Rally Mexico: day twoTOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT drivers in top eight after a challenging opening day in Mexico

Quotes:
Tommi Mäkinen (Team principal)

“We said from the start that Mexico would be one of our biggest challenges, with the combination of heat and altitude providing a question mark. Luckily we believe we have the answer to some of the problems our drivers have been experiencing today. The main thing is that we have two cars safely back at service now after what was always going to be a very tricky day for us. Under the circumstances, both Juho and Jari-Matti have again done a fantastic job. To have a car just one place off the provisional podium after the first day in Mexico is definitely a good result and we look forward to continuing tomorrow.”

Jari-Matti Latvala (Driver car 10)

”I knew that the first day in Mexico would be tough, but maybe not this tough! We’ve seen in the past that overheating has been a particular problem on the very long El Chocolate stage, and I had to switch the car to road mode to try and cool it down, going back to stage mode as soon as it was a safe temperature. It was a little bit the same story on the other stages as well. In any case, I knew that we would lose time being first on the road today but we’re still here and looking forward to a better day tomorrow. There’s always a great atmosphere in Mexico and I am really enjoying being here.”

Juho Hänninen (Driver car 11)

”A tricky day, definitely, which meant that we weren’t able to take as much advantage of our road position as we would have liked. Still, after a long time away from this rally, we have to be happy with fourth overall, especially as there is a very long way still to go. Maybe we made a tyre choice that was too hard as well: even though we had a good road position I was still quite shocked as to how slippery the surface was. Like Jari-Matti we also had some problems with overheating but I think the engineers and mechanics can sort this out at service.”

Topics:

As the first gravel event of the season, Mexico is also the first time that road-sweeping becomes a big factor on the stages. It was particularly important today for Jari-Matti, running first on the road courtesy of leading the drivers’ championship after his Rally Sweden win. This meant he faced roads coated with loose gravel, which provide less grip. Those following behind benefitted from a cleaner line, offering more grip and speed.

What’s next?

Tomorrow should hopefully be a less fragmented day, with nine stages on the menu totalling 157.7 competitive kilometres (the longest day of the rally in terms of distance). There are two loops of three stages starting at 08:33, with service at lunch time in León. The day finishes with two more runs over the Autódromo de León super special stage, which also concluded the action tonight.