sordo was unable to fight for the general. This, however, has not prevented the Spanish signing three superb times. Loeb: ES2, ES3, ES9, ES10, ES12, ES16 Latvala: ES1, ES5, ES6, ES17 Sordo: ES11, ES13, ES20 H. Solberg: ES14, SS15 P. Solberg: ES4, ES8 Hirvonen: ES19 Atkinson: ES16 The figure: 3 Sebastien Loeb won the Rally of Mexico for the third consecutive year. He signs at the same time its 38th victory in the World Rally Championship. This success enables him to return to a point of Finns Mikko Hirvonen ranking of drivers. Ford nonetheless increases its lead in the constructors rankings glanant 11 points in Mexico. They said: Sebastien Loeb (1 Citroen): "There is always more pressure when you are behind the classification. I was hoping to still do a good result in Mexico. It has not been easy. We had a great battle with Latvala but fortunately victory is at the end. " Chris Atkinson (2nd, Subaru): "This is a fantastic result, the best of my career in WRC. Subaru whole team did a fantastic job, all the guys who worked on my car. It is a super start to the year for me and the entire team, especially with an old car like that. We had made changes to the shock absorbers after Sweden and it has given us forward. I hope we will be able to build on this foundation and with the new car, one is truly at the other. " Jari-Matti Latvala (3rd, Ford): "It's an important result for me is a good result for the team and good for the championship. I reached my goal coming onto the stage and it's just a pity that they had a problem Saturday when we fought for the first place. But if I look at things more closely, it has been a good weekend and I can not complain. The best aspect is that I have been able to challenge Loeb and compete with his time. " Mikko Hirvonen (4th, Ford): "I tried to catch Henning (Solberg), but when the ES18 was cancelled, I decided that there was not enough miles to get there. I was lucky that he had encountered a problem and I am pleased to finish 4th and take big points after a difficult weekend. This was unfortunately not my rally. Jari-Matti (Latvala) and Loeb were very fast and I could not lift myself to their level. I need to find the speed necessary, or I will have to say goodbye to the title. " Olivier Quesnel (Director of Citroën WRT): "This victory is a great reward for the whole team Citroen Sport, which has always been motivated to achieve this goal. We knew how to react to adjust the settings of our C4 terrain and thus increase its competitiveness. This success enables Sébastien and Daniel move closer to the point of the leader of the Drivers Championship and Citroen to maintain the gap among Manufacturers. " Dani Sordo (17th, Citroen): "Once forgotten the disappointment of the first day, I concentrated effort to find good settings. After the excitement of getting excellent in Sweden, the first rally on earth brings new satisfactions encouraging for the remainder of the season. " Tops: Sebastien Loeb: After Monte Carlo, Loeb has signed its second win of the season. What Swedish forget his troubles. The French again proved he was the best on earth. From bode well before the Rally of Argentina. Jari-Matti Latvala: Winner in Sweden, Latvala has again shown his qualities this weekend. Leading at the end of the first stage, the young Finns could interfere in the race for the title. His teammate at Ford, Mikko Hirvonen, was warned. Chris Atkinson: Party prematurely at fault in Sweden, the Australian was well ressaisi Mexico. Fast but not wet (one time directed scratch), the Subaru driver here a good 2nd place. Ford: If Ford failed to lift one of its drivers at the top of the podium, the American manufacturer realizes, however, a very good classification. Thanks to the 3rd and 4th places respectively Latvala and Hirvonen, he picked up 11 additional points, one better than Citroen. Flops: Dani Sordo: Party to the fault from the first special, Dani Sordo was once again unable to meddle in the struggle for victory. The Spanish repairs and therefore nothing prevents Citroën recoller classification manufacturer. The organization: The organisers of the Rally of Mexico were forced to cancel the ES18 for security reasons. The number of spectators was too important roadsides. A situation that had clearly not been scheduled. Subaru: Subaru can feed regrets. Those not having registered more points. Because if Atkinson did the work, Petter Solberg was unable to really defend his chances until the end. The Norwegian has indeed lost two minutes in the ES10 after his broken driveshaft. In ambush at the time of the race, the former world champion was unable to finish in the points.