Wilson leads the way for Stobart in Mexico
Matthew Wilson leads the way for the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford rally team in a firm seventh position after three special stages on the opening day of Rally Mexico. Team-mate Gigi Galli was running high up the order early on but became stuck in a ditch on the final stage before service losing over one minute to finish the morning loop of stages in eighth place – still in a drivers’ point scoring position.
Wilson put in a top display to head into Service A in a drivers’ point scoring position despite losing almost one minute when he was caught in the dust of fellow WRC competitor Toni Gardemeister for over five kilometres on the second, Ortega 1, stage. The Brit has kicked things off well in his quest for Rally Mexico driver and manufacturer points in 2008.
Italian driver Galli was on the pace in third after the opening test and set the second fastest time on stage 2 before losing over one minute on the final test before service. The rear wheel of his Stobart Ford Focus RS WRC07 ran slightly wide sending the rear of the car into a ditch where he became stuck. Unfortunately only a handful of spectators were present at that point in the stage which meant he struggled to get the car back on the road.
This afternoon sees a repeat of the three stages this morning followed by two runs over the 2.21 kilometre super special stage in Leon.
Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Team Driver Gigi Galli said:
“The first two stages this morning went very well and the feeling with the car and tyres was perfect. On the third stage I went into a tight left-hand corner and I thought the road was wider than it was. This meant when I came around it I had to quickly change down a gear to get the car around but unfortunately the car stalled and I slid backwards into the ditch. At this point there were only four spectators taking photographs so it was difficult to get back on the road quickly. This was unlucky but OK we are still in the rally and my feeling with the car is still very good.”
Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Team Driver Matthew Wilson said:
“We have had a reasonable morning with some great split times it is just unfortunate we got caught in Toni’s dust on the second stage. We probably followed him for five kilometres and lost maybe 50 seconds because the dust was worse than fog and it seemed to just hang there for a long time. It makes it hard because you’re nearly stopping in places when you can’t see the side of the road which just drop off in places. All-in-all though we are still in a good position and the splits are promising which really helps with the confidence.”
Leaderboard after SS3
1. J-M Latvala/M AnttilaFIN Ford Focus RS 40m20.9sec
2. S Loeb/D Elena F Citroen C4 +4.4s
3. C Atkinson/S Prevot AUS Subaru Impreza +11.2s
4. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen FIN Ford Focus RS +18.7s
5. P Solberg/P Mills N Subaru Impreza +53.9s
6. P G Andersson/J Andersson SWE Suzuki SX4 +55.5s
7. M Wilson/S Martin GB Ford Focus RS +1m41.1s
8. G Galli/G Bernacchin I Ford Focus RS +1m43.9s