Rally - VW in Mexico

Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila dominated Rally Mexico to triumph ahead of team-mates Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia and fight their way back into the world title race. They also earned the Polo R WRC its twelfth win in a row, equalling the longest winning run in the history of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC). The win also marked Latvala/Anttila’s first at the Rally Mexico, and the 16th of their careers.

It's also worth noting that 80,000 fans flocked to Guanajuato to watch the rally start live, whilst a total of 300,000 spectators lined the special stages.

At the finish Jari-Matti Latvala said:  “I am very happy and satisfied. This is a fantastic result, not just for me, but for the whole team. After the disappointing results in the first two events, it was important to finally pick up points. I managed that with the win. Naturally, I had a good basis with my starting position this weekend, but the longest rally of the season still had to be mastered. We found a good set-up and also chose the right tactics.“

Sébastien Ogier added: "All in all, second place for Julien and I was the best-possible result this weekend. Thanks to victory on the Power Stage, we picked up 21 important points in the championship standings, which is what counts overall. Naturally, I would have hoped to stage a more exciting duel with Jari-Matti for the many fans. But there was no way that was possible; our road conditions on the first two days were far too different. That's not taking anything away from his performance, Jari-Matti thoroughly deserved the win and my congrats go to him and Miikka.”

Dani Sordo scored a strong third for Hyundai with Mads Ostberg in the Fiesta holding off the Hyundai of Hayden Paddon for fourth, but really, just as last year, the VW Polo WRC is the class of the field.

FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), Rally Mexico – Final Results
01. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila (FIN/FIN), Volkswagen, 4h 25m 57.4s
02. Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (F/F), Volkswagen, + 1m 05.0s
03. Dani Sordo/Marc Martí (E/E), Hyundai, + 3m 37.9s
04. Mads Østberg/Ola Fløene (N/N), Ford, + 5m 36.4s
05. Hayden Paddon/John Kennard (NZ/NZ), Hyundai, + 6m 22.6s
06. Ott Tänak/Raigo Mõlder (EST/EST), Ford, + 9m 59.5s
07. Martin Prokop/Jan Tománek (CZ/CZ), Ford, + 12m 58.5s
08. Lorenzo Bertelli/Simone Scattolin (I/I), Ford, + 14m 09.6s
09. Teemu Suninen/Mikko Markkula (FIN/FIN), Škoda, + 18m 01.8s
10. Valery Gorban/Volodymyr Korsia (UA/UA), Mini, + 32m 37.3s