2007 Rally México
The 21º Corona Rally México, the fourth round of the 2007 World Rally Championship season, took place between March 9–11 2007. The rally consisted of 20 special stages, of which five were super specials. The event was won by Citroën's Sébastien Loeb, followed by Ford drivers Marcus Grönholm and Mikko Hirvonen.
The drivers' championship leaders, Grönholm and Hirvonen, were the first drivers on road and lost time as they had to sweep the loose gravel. They were followed by Loeb, who was able to keep close to Subaru's Petter Solberg, who benefited from his better starting position during the first three stages. However, Solberg, in the new Subaru Impreza WRC 07, had to retire at the start of SS6 giving the lead to Loeb.[1] After the first day, Ford identified and fixed a sensory fault in Grönholm's car.[2] The problem had caused lack of engine power and troubled the Finn: "In the morning, I was sweeping. In the afternoon, I was sleeping".[3] The second leg saw Grönholm quickly climb to second place, but Loeb continued setting top times and extended his lead to Grönholm from 43 to 60 seconds. Hirvonen, Chris Atkinson and Dani Sordo battled for the third place. Hirvonen was the fastest driver on the final day and secured the last podium position, ahead of Sordo, Atkinson, Manfred Stohl, Jari-Matti Latvala and Matthew Wilson. Loeb took the win 55.8 seconds clear of Grönholm.[4]
Results
Retirements
- Nasser Al-Attiyah - mechanical (SS2/3);
- Petter Solberg - no oil pressure (SS5/6);
- Francisco Name - retired between leg 1 and 2 (before SS8);
- Martin Rauam - gearbox failure (SS9);
- Gareth MacHale - damaged suspension (SS13);
- Leszek Kuzaj - mechanical (SS13);
Special Stages
| Leg |
Stage |
Time |
Name |
Length |
Winner |
Time |
Avg. spd. |
Rally leader |
1
(9 Mar) |
SS1 |
08:28 |
Alfaro 1 |
23.50 km |
P. Solberg |
14:03.5 |
100.3 km/h |
P. Solberg |
| SS2 |
09:51 |
Ortega 1 |
29.65 km |
P. Solberg |
17:28.7 |
101.78 km/h |
| SS3 |
10:34 |
El Cubilete 1 |
17.87 km |
P. Solberg |
9:45.6 |
109.86 km/h |
| SS4 |
13:02 |
Alfaro 2 |
23.50 km |
S. Loeb |
13:47.0 |
102.3 km/h |
| SS5 |
14:25 |
Ortega 2 |
29.65 km |
M. Stohl |
16:58.2 |
104.83 km/h |
| SS6 |
15:08 |
El Cubilete 2 |
17.87 km |
S. Loeb |
9:37.5 |
111.4 km/h |
S. Loeb |
| SS7 |
16:29 |
Super Special 1 |
2.21 km |
M. Grönholm |
1:42.6 |
77.54 km/h |
| SS8 |
16:33 |
Super Special 2 |
2.21 km |
C. Atkinson |
1:42.0 |
78.0 km/h |
2
(10 Mar) |
SS9 |
08:19 |
Ibarilla 1 |
30.20 km |
S. Loeb |
18:17.3 |
99.08 km/h |
| SS10 |
09:42 |
Duarte 1 |
23.51 km |
S. Loeb |
17:55.0 |
78.73 km/h |
| SS11 |
10:33 |
Derramadero 1 |
23.27 km |
M. Grönholm |
14:01.6 |
99.54 km/h |
| SS12 |
13:07 |
Ibarilla 2 |
30.20 km |
S. Loeb |
18:02.6 |
100.42 km/h |
| SS13 |
14:30 |
Duarte 2 |
23.51 km |
M. Grönholm |
17:32.2 |
80.48 km/h |
| SS14 |
15:21 |
Derramadero 2 |
23.27 km |
S. Loeb |
13:49.4 |
101.0 km/h |
| SS15 |
16:35 |
Super Special 3 |
2.21 km |
D. Sordo |
1:44.6 |
76.06 km/h |
| SS16 |
16:39 |
Super Special 4 |
2.21 km |
M. Grönholm |
1:43.6 |
76.8 km/h |
3
(11 Mar) |
SS17 |
08:23 |
Leon |
16.29 km |
M. Hirvonen |
10:35.8 |
92.24 km/h |
| SS18 |
08:54 |
Guanajuatito |
23.34 km |
M. Grönholm |
15:12.3 |
92.1 km/h |
| SS19 |
10:17 |
Comanjilla |
18.10 km |
M. Hirvonen |
10:17.6 |
105.51 km/h |
| SS20 |
11:28 |
Super Special 5 |
4.42 km |
M. Grönholm |
3:23.6 |
78.15 km/h |
Championship standings after the event
Drivers' championship
|
|
| Colour |
Result |
| Gold |
Winner |
| Silver |
2nd place |
| Bronze |
3rd place |
| Green |
Points finish |
| Blue |
Non-points finish |
| Purple |
Did not finish (Ret) |
| Black |
Disqualified (DSQ) |
| White |
Did not start (DNS) |
| Blank |
Did not practice (DNP) |
| Injured or ill (Inj) |
| Excluded (EX) |
| Suspended (SUS) |
| Did not arrive (DNA) |
| Withdrew entry before the event (WD) |
|
Manufacturers' championship
References
External links