P-WRC: Araujo ahead in the battle of the champions

Defending Production car World Rally Champion Armindo Araujo leads the P-WRC class of Rally Mexico after day one, but the stage is set for a thrilling battle over the next two days with former champion Toshi Arai just 5.4sec behind him.

Araujo, from Portugal, seized the early initiative, taking the class lead in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX on SS1 while Japan’s Arai trailed by 9.4sec in his Subaru Impreza. The Japanese driver, P-WRC champion in 2005 and 2007, was quick to respond, however, and snatched the lead on SS2.

Over the next four stages Araujo and Arai pulled ahead of the rest of the field as they fought for the lead. A string of four consecutive stage wins eventually moved Araujo back ahead on SS6, and although his holds the position overnight, two stage wins from Arai late in the day means the battle is wide open with two days to go.

"We started very well today, but in the second stage we saved the car a little too much and that allowed Arai to get ahead," said Araujo. "After that we won all the stages until the Super Special when again we were perhaps too cautious over the jumps. But it’s okay; we’re in the lead, and that was the target."

Arai said: "We’ve had an okay day, but an uncomfortable one because we’ve had a power steering problem on and off throughout. It seems that the power steering fluid is boiling - maybe because of the altitude - and that’s made it tough going - especially on the twisty sections. My muscles are very sore! Hopefully changing the pump unit tonight will improve the situation for tomorrow."

The furious pace of the lead pair has enabled them to pull a long way clear of the other Production competitions.

Mexican wildcard entry Benito Guerra was the best of the rest through the morning stages, but his challenge came to an end on SS6 when a broken driveshaft on his Mitsubishi Lancer forced his retirement.

Third place this evening, 2min 37 sec behind Arai is the Argentinean Mitsubishi driver, Miguel Angel Baldoni. "I am very happy to be here in third place on my first Rally Mexico," he said. "We’ll make some changes to the brakes and suspension tonight and hopefully we can push harder tomorrow."