``I`m obviously satisfied with the result``
The Corona Rally Mexico definitely was worth the trip for the OMV Peugeot Norway World Rally Team. Following three days and 360 special stage kilometres that demanded everything of man and machine Manfred Stohl finished the third round of the FIA World Rally Championship in third place.

The Austrian reached his first podium place this season, the third in his career so far. And the OMV driver climbed up from fifth to third place in the FIA driver`s World Championship.

Decision in the morning
Manfred Stohl had had a lead of 32,2 seconds over Daniel Sordo (Spa/Citroen) at the end of leg two. Normally a safe time cushion, yet it bothered the 33-year-old OMV driver a bit for he only had a soft rubber mixture at his disposal for the final leg. But a few kilometres into the first special stage showed that there was no reason to worry. The Spaniard wasn`t able to put pressure on Stohl.

After only 5,3 kilometres the Austrian had gained another 5,2 seconds – which became 27,4 seconds at the end of the 38 kilometres long “royal” stage of the Corona Rally Mexico. Thus he had a lead of almost one minute over Sordo for the last 22 kilometres. A lead the OMV driver wouldn`t yield at his 97th WRC assignment. He took the third podium place of his career, the first this year. A final highlight was his best time on the superstage.

“All in all I`m obviously satisfied with the result,” mentioned Stohl. “Still, the time difference to the top two does bother me. We`ll have a lot of work to do to find the right gravel set-up. But a place on the podium is great in any case. This time I had luck on my side, especially since I didn`t expect too much here in Mexico.”

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