Corona Rally Mexico : Subaru / PCWRC - Leg 2Day two of Corona Rally Mexico was another showcase for the new spec C Impreza, Toshi Arai maintaining his position at the head of the PCWRC field, followed ever-more closely by Qatari driver Nasser Saleh al Attiyah in his 2005 spec C. Managing to gain a couple of places over the course of the day were newcomers Leszek Kuzaj and Sergei Uspenskiy, while Jari Matti Latvala fell victim to transmission woes, most likely caused as a result of damage incurred on yesterday`s stages.
Leg two consisted of six stages, comprising 144.48 competitive kilometers, punctuated by the lunchtime Service, competitors again tackling the hilly and rutted roads around the centrally-located Service Park in the city of Leon in the afternoon.
With STI-equipped crews starting the day in 1st, 3rd, 7th, 8th and 9th; their finishing positions of 1st, 2nd, 5th, 6th, and 8th was a positive outcome for the crews efforts throughout the course of the second day.
Japanese ace and current PCWRC champion Toshi Arai sealed his authority on the morning`s stages, winning all three tests by a comfortable margin. Arai would take two more stage wins in the afternoon, missing out only on SS12 with a puncture. The change was done in lightning-quick time, the #31 car posting a stage time only 1 minute 39 seconds behind stage winner Nasser Saleh al Attiyah.
The swift change meant Arai and co-driver Tony Sircombe maintained their position ahead of then second-placed runner Marcos Ligato in the Mitsubishi.
Leszek Kuzaj had no problems to report through the day, though was frustrated he wasn`t faster, and is looking for more speed on tomorrow`s tests.
Sergei Uspenskiy was also surprised that his pace is not faster, but again he`s another driver who`s starting to make inroads to that increased pace now. He realizes it`s going to take three or four events to get that speed up, but the Russian has acquitted himself very respectably considering he`s on his first-ever event in this championship. “It`s a tough event, but I`m thoroughly enjoying myself.” Uspensiky commented. It should also be noted that he`s competing for the first time with a new co-driver.
Toshi reported no problems all day apart from the puncture. Nasser meanwhile, is coming right up to Toshi in terms of stage times. We saw Al Attiyah really lifting his game to challenge Toshi on today`s stages, his times just a few seconds off Arai`s.
Jari Matti Latvala has succumbed to more damage from the rough roads but the team hopes to re-start tomorrow if the car is re-build able. At time of going to press the car was not yet back in Service.
A disappointing day for Jari Matti, but he damaged the car heavily yesterday and quite clearly today`s woes are caused by repercussions of that damage. It has been a hard lesson at the WRC level for the young Finn, but a lesson all the same.
Today`s running was as tough as yesterday, with a similar amount of carnage on the stages. For the STI-equipped PCWRC runners, everybody managed to stay out of trouble apart from Latvala.
George Donaldson, STI Group N Project General Manager
“I`m just delighted with Toshi`s performance and incredibly quick tyre change today in SS12. He is at the top of his game, and is keeping a pace worthy of the world champion that he is.
“Nasser came out this morning with Marcos Ligato clearly in his sights and took the Argentinean purely on performance, though laterally Ligato has had problems in his Mitsubishi. Nasser`s in the position purely on merit; and is now only 40 seconds behind Toshi.
“We go into tomorrow with high hopes for the Subaru runners. It all comes down perhaps to drivers` concentration and making sure they don`t make any mistakes. Nasser will be looking for pace and will be trying to gauge whether he can get past Toshi. His clear aim this year is to take the PCWRC title, while Toshi is defending. Nasser knows that he`s got to lift his pace to the incredible level Toshi`s demonstrated at the end of last year and the beginning of this year. Al Attiyah`s endeavoring to do just that; and by the look of today, he`s well capable of it.
“It will be an exciting day tomorrow, and the running order is not finished – it`s far from over yet.”
Leg three starts tomorrow with the longest stage of the rally at 37.99 kilometres. This is followed by one more regular stage before crews head back to the Puebla motor racing circuit for the third and final run through the Nextel Superspecial at lunchtime.
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