The 2008 Rally México, officially 22º Corona Rally México, was the third round of the 2008 World Rally Championship season. The rally was held on February 29 — March 2 and began with a ceremonial start on Thursday, February 28. It was the first gravel event of the season and also the opening round of the Junior World Rally Championship this season.[1]
The event
The rally consisted of 20 special stages, one of which was cancelled due to safety reasons, as there were too many spectators gathered around the road.[2] Also five of the stages were Super Special Stages. Some of the sections were placed as high as 2700 meters over sea level, causing significant engine power loss due to lower air pressure.[1]
The event was won by the previous edition's winner, Sébastien Loeb. Before the rally there was some controversy with Citroën Team changing the engine in his car after a major malfunction during the shakedown,[3] but the team reverted back to the original unit and avoided a five minutes penalty.[4] The first rally leader was Jari-Matti Latvala, but after having to be the opening driver on the second day's stages and suffering from the broken intercooler pipe, causing the turbo to overheat and break, he dropped back to third.[5] Subaru's Chris Atkinson finished second after constant pace placing him in the top eight on every stage, achieving the best result in his career so far. Fourth overall was Mikko Hirvonen who lost large amounts of time after a few punctures and having to change a wheel in his Ford Focus RS WRC 07.[6] Henning Solberg lost his battle for fourth with Hirvonen and had to settle for fifth after damaging his damper.[7] The rest of pointing drivers were Matthew Wilson, Federico Villagra, both in Focuses 2007 spec and privateer Ricardo Treviño driving a Peugeot 206 WRC. Petter Solberg managed to score the last point in Manufacturers' Championship, even tough having to restart under SupeRally format after having mechanical problems with the front left driveshaft in his Subaru Impreza WRC2007 on SS10.[8] Citroën's number two, Daniel Sordo, came back into the fight after breaking the suspension in his C4 WRC and retiring too,[9] but even though he won 3 stages overall, he wasn't able to regain the penalty he was given.
Suzuki drivers suffered from mechanical problems during the first day and both Toni Gardemeister and Per-Gunnar Andersson had to retire from the rally for good.[10][11] Also Stobart's Gigi Galli wasn't able to finish the event - the Italian had to retire from top-eight position after breaking the suspension in his Ford Focus.[12]
The top eight was followed by the JWRC podium - Frenchman Sebastien Ogier in Citroën C2 S1600, Estonian Jaan Mölder and Pole Michał Kościuszko, both in Suzuki Swifts S1600.
Result change
Mexican Ricardo Treviño was disqualified during the second day of the event for using non-homologated driving gloves; he was able to complete the rally after deciding to appeal his case to higher jurisdiction. His request was later rejected and Treviño was excluded from the event, which resulted in Sebastien Ogier, WRC debutant, to score one point in drivers' championship.[13] It was the first time in World Rally history that JWRC driver driving Super 1600 front-wheel drive rally car scored points in overall classification.[14]
Results
Special stages
| Day |
Stage |
Time[A] |
Name |
Length |
Winner |
Time |
Avg. spd. |
Rally leader |
1
(29 FEB) |
SS1 |
08:28 |
Alfaro 1 |
22.96 km |
 J. Latvala |
14:14.6 |
96.7 km/h |
J. Latvala |
| SS2 |
09:51 |
Ortega 1 |
23.83 km |
 S. Loeb |
14:11.8 |
100.7 km/h |
| SS3 |
10:39 |
El Cubilete 1 |
18.87 km |
S. Loeb |
11:51.5 |
95.5 km/h |
| SS4 |
13:02 |
Alfaro 2 |
22.96 km |
 P. Solberg |
14:02.5 |
98.1 km/h |
| SS5 |
14:25 |
Ortega 2 |
23.83 km |
J. Latvala |
14:00.1 |
102.1 km/h |
| SS6 |
15:13 |
El Cubilete 2 |
