Rally Mexico : SS 9 - 23.75 km
While the ninth stage – Duarte - begins on a hard clay surface, it quickly changes to a much softer sand base that is prone to create ruts with the successive running of competitors. The roads are twisty and narrow, with beautiful scenery. Duarte also includes a river crossing around 1 km from the start and a short ‘visit` through San Jose de Otates Norte near the finish line.
Despite feeling sick and having to fight against the hard-charging Sebastien Loeb, Petter Solberg managed to beat the Kronos driver by 4”2 to take his fifth stage victory, his first since yesterday. With that result, the Norwegian moves back into the lead, 3”5 ahead of Loeb.

Marcus Gronholm is hoping to climb up through the field after his retirement from leg 1 yesterday. The Ford driver set the third fastest time in SS9 and gains one position in the race standings by moving ahead of Luis Perez-Companc.

Manfred Stohl managed to increase his advantage over his main rival, Dani Sordo. The Austrian driver finished in fourth position in SS9 and gained 17”6 over the Spaniard. Sordo is still fourth overall, 31 seconds behind the OMV driver.

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