Petter fastest at Rally Mexico shakedown

After a frustrating time on the opening round of the World Rally Championship in Sweden, Citroen privateer Petter Solberg is the early pace-setter in Mexico, setting the fastest time at today’s pre-rally Shakedown in his C4 WRC.

But while Solberg was all smiles at the end of the session, a number of other WRC competitors were left with damaged cars as a result of an extremely steep water splash.

Today’s four-hour test took place on the same 5.13km piece of road used in 2008, located in the San Juan de Otates region, 15km from the Service Park in Leon. Weather conditions were dry and sunny throughout with the temperature peaking at 26 degrees Celsius.

Solberg, who took his last WRC rally victory on this event in 2005, made five passes through the stage in his C4 WRC, setting his best time of 2min 51.7sec on his final attempt. Returning to the Service Park, the former World Champion told wrc.com he was happier with the set-up of his car than he had been before Sweden.

"I still don’t have a clue why things went so badly for me in Sweden, but the car didn’t feel quite right at shakedown," he said. "There was so much gravel on the Swedish shakedown that I didn’t really push the car too much. Today, the feeling was much better. We tested last week and the set-up we have settled on feels good."

Solberg’s car was one of many to arrive back at the Service Park sporting damage to its front end. One of the others was the similar C4 WRC of Dani Sordo. The Spaniard was the closest to Solberg’s time, but had to stop his session early after breaking a radiator package.

"The water splash itself wasn’t especially fast - just second gear - but it was very steep in and out," he explained. "There’s a first-gear corner immediately after the water splash, and the fact that I was braking for that didn’t help the angle of the car. The water flooded into the ducting and broke everything. This is the worst water splash we’ve found on the recce, so it shouldn’t be a big issue for the rally."

Apart from his radiator problem, Sordo felt the Shakedown had gone well but had underlined the importance of road-cleaning on the Mexican stages. "The difference between our first and third pass was 10 seconds. Road position is very important here. I’m starting Friday third on the road, and as long as I can keep close to the guys ahead I’ll love to keep that road position right through until Sunday," he said.

Ford drivers Jari-Matti Latvala and Mikko Hirvonen also collected front end damage, proving the issue was not just a Citroen problem. "The water splash was much deeper than it had been in earlier years," said Latvala. "I went over it normally, as I had done in the past, but with more water the force broke the cooling package. Normally the water keeps the front of the car up when you go over it fast, but it didn’t happen this time. We have never had a problem like this with the Focus. I’m going to have to take it more carefully on the rally."

After a ceremonial start this evening in Guanajuato, the opening stage of the rally, the 22.91km Alfaro, gets underway on Friday at 0728hrs.

Shakedown times of the leading WRC drivers:

1. P. SOLBERG. Citroen C4 WRC. 2:51.7
2. SORDO. Citroen C4 WRC. 2:51.8
3. OGIER. Citroen C4 WRC. 2:51.9
4. LOEB. Citroen C4 WRC. 2:52.5
5. RAIKKONEN. Citroen C4 WRC. 2:54.2
6. HIRVONEN. Ford Focus RS WRC 09. 2:55.3
7. H.SOLBERG. Ford Focus RS WRC 08. 2:56.2
8. VILLAGRA. Ford Focus RS WRC 08. 2:56.4
9. WILSON. Ford Focus RS WRC 08. 2:59.9
10. LATVALA. Ford Focus RS WRC 09. 3:00.1
11. BLOCK. Ford Focus RS WRC 08. 3:04.6