18.87 km |
J. Latvala |
11:45.5 |
96.3 km/h |
| SS7 |
16:33 |
Super Special 1 |
2.21 km |
P. Solberg |
1:41.7 |
78.2 km/h |
| SS8 |
16:38 |
Super Special 2 |
2.21 km |
S. Loeb |
1:42.0 |
78.0 km/h |
2
(1 MAR) |
SS9 |
08:24 |
Ibarilla 1 |
29.90 km |
S. Loeb |
18:35.7 |
96.5 km/h |
| SS10 |
09:47 |
Duarte 1 |
23.27 km |
S. Loeb |
18:19.6 |
76.2 km/h |
S. Loeb |
| SS11 |
10:38 |
Derramadero 1 |
23.28 km |
 D. Sordo |
14:04.6 |
99.2 km/h |
| SS12 |
13:12 |
Ibarilla 2 |
29.90 km |
S. Loeb |
18:21.0 |
97.8 km/h |
| SS13 |
14:35 |
Duarte 2 |
23.27 km |
D. Sordo |
17:56.2 |
77.8 km/h |
| SS14 |
15:26 |
Derramadero 2 |
23.28 km |
H. Solberg |
13:52.9 |
100.6 km/h |
| SS15 |
16:41 |
Super Special 3 |
2.21 km |
S. Loeb
H. Solberg |
1:41.9 |
78.1 km/h |
| SS16 |
16:46 |
Super Special 4 |
2.21 km |
 C. Atkinson
S. Loeb |
1:40.8 |
78.9 km/h |
3
(2 MAR) |
SS17 |
08:28 |
Leon |
16.09 km |
J. Latvala |
10:43.3 |
90.0 km/h |
| SS18 |
08:56 |
Guanajuatito |
22.30 km |
Cancelled [2] |
| SS19 |
10:19 |
Comanjilla |
17.88 km |
M. Hirvonen |
10:12.7 |
105.1 km/h |
| SS20 |
11:34 |
Super Special 5 |
4.42 km |
D. Sordo |
3:19.3 |
79.8 km/h |
Footnotes:
A ^ all times local
Championship standings after the event
Drivers' championship
|
|
| Colour |
Result |
| Gold |
Winner |
| Silver |
2nd place |
| Bronze |
3rd place |
| Green |
Finished, in points |
| Blue |
Finished, no points |
| Purple |
Did not finish (Ret) |
| Black |
Disqualified (DSQ) |
| White |
Did not start (DNS) |
| Blank |
Did not participate |
| Injured (INJ) |
| Excluded (EX) |
|
Manufacturers' championship
Local impact
Salgado Rally Team represented the host state of Guanajuato in the rally, their #65 car here pictured at rallybase.
The 2008 Rally Mexico had a significant economic and cultural impact on the state of Guanajuato. Rallybase in León brought significant tourism and rally-related business to the growing city, while the ceremonial start was held amongst huge crowds in the capital and cultural center of the state, Guanajuato. Due to the nature of the event, however, it touched several other communities in the area. In 2008, the rally was preceded the previous weekend by the Rally of Health, a procession aimed at raising the standards of health care and awareness in the rural areas of the state. Infrastructure as well was enhanced, as the rally funded several road construction programs to improve access to towns in areas covered by the rally's special stages.
References
- ^ a b "Preview: Rally Mexico - Pt. 1.". Crash.net (2008-02-26). Retrieved on 2008-03-01.
- ^ a b "Rally Mexico: SS18 - cancelled.", Crash.net (2008-03-02). Retrieved on 2008-03-02.
- ^ "Loeb hit by engine problems.", Crash.net (2008-02-29). Retrieved on 2008-03-02.
- ^ "Loeb reverts to original engine, avoids penalty.", Crash.net (2008-02-29). Retrieved on 2008-03-02.
- ^ "Latvala out to 'save' his podium.", Crash.net (2008-03-02). Retrieved on 2008-03-02.
- ^ "Rally reactions: Rally Mexico - Day 2.", Crash.net (2008-03-01). Retrieved on 2008-03-02.
- ^ "Rally Mexico 2008 results - SS20 - drivers comments". ewrc-results.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-02.
- ^ "NEWS FLASH: Petter out.", Crash.net (2008-03-01). Retrieved on 2008-03-02.
- ^ "Official: Sordo to re-start.", Crash.net (2008-03-01). Retrieved on 2008-03-02.
- ^ "NEWS FLASH: P-G retires.", Crash.net (2008-02-29). Retrieved on 2008-03-02.
- ^ "NEWS FLASH: Galli, Gardemeister join retirees.", Crash.net (2008-02-29). Retrieved on 2008-03-02.
- ^ "Galli 'very disappointed' to retire.", Crash.net (2008-03-01). Retrieved on 2008-03-02.
- ^ a b "Rally Mexico result revised.", Crash.net (2008-03-20). Retrieved on 2008-03-20.
- ^ "Amended Mexico result makes Ogier a record breaker", www.WRC.com (2008-03-20). Retrieved on 2008-03-21.
External links
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