Mexico : Subaru / PCWRC - FinishMaintaining a consistent and incredibly quick pace over the course of the three days, reigning PCWRC champion Toshi Arai was uncatchable on the rock-strewn roads of Mexico, taking his first win of the season by 48.9 seconds, but was challenged all the way by a hard-charging Nasser Saleh al Attiyah.
The only driver with any realistic chance of coming close to the Japanese was last year`s second place finisher in the championship, Al Attiyah showing pace that belied his experience in the PCWRC.
Of the other STI-equipped runners in the Production Car championship, only Jari Matti Latvala finished out of the points, a result of his previous woes and having to run under SupeRally for 10 of the event`s 17 stages. He ended up just out of the points in ninth place.
Meanwhile, the two STI-equipped drivers making their debuts in the championship, Poland`s Leszek Kuzaj and Russian Sergei Uspenskiy, both had very strong results to finish fourth and fifth respectively. The points-haul by both drivers will be very useful for the championship, particularly as their pace increases throughout the year as their experience in PCWRC increases.
Sergei Uspenskiy and Leszek Kuzaj are both committed to six events on the championship, each of them dropping Cyprus (Round 6) at the end of September.
Today`s first stage saw some very high-speed driving from the front runners in PCWRC, leader Toshi Arai completing the 37.99–km test in 28 minutes 2.5 seconds. Nasser al Attiyah, getting quicker on every event, was a mere 3.2 seconds off the champion`s pace.
Over the course of Leg three`s two regular stages, drivers reported a lot of big rocks off-line, making it very dangerous when cars strayed from the centre of the road. Other troubles to affect crews included muscle cramps for Toshi Arai`s co-driver Tony Sircombe, resulting from a new seat with incorrect back support.
After the two tests, the cars headed back to the Puebla motor racing circuit for the third and final time, cars running in the traditional Superspecial pair shoot-out format in front of a huge audience gathered for the Sunday lunchtime spectacle.
George Donaldson, STI Group N Project General Manager
“Toshi obviously managed to bring his Impreza home nice and safely, just maintaining his distance from a hard-charging Nasser. I must say Toshi, Nasser, Leszek and Sergei make up the four happiest drivers I`ve ever seen in terms of their results here today. They are over the moon. And with a 1-2 for Subaru, I am extremely happy also! I feel like we`ve had a real win with Leszek and Sergei because both are on their first event, and Sergei especially said he was really taking care, while Leszek is completely confident he can at some point reach the pace of those running at the front. We`re looking forward to a good year with these two guys.
“We`ve got four extremely happy drivers here at the finish which is really, really nice. The car has proven to be incredibly reliable; both Toshi and Nasser not having a single problem. Basically the same could be said for Sergei as well. Leszek did his best to bang the car to bits, rolling on Leg two – but otherwise no problems at all. The Impreza has proven to be the toughest car here on this incredibly hard event, which is a great testament to the car`s pedigree.”
The next event on the 2006 PCWRC calendar takes place over the April 28-30 weekend when crews tackle the Argentine stages for Round 3 of the championship.
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