Photo Credit: Hyundai Motorsport It feels like a wee while again, but the World Rally Championship returns next week as the re-born series heads to Mexico for the third round of the 2017 season. Rally Guanajuato Mexico is considered one of the tougher rallies of the year, so the onus will be as much on reliability as it will outright pace as we try to work out who has done the best job at adapting to the new and exciting 2017 regulations.
The changes made to the WRC for this year were meant to aid the spectacle among other things, and that it certainly has done. The cars are faster, more dramatic and sound better, and despite the obvious loss of VW in the sport, the field is more competitive than it has been in at least ten years. The first obvious example of this comes when you cast your eyes over the start order for day one in Mexico. Sebastien Ogier won't start as first car on the road on Friday for the first time in three years, with Toyota's Jari-Matti Latvala leading the championship courtesy of a second in Monte-Carlo and a debut win for his new team in Sweden last month. Latvala is unlikely to repeat those incredible performances in Mexico with the added challenge of opening the road, but it is clear that the Yaris WRC is one serious package. Latvala's pre-season test suffered a little hiccup with a low speed roll, but the confidence is back within the Finn and that is a scary thing for his rivals. Quadruple champion Sebastien Ogier will start second in Mexico, after winning the opening round of the season and finishing third in Sweden. Ogier has established himself as the best rally driver in the world with his blistering pace and consistency, but the Fiesta RS WRC is still relatively new to him so we haven't seen him setting the timing screen alight this year just yet. A podium if not a win will be the Frenchman's target, but he'll just be happy not to be cleaning the road for those behind him. M-Sport team mate Ott Tanak has had a brilliant start to 2017, joining Latvala and Ogier on the podium on both of this season's rallies. Sweden was another sign that it is a case of when and not if the Estonian will win his first World Rally, and in theory there's no reason to suggest that he can't do that in Mexico next week. Dani Sordo has fulfilled the role that we have come to expect from the Spaniard at the wheel of his i20 Coupe WRC already this season, finishing a consistent but occasionally distant fourth overall on the tarmac of the Monte and snow and ice of Sweden. Sordo finished third last year in Mexico only for him to be hit with a post-rally penalty that demoted him to fourth for using 29 tyres instead of the allocated 28. He may not be the quickest, but consistency goes a long way in America. Craig Breen is in the perhaps unexpected situation of being the highest placed Citroen driver in the championship after two rallies. After having conducted the most pre-season testing of any of the teams, it is the French marque that at this point in the season find themselves lagging behind a touch. Breen was ultra-impressive in Monte-Carlo in a DS3 though before opting for a safety first approach after a troubled Friday in Sweden, but unfortunately for the likable Irishman Citroen are only yielding two factory C3's in Mexico, and Breen won't be in one. A man who had a point to prove at the start of the year is Elfyn Evans, and the Welshman will be looking to continue his good form in the DMACK Fiesta on his return to the sport's top level. The defending British Rally Champion has been dogged with small issues on each event, so rest assured there is a lot more to come from the Evans and DMACK package. Stephane Lefebvre has had a mixed start to 2017. An off road moment on Thursday night wrote off any chance of a strong result on the season opener before a rally in last year's DS3 put him at an obvious disadvantage in the Swedish forests. However, the promising French star is the only Citroen driver to claim a stage win in the WRC's new era, which in all honesty says more about the car than it does Lefebvre, but it's still an encouraging sign. What to say of Thierry Neuville? In many respects the Belgian has been the class act of 2017, storming into an early and commanding lead early on both rallies so far this season. But come the final stage of Saturday, on both occasions he has thrown it away. More than anything else, Neuville needs a finish next weekend in Mexico, but expect that to be a high one given his apparent speed, the capability of the Hyundai and his low starting position. Starting just behind him on the road and one point behind in the championship is Hyundai #4 Hayden Paddon. Paddon's season got off to the worst possible start with the Monte getting the better of him on just the very first test. Due to the nature of the accident, Sweden was all about building his confidence back up. Having got a rally under his belt, Hayden will be relishing the return to gravel. The man with the most to do though is Northern Irishman Kris Meeke. 2017 has been nothing short of a disaster for the Ulsterman, who many had tipped as their favourite for the title. Already that seems unlikely, with mistakes in Monte-Carlo and Sweden that were part driver error and part down to a lively and unpredictable rear-end on the C3 WRC. Citroen will more than likely have at least tried to remedy the issue in Mexico, as their star driver was let's just say, less than impressed with his car in Sweden. If you haven't seen Meeke's onboards from Sweden, go check them out on WRC+, but a word of warning. The language does get a little fruity... Juho Hanninen has crashed his Toyota into a tree for two rallies in a row. With Latvala already proving the car's potential by leading the championship, the pressure is already mounting on the Finn, especially with reserve driver Esapekka Lappi waiting in the wings and an increasingly frustrated Andreas Mikkelsen sidelined without a drive. Mads Ostberg won't be in Mexico due to the birth of his child, and I want to pass my congratulations on to him and his wife. Rally Mexico has never been a particular favourite of mine, but after this event we may well get more of an idea of who will be at the very sharp end of the pack in 2017. I'm going for a Neuville win, but let me know in the comments who you think will take the top step in the high altitude of Mexico.
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January 2018
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