There were only 1.3 timed kilometers of the “Rock & Rally” Superspecial to go to close the second stage of the Rally of Mexico. And, as was widely foreseeable, such a short stretch was not enough to change the balance of the race.
Although he is now very far from the position that counts in the general classification, Ott Tanak returned to shine in SS19, setting the best time with his Ford Puma with a 1’29″6. The Estonian repeated his success in SS18 , but his gap from the top 10 remains just under two minutes.
The positive momentum of Thierry Neuville also continued, author of the second time with his Hyundai with a delay of nine tenths. The Belgian rider therefore managed to take advantage of even a very short stage to further narrow the gap that separates him from the second position occupied by Elfyn Evans. Gaining him half a second, he only got to 4″3 and today he will have four more runs to attack.
On the other hand, the leader Sebastien Ogier now seems out of his reach, who in SS19 slipped right between the two duelists with his Toyota. The eight-times world champion will only have to take care to stay out of trouble, given that he will enter the final day of competition with a margin of 35″8 over his teammate and there are only about sixty timed kilometers to go before the finish line, even if among these there is also the longest special of the weekend: the SS21, the “Otates”, is a good 35.63 km.
Continuing to scroll through the standings, the positions are now quite clear: in fourth place the world champion Kalle Rovanpera travels with a delay of 1’34”, followed by the Hyundai of Dani Sordo, who instead pays 2’21”. In sixth position we find the leader of the WRC2 class, the British Gus Greensmith, who with his Skoda Fabia will have to try to manage a margin of just over half a minute over Adrien Fourmaux’s Ford.
