Esapekka Lappi (Hyundai) kept his cool in the heat of Mexico and has so far fended off attacks from Sebastien Ogier (Toyota) in the battle for the lead. “I’m a bit surprised,” beamed Lappi at the end of the Fretiags stage. “That was probably one of the best days of my career.”
Elfyn Evans finished third on the podium but is already 24.8 seconds behind his Toyota teammate Ogier.
Thierry Neuville was slowed down by a failure of his Hyundai’s hybrid unit in the morning, followed by a right rear damper failure and a damaged driveshaft in the afternoon. More than fourth place is currently not possible for the Belgian.
Defending champion Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota), who started second, was badly affected by the loose conditions. As a result, he lost time on almost every stage and ended the day fifth.
Ott Tänak (Ford) is more than 14 minutes off the leader after crawling through the first loop of the morning with a turbocharger failure. It was a disastrous day for the M Sport team as both Pierre-Louis Loubet and Jourdan Serderidis retired on their Pumas in stage one.
Also out early was birthday boy Takamoto Katsuta, who lost control of his Toyota Yaris at high speed on SS5 and rolled down a steep embankment.
