Mexico : Subaru / PCWRC - Leg 1
It`s been a drama-filled day for a number of the Subaru runners in the PCWRC on the opening leg of Corona Rally Mexico. Very rough and rutted conditions have caught out a couple of competitors, while the dust has also been an issue here in Leon on leg one. Weather conditions have been excellent throughout the first day, with temperatures around 30 degrees under bright, sunny skies.
This event sees five STI-equipped cars competing in the category, with first-timers including Polish driver Lezcek Kuzaj making his PCWRC debut - as is multiple Russian rally champion Sergei Uspenskiy, flying over directly after winning round 3 of his national championship last weekend.

The opening two stages saw Jari Matti Latvala leading the way – both among the Subaru runners and overall in the Production Car championship. He was reported to be taking it easy; using safe engine mapping, yet still managed to be quicker than his rivals – which says a lot about the young Finn`s natural speed. He was followed very closely by defending PCWRC champion Toshi Arai, the gap only 5.5 seconds after two stages and 51 kilometres of competitive running.

However, one kilometer into SS2 (Guanajuato 1), Arai hit some rocks at the road`s edge, bending his rear suspension badly. Although minor repairs were completed before the following stage, the suspension geometry was still wildly wrong. Despite this handling malady, Toshi won the stage. It was to be his first victory of the event, but by no means his last. For the rest of leg one, Arai took wins on every test up to the evening`s Super Special – for a total of four stage wins today.

Nasser Saleh al Attiyah ran in fifth on the first group of stages, citing a too soft suspension setting as the culprit for his slight lack of pace. This was adjusted at the lunchtime Service, and his speed in the afternoon, where he moved up to third, was clear evidence of the harder setting working better in the conditions.

Polish driver Lezcek Kuzaj had something of a baptism of fire on leg one. He hit a rock at the beginning of SS2, bending the front suspension very heavily. Lezcek managed to continue, maintaining sixth position to the lunchtime Service where his crew was able to affect the necessary repairs to the car.

Kuzaj went out in the afternoon with the aim of narrowing the gap to the front runners. Unfortunately for the Pole, SS4 was the scene of a roll, resulting in heavy, though largely superficial damage to the Impreza - and a time loss of about one minute while the car was righted. He was able to continue, though fell to eighth after two punctures on SS5. On the following stage, he managed to get a broken right rear shock absorber, so it was a dramatic afternoon – though he survived. With this litany of woes, Kuzaj ended the day in ninth. Repairs overnight should see him back in action with good pace tomorrow. He did run third fastest on SS6, so his pace is not in doubt.

The other newcomer to the PCWRC this round, Russia`s Sergei Uspenskiy, experienced power steering failure early on SS2, reporting the car very difficult to drive, and with very tired arms as a result. Overall it was a tough morning for the debutant. Uspenskiy ran eighth in the morning`s group of stages, moving up to seventh on SS5, ending the day in eighth in what has to be considered a credible opening day for the Russian.

After Nasser changed his suspension to the stiffer settings he developed on the pre-event test, he was instantly back to his normal pace. The Qatari driver was much happier throughout the afternoon, and was kicking himself for the car set-up and tyre choice in the morning.

Jari Matti Latvala had a close call on SS5. Just five or six kilometres into the stage on a medium-fast left-hander, he was following the line when he came across a great big hole in the road with a monstrous rock in the middle of it. Unable to avoid it, he bent his front suspension and damaged the driveshaft badly. Luckily he was able to continue, repairing it sufficiently so that on SS6, with only two-wheel drive, he managed to set a reasonable time. The incident cost him only one minute – a small price to pay this early in the rally, and a gap that he`s sure to be able to make up over the course of the next two days.

George Donaldson, STI Group N Prioject General Manager
“It`s been an interesting start to Corona Rally Mexico where the opening day has been filled with a variety of dramas for the Subaru drivers. However, they have managed to all still be there at the end of the day, and we look forward to more action from the five crews again tomorrow.

“It`s unfortunate that Sergei Uspenskiy had the steering linkage problem in the morning as it cost him close to two and a half minutes. Without that, he could potentially have ended the day fourth in class. That`s quite a result for someone who`s on his first event in the category. He`s feeling slightly robbed, but he`s still in the points as we speak tonight, so it`s a very promising result from his first day.

“As we expected, this is going to be a tough, hard event. I predicted there would be a lot of drama, and drama there has been. As we can see, among the runners in Production Car, there is a massive gap between third and fourth place. Competitiors have had punctures, bent suspensions, blown turbos etc. It`s by no means a battle that`s over. Toshi does have a fantastic lead over the second-placed car at one minute thirty two seconds; though that could quickly be reversed with a puncture – that`s all it would take, and in these conditions, it`s something that cannot be discounted. Make no mistake, Marcos Ligato, running in second place and competing this season in a Mitsubishi, will not be sitting around – he`s going to be fighting hard to keep Nasser back.

“That said Toshi has done an incredible job today. He`s had bent rims and damage to the rear corner – so we can see he`s pushing hard. His pace has put pressure on everyone else for the rest of the rally. Between him and the World Rally cars, there`s nothing in it. I`m delighted with his performance so far – absolutely delighted.

“Hopefully we`ll see more of the same tomorrow. Nasser will have Marcos in his sights – he took another 6.6 seconds out of the gap during the evening Super Special, so they`re now only 14 seconds apart. That will be an exciting battle to watch I`m sure. I would also like to see Mr Uspenskiy and Kuzaj move up – and we mustn`t forget Jari Matti Latvala.”

More of the same is expected in terms of weather tomorrow also, with sunny conditions and similar temperatures to those experienced today. Crews will tackle six stages followed by the evening Super Special for a total of 151 kilometres competitive running.

Tags: rally,