M-Sport Ford World Rally Team’s Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin are battling for the top positions at this weekend’s Rally Mexico – their EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta WRC currently holding second place on the third round of the FIA World Rally Championship.
Delivering impressive pace and consistency, the British pairing are just 14.8 seconds adrift off the lead with two more days of arduous competition left to contest.
There was less good news for Teemu Suninen and Marko Salminen who retired on the first stage of the morning (S22). Hitting a stone on the inside of a corner, their Fiesta spun into the rock face at high speed. The heavy impact caused too much damage to attempt a repair, and the Finns will not continue this weekend.
Team Principal, Richard Millener, said: « It’s great to see Elfyn up there battling for the top positions. He and Scott are delivering a really strong drive with the pace and consistency that this event demands. They’re in a comfortable rhythm at the moment, and it’s still all to play for. But things didn’t go quite as well for Teemu whose rally came to an end pretty early on this morning. Hitting a stone on the inside of a corner, he was spun into the rock face at high speed which caused extensive damage to the front-right chassis leg. The damage was beyond even our technicians and unfortunately meant the end of the weekend for him and Marko. »
Elfyn Evans (2nd) said: « It’s been a good day out there – with the car and everything inside the car all working really well. It’s not been the sort of day to be on the limit. It’s been about staying clean, staying in the line, and trying to find the grip. It’s been very slippery out there today, but it should be a bit faster with a bit more grip tomorrow. There are some really nice stages to come, but also some really demanding ones. It’s a bit of a mix and you have to get it all right so I’m looking forward to the challenge. We’ve got to keep pushing because anything can happen and there is still a long way to go. We’ll keep giving it our all and see what happens. »
Teemu Suninen (DNF) said: « We were driving cleanly, until we hit a big stone. We lost the front-right and spun into the side of the mountain. There was quite a lot of damage which means that we can’t continue, but the main thing is that both me and Marko are okay. »
OVERALL CLASSIFICATION
1. Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia (Citroen C3 WRC) 1:18:33.8 2. Elfyn Evans / Scott Martin (Ford Fiesta WRC) +14.8 3. Kris Meeke / Sebastian Marshall (Toyota Yaris WRC) +21.1 4. Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja (Toyota Yaris WRC) +37.1 5. Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferme (Citroen C3 WRC) +39.1 6. Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +1:00.7
FORD FIESTA R5 QUOTES RALLY MEXICO, SECTION THREE
Alberto Heller (3rd WRC 2 / RC2) said: « Despite a late scare with a clutch problem on the final road section of the day, Alberto Heller’s Ford Fiesta R5 holds third place in WRC 2. We are in third place and I was really happy with the afternoon stages. In Ortega [SS6] we made a really good time. And it was also not so bad in El Chocolate second time around [SS5]. On the road section back to service we had a problem with the clutch and it was really difficult. I wasn’t sure if we would make it back, but we did.«
Łukasz Pieniążek (1st WRC 2 Pro / 6th RC2): « Łukasz Pieniążek had been running third in class before hitting a rock on SS6 which caused damaged to the front-left suspension of his Ford Fiesta R5. It’s not been the best day for us. We were struggling a bit with the high temperatures and the stages were very slippery. On SS6 I was too fast into a corner and hit a rock. We damaged the suspension and had to retire. For sure we will be back tomorrow and I’ll focus on getting more knowledge of the stages and more experience here in Mexico. »
Pedro Heller (4th WRC 2 / 7th RC2): « Pedro Heller damaged the front-left driveshaft and broke the steering arm of his Ford Fiesta R5 on SS5. Making a temporary fix to the steering arm, the Chilean’s perseverance saw him complete the day. I’m happy to be here at the end of the day! In El Chocolate [SS5] we had a spin and hit the front-left wheel with open steering which damaged the driveshaft and the steering arm. We had to stop and find signal to call the engineers. Speaking with the team we were able to fix the steering, but we were left with a rear-wheel drive car to finish the day. »
Press release M-Sport Ford
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