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WRC 2 in Mexico: Easy for Pontus

Pontus Tidemand secured a memorable WRC 2 victory at Rally Guanajuato Mexico on sunday after notching up 17 speed test wins out of a possible 22 in his Skoda Fabia R5.

The reigning champion led from start to finish on Mexico's gravel roads and his advantage over second-placed Gus Greensmith was a massive 6m 44.6sec.

The Swede's stunning stage times were only bettered on five occasions by Skoda Motorsport team-mate Kalle Rovanperä, but the young Finn fell out of the reckoning when he retired on Friday after breaking his car's radiator.

"I really enjoyed it. Everything was working well and I could get my car to do whatever I wanted. It was a perfect rally for me," Tidemand said.

Greensmith scored the best result of his career in a Ford Fiesta R5. He enjoyed a clean ride and his advantage over the chasing pack was such that he was afforded the luxury of testing different set-ups and tyre compounds to accelerate his learning.

Chilean driver Pedro Heller completed the top three in his Fiesta while 17-year-old Bolivian Marquito Bulacia capped an impressive WRC debut by coming home fourth, albeit more than 22 minutes shy of Tidemand.

Rovanperä rounded off the event with a win in the rally-ending Power Stage. He was fifth overall, 17 minutes ahead of Jari Huttunen, whose chances were ruined when he was forced to retire with a damaged radiator on Friday night.

Nil Solans completed the finishers in seventh.

Zdroj: wrc.com