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Full house in tyre lottery

Full house in tyre lottery.

Sébastien Ogier had already stolen a march on the opposition by the time he left the service park.

Sébastien Ogier (Polo R WRC #1) and Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) both took a chance. They headed into the morning loop with two soft tyres and two hards - plus a spare tyre with the harder compound - while the likes of Jari-Matti Latvala (Polo R WRC #2) took four hard and just one soft tyre with him. And the risk paid off. After six special stages, Ogier leads Neuville by 8.9 seconds, with Latvala trailing 15 seconds back in third place.

"The tyre selection was my means of compensating for the disadvantage of having to open the route," said Ogier on arrival at the midday service. "That worked really well, although we did have a bit of luck with the weather." While the sun was shining over the service park in León, the sky over the mountains - and thus over the special stages - was overcast. "I have never known it be so cold in Mexico. It was even foggy," said Jari-Matti Latvala, who was anything but happy with the way the morning panned out. "My tyre selection was wrong," the Finn admitted. He had fit his only soft tyre on the front axle. My car had serious oversteer with two hard tyres on the rear axle. That is why I never really had full confidence in it."

In contrast, Ogier, Neuville and Andreas Mikkelsen (Polo R WRC #9) all turned to the so-called crossover format: one soft and a hard tyre on the front axle, and the same but on opposite sides of the car on the rear axle. "Only on the long ‘El Chocolate' stage did I fit four hard tyres," reported Mikkelsen, who was the only Volkswagen driver to leave the morning service with two spare wheels.

The tyre selection was ideal, but not so his knowledge of the route. Not quite yet. "I still lack a bit of experience of Mexico compared to Séb and Jari-Matti. That is why I did not go all out on the attack," said Mikkelsen, who lies sixth after the morning loop, 33 seconds off the lead.

The Volkswagen drivers and their rivals in the other works teams have just 40 tyres at their disposal for the entire Rally Mexico, 24 of which are the hard compound - presumably the unanimous choice of tyre in the afternoon, as the temperatures have increased significantly.

CLASSIFICATION AFTER 6 OF 21 STAGES

PositionDriver / Co-driverTotal TimeDiff 1st
1S. Ogier / J. Ingrassia53:55.50.0
2T. Neuville / N. Gilsoul54:05.1+9.6
3J. Latvala / M. Anttila54:11.3+15.8
4M. Østberg / J. Andersson54:19.9+24.4
5A. Mikkelsen / O. Fløene54:29.5+34.0
6E. Evans / D. Barritt54:29.6+34.1
7D. Sordo / M. Martí55:02.1+1:06.6
8M. Prokop / J. Tománek55:03.0+1:07.5
9Y. Protasov / P. Cherepin (WRC 2)56:04.2+2:08.7
10B. Guerra / B. Rozada56:09.7+2:14.2

SS 5: "Clever tyre selection pays off."
It's still exciting: Volkswagen duo Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia still lead after the fifth special stage in Mexico (Las Minas 1), however, the best time went to Thierry Neuville. The Belgian managed to reduce his deficit to Ogier by 4.4 seconds. But Ogier was pleased with the morning's rallying: "We made a clever tyre selection, which is paying off now," said the delighted front-runner. With the third-fastest time, Jari-Matti Latvala wasn't much slower than Séb and remains in third place overall. Andreas Mikkelsen dropped down into sixth place.

SS 6: A successful morning for the World Champion.
The WRC drivers took on the 1.37-kilometre street stage Léon just before half-time on Friday. As expected, the mini special stage didn't see any major changes in the overall standings. Sébastien Ogier was unbeatable once again. The Frenchman took 1:12.4 minutes to complete the short asphalt section. Pursuer and second-placed in the overall standings Thierry Neuville was 0.7 seconds slower. The gap stands at 9.6 seconds after the first part of today's rally schedule. Jari-Matti Latvala is in third overall and trails by 15.8 seconds, Mikkelsen moved up into fifth. He is 34 seconds off the top.

SS 7: Volkswagen trio on top - Latvala bags his first stage win.
The Volkswagen drivers appeared to enjoy the seventh special stage (Los Mexicanos 2): Jari-Matti Latvala (Polo R WRC #2) tasted his first success of this year's Rally Mexico on the 9.91-kilometre stretch. "Good stage, I am happy," said the Finn. Leader Sébastien Ogier (#1) was second fastest, 1.6 seconds ahead of his team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen (#9), who shared third place with Spain's Dani Sordo (Hyundai). Latvala closed the gap to second-placed Thierry Neuville in the overall standings. Ogier continues to lead the field by eleven seconds, whilst Mikkelsen is well-placed in fifth.

SS 8: Volkswagen drivers continue to set the pace.
Jari-Matti Latvala's (Polo R WRC #2) challenge is picking up momentum. The Finn won the eighth stage (El Chocolate 2) ahead of team-mates Sébastien Ogier (#1) and Andreas Mikkelsen (#9). The Volkswagen trio also benefitted from the retirement of Thierry Neuville (Hyundai). Latvala climbs into second place behind Ogier in the overall standings, with Mikkelsen now fourth. "I had far more grip than in the morning," said Ogier, who was about 25 seconds faster that the first time they tackled the same stage (El Chocolate 1).

 Having been somewhat disgruntled with his performance over the opening special stages, Finland's Jari-Matti Latvala (Polo R WRC #2) claimed his first stage win of the 2015 Rally Mexico on Los Mexicanos 2. It was the fourth success of the season for last year's runner-up in the World Championship - and the 20th for Volkswagen Motorsport.

At the season-opener in Monte Carlo, it was Sébastien Ogier (Polo R WRC #1) who secured the team's only two stage wins. A further 14 were to follow in Sweden: nine for Ogier, three for Latvala and two for Andreas Mikkelsen (Polo R WRC #9). After the opening seven special stages in Mexico, of which Ogier won three and Latvala two, Volkswagen Motorsport now has 20 stage wins to its name.

By this point in the 2015 season, a total of 42 special stages had been contested. That is a win rate of 48 per cent for Volkswagen Motorsport. This means, on average, that the Polo R WRC has won almost every other special stage - long may that continue.

SS 9: Latvala piles the pressure on Ogier.
Jari-Matti Latvala (Polo R WRC #2) narrowly missed out on his third stage win in a row. Norwegian Mads Østberg (Citroën) won the ninth special stage (Las Minas 2), finishing 3.4 seconds ahead of the Finn. Team-mate Sébastien Ogier (#1) was third on the 15.54-kilometre stretch of route, while Andreas Mikkelsen (#9) was sixth fastest. It is a case of ‘as you were' in the overall standings: Ogier still leads, ahead of Latvala, Østberg and Mikkelsen. "Jari is really pushing, but we still have a long way to go," said Ogier, who has seen his team-mate cut his lead to just 10.9 seconds.

SS 10: Ogier responds to Latvala's attacks.
Sébastien Ogier (Polo R WRC #1) brought day one to a successful end: the leader claimed his fourth stage win of the Rally Mexico on the tenth stage to pull clear of the chasing pack again. Dani Sordo (Hyundai) finished second on the 4.6-kilometre Super Special 2, followed by Martin Prokop (Ford). Andreas Mikkelsen (Polo R WRC #9) was fourth fastest, followed by his team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala (#2). Ogier's lead over the Finn is now back up to 13.5 seconds. Mikkelsen is currently fourth, 15.7 seconds behind Mads Østberg (Citroën).