Sebastien Ogier claimed his second win of the season in Rally Mexico as his main rival Kris Meeke suffered a crash and lost second place late on.
M-Sport Ford driver Ogier started Sunday with a 35-second lead over Meeke but his advantage got even safer after an incident for the Northern Irishman on the opening stage of the day.
Meeke tipped his Citroen on its side four kilometres from the end of the Alfaro stage and, while he managed to continue with the help of fans, he lost 47 seconds and fell behind Hyundai’s Dani Sordo.
Ogier comfortably beat Sordo in the subsequent SS21 to have a 55s lead coming into the Power Stage, in which he took second and added a further four points to his championship tally.
Despite a puncture in the Power Stage, Sordo took second, his best result since the 2015 Rally Catalunya, with Meeke also securing his first podium of the season.
Hyundai’s Andreas Mikkelsen was fourth, with Sebastien Loeb, who lost his lead due to a puncture on Saturday, grabbing fifth on his WRC return with Citroen.
Thierry Neuville was a further two and a half minutes behind Loeb in sixth, the Hyundai driver conceding the championship lead to Ogier.
WRC2 winner Pontus Tidemand took seventh, the best overall finish of the Swede’s career in the WRC.
Jari-Matti Latvala, eighth, was Toyota’s only representative in the top 10, the Finn’s rally ruined by an alternator problem on Friday.
However, Toyota ended up topping all three Sunday stages with Latvala setting the pace in SS20 and then Ott Tanak going fastest in the next two, including the Power Stage.
Tanak beat Ogier by four tenths in the final tour, with Latvala, Neuville and Mikkelsen also scoring bonus points.
The top 10 was completed by WRC2 podium finishers Gus Greensmith and Pedro Heller, both drivers collecting their first main-class points.
Sebastien Ogier claimed his second win of the season in Rally Mexico as his main rival Kris Meeke suffered a crash and lost second place late on.
M-Sport Ford driver Ogier started Sunday with a 35-second lead over Meeke but his advantage got even safer after an incident for the Northern Irishman on the opening stage of the day.
Meeke tipped his Citroen on its side four kilometres from the end of the Alfaro stage and, while he managed to continue with the help of fans, he lost 47 seconds and fell behind Hyundai's Dani Sordo.
Ogier comfortably beat Sordo in the subsequent SS21 to have a 55s lead coming into the Power Stage, in which he took second and added a further four points to his championship tally.
Despite a puncture in the Power Stage, Sordo took second, his best result since the 2015 Rally Catalunya, with Meeke also securing his first podium of the season.
Hyundai's Andreas Mikkelsen was fourth, with Sebastien Loeb, who lost his lead due to a puncture on Saturday, grabbing fifth on his WRC return with Citroen.
Thierry Neuville was a further two and a half minutes behind Loeb in sixth, the Hyundai driver conceding the championship lead to Ogier.
WRC2 winner Pontus Tidemand took seventh, the best overall finish of the Swede's career in the WRC.
Jari-Matti Latvala, eighth, was Toyota's only representative in the top 10, the Finn's rally ruined by an alternator problem on Friday.
However, Toyota ended up topping all three Sunday stages with Latvala setting the pace in SS20 and then Ott Tanak going fastest in the next two, including the Power Stage.
Tanak beat Ogier by four tenths in the final tour, with Latvala, Neuville and Mikkelsen also scoring bonus points.
The top 10 was completed by WRC2 podium finishers Gus Greensmith and Pedro Heller, both drivers collecting their first main-class points.
