United States GP || October 20 || 14h00 (Local time)

SS12: Solberg wins stage as Loeb grows lead

Loeb extends advantage in Mexico

By Franck Drui

5 March 2011 - 18:19

Citroen star Sebastien Loeb has extended his lead of Rally Guanajuato Mexico to 17.8 seconds, despite conceding the stage win to the recovering Petter Solberg.

Solberg, who dropped time on day one with an electrical fault, flew through the stage in his Citroen DS3 WRC, beating Loeb by 4.4 seconds.

Overnight leader Sebastien Ogier, who is cleaning the road of the loose surface gravel in his Citroen, could only manage the fifth fastest time but maintains second in the overall classification ahead of Ford Fiesta RS WRC ace Mikko Hirvonen.

Petter Solberg netted the second-fastest time in his Citroen DS3 WRC in his efforts to make up the time he lost on Friday afternoon with an electrical fault.

Crews have one more all-gravel stage left of the morning loop, the 23.28-kilometre Derramadero test.

Standings after SS12:

Pos.	Driver	Car	Time
01	S. LOEB / D. ELENA	Citroën DS3 WRC	2h03m52.6s
02	S. OGIER / J. INGRASSIA	Citroën DS3 WRC	+17.8s
03	M. HIRVONEN / J. LEHTINEN	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+1m40.6s
04	J. LATVALA / M. ANTTILA	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+3m18.4s
05	E. NOVIKOV / S. PRÉVOT	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+5m00.3s
06	H. SOLBERG / I. MINOR	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+5m13.2s
07	M. ØSTBERG / J. ANDERSSON	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+7m16.7s
08	N. AL-ATTIYAH / G. BERNACCHINI	Ford Fiesta S2000	+7m26.8s
09	P. SOLBERG / C. PATTERSSON	Citroën DS3 WRC	+7m30.7s
10	M. PROKOP / J. TOMANEK	Ford Fiesta S2000	+8m17.7s
11	J. HÄNNINEN / M. MARKKULA	Skoda Fabia S2000	+9m27.0s
12	O. TANAK / K. SIKK	Ford Fiesta S2000	+17m32.6s
13	R. SALGADO / D. SALGADO	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X	+20m22.5s
14	F. NAME / A. ZAPATA	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	+24m40.9s
15	K. BLOCK / A. GELSOMINO	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+24m42.3s