Rally - Mexican stampede

Scoring their third win from three events and their third win Mexico, Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia now have 27 victories to their name, putting them ahead of rally legend Carlos Sainz and into third place in the all-time winners list.

It was the 25th triumph for Volkswagen in its 29th rally with the Polo R WRC. Andreas Mikkelsen/Ola Fløene (N/N) also completed a hat-trick, claiming their third podium finish in a row and climbing into second place in the Driver and Co-Drivers’ Championship.

At the finish Sébastien Ogier exclaimed: “Absolutely incredible! I am so happy and proud of this victory in Mexico. It is one of the best wins of my career. Julien and I had a perfect weekend, the Polo was fantastic, and the team did a magnificent job. We pushed like crazy from the word go in the cockpit, came up with the cleverest tyre selection on Friday – and were rewarded in the end. It is my third win in a row here.”

Splitting the VW domination was Mads Østberg in the Citroen: “I’m pleased to have shown that I was capable of maintaining a very strong pace throughout the rally. Second place is an excellent result for the debut gravel outing of the 2015-spec DS 3 WRC. It will give us confidence for the rest of the season. We have to keep working and build on these foundations to improve further.”

Kris Meeke in 16^th place o/a was left to rue what might have been: “I’m used to working a lot between rallies. I’m probably going to have to take a step back before heading for Argentina. I’ll do a reset to try and give my season a fresh start!”

Third overall, a delighted Andreas Mikkelsen added: “Third place at the Rally Mexico plus two bonus points on the Power Stage – that is an absolutely fantastic result for us. We do not have an awful lot of experience of the special stages, so always set a safe pace. Our plan was to get through each special stage without making any mistakes. And second place in the championship does not look bad either.”

Leaderboard after 21 (of 21) stages:

1. Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia (Volkswagen Polo R WRC) 4:19:13.4
2. Mads Østberg / Jonas Andersson (DS 3 WRC) +1:18.8
3. Andreas Mikkelsen / Ola Floene (Volkswagen Polo R WRC) +1:25.1
4. Elfyn Evans / Daniel Barritt (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +3:40.2
5. Dani Sordo / Marc Marti (Hyundai i20 WRC) +5:01.8
6. Martin Prokop / Jan Tomanek (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +6:36.1
7. Nasser Al-Attiyah / Matthieu Baumel (Ford Fiesta RRC) +14:52.7
8. Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 WRC) +22:43.3
9. Nicolas Fuchs / Fernando Musano (Ford Fiesta R5) +22:49.0
10. Jari Ketomaa / Kaj Lindtröm (Ford Fiesta R5) +23:10.2