Mexico : Ford news after SS13

Overcast skies greeted competitors as they departed León early this morning for the second leg of this second round of the FIA World Rally Championship. After a tough opening yesterday on the dirt roads high above the city, BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally team drivers Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila and team-mates Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen were intent on improving their overnight fifth and sixth positions respectively.

The morning comprised three long gravel speed tests north and east of the city, followed by a short asphalt special stage behind the service park in León itself. In contrast to yesterday, both Ford Focus RS World Rally cars had good start positions and the Finnish pairings capitalised on the clean line created in the loose gravel by those ahead of them in the running order.

Latvala was third fastest through the opening 29.90km Ibarrilla test to climb to fourth overall, and third again through the 23.27km Duarte. The 24-year-old punctured a tyre in the following 23.28km Derramadero stage, dropping about 15 seconds, before ending with fifth in the street stage in León.

"In the third stage I dropped a few seconds when the car stalled and then I punctured the front right tyre," said Latvala. "It was a slow puncture so I could continue to the finish but I lost about 15 seconds. I had a good rhythm in the second stage but the time just wasn’t there. The harder I push, the wider the car slides in the corners and the more time I lose, so it’s quite frustrating. I will stiffen the suspension now and see what effect that has this afternoon."

Hirvonen, who suffered most yesterday by ploughing a clear line through the loose stones, was looking forward to better conditions today. The 29-year-old Finn also climbed a place in Ibarrilla with second fastest time, before taking fourth in the remaining three stages to return to service having closed the overnight 30.2sec margin from his team-mate to 10.3sec. He, too, will now stiffen his suspension.

"This morning was better, but I still don’t have a perfect feeling with the car," he said. "I’m gaining time with my road position, but not enough. I changed the damper settings on the car after the first stage to improve the feeling but then the rear left tyre punctured on the next stage. It was a twisty test so I was able to continue without changing the tyre, but I drove for 15km like that. I will try to be more consistent now because when I push too hard I slide wide into the rocks and risk punctures."