2008 Rally México
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The 2008 Rally México, officially ''22º Corona Rally México'', was the third round of the
2008 World Rally Championship season The 2008 World Rally Championship was the 36th season of the FIA World Rally Championship. The season consisted of 15 rallies and began on 24 January, with the 2008 Monte Carlo Rally. Frenchman Sébastien Loeb successfully retained the Drivers ...
. The rally was held on February 29 — March 2 and began with a ceremonial start on Thursday, February 28. It was the first gravel event of the season and also the opening round of the Junior World Rally Championship this season.


The event

The rally consisted of 20 special stages, one of which was cancelled due to safety reasons, as there were too many spectators gathered around the road. Also five of the stages were Super Special Stages. Some of the sections were placed as high as 2700 meters over
sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...
, causing significant
engine power Engine power is the power that an engine can develop. It can be expressed in power units, most commonly kilowatt, metric horsepower (often abbreviated PS), or horsepower. In terms of internal combustion engines, the engine power usually describ ...
loss due to lower air pressure. The event was won by the previous edition's winner,
Sébastien Loeb Sébastien Loeb (; born 26 February 1974) is a French professional rally, racing and rallycross driver. He is the most successful driver in the World Rally Championship (WRC), having won the world championship a record nine times in a row. He ho ...
. Before the rally there was some controversy with Citroën Team changing the engine in his car after a major malfunction during the shakedown, but the team reverted to the original unit and avoided a five minutes penalty. The first rally leader was
Jari-Matti Latvala Jari-Matti Latvala (; born 3 April 1985) is a Finnish rally driver who has competed in the World Rally Championship (WRC). His co-driver for most of his career was Miikka Anttila, who co-drove for Latvala between the 2003 Rallye Deutschland and ...
, but after having to be the opening driver on the second day's stages and suffering from the broken intercooler pipe, causing the turbo to overheat and break, he dropped to third.
Subaru is the automaker, automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate (company), conglomerate Subaru Corporation (formerly known as Fuji Heavy Industries), the Automotive industry#By manufacturer, twenty-first largest aut ...
's Chris Atkinson finished second after constant pace placing him in the top eight on every stage, achieving the best result in his career so far. Fourth overall was
Mikko Hirvonen Mikko Hirvonen (born 31 July 1980) is a Finnish former rally driver, and a current Rally-Raid driver, who drove in the World Rally Championship. He placed third in the drivers' championship and helped Ford to the manufacturers' title in both 2 ...
who lost large amounts of time after a few punctures and having to change a wheel in his Ford Focus RS WRC 07.
Henning Solberg Henning Solberg (born 8 January 1973) is a Norway, Norwegian Rallying, rally and rallycross driver. Together with his female co-driver Ilka Minor, he currently competes in the World Rally Championship (WRC) with cars of M-Sport. Solberg is the o ...
lost his battle for fourth with Hirvonen and had to settle for fifth after damaging his damper. The rest of pointing drivers were Matthew Wilson, Federico Villagra, both in Focuses 2007 spec and privateer Ricardo Triviño driving a
Peugeot 206 WRC The Peugeot 206 WRC is a World Rally Car based on the Peugeot 206. It was used by Peugeot Sport, Peugeot's factory team, in the World Rally Championship from 1999 to 2003. The car brought Peugeot the manufacturers' world title three consecutive ...
.
Petter Solberg Petter Solberg (born 18 November 1974), nicknamed "Mr. Hollywood" is a Norwegian former professional rallying, rally and rallycross driver. Solberg debuted in the World Rally Championship in 1998 and was signed by the Ford World Rally Team, For ...
managed to score the last point in Manufacturers' Championship, even though having to restart under SupeRally format after having mechanical problems with the front left
driveshaft A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft (Australian English), propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft (after Girolamo Cardano) is a component for transmitting mechanical power, torque, and rotation, usually used to connect ...
in his Subaru Impreza WRC2007 on SS10. Citroën's number two, Daniel Sordo, came back into the fight after breaking the suspension in his C4 WRC and retiring too, but even though he won 3 stages overall, he wasn't able to regain the penalty he was given.
Suzuki is a Japanese multinational mobility manufacturer headquartered in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Shizuoka. It manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), outboard motor, outboard marine engines, wheelchairs and a va ...
drivers suffered from mechanical problems during the first day and both
Toni Gardemeister Toni Gardemeister (born 31 March 1975) is a Finnish professional rally driver in the World Rally Championship. After previously competing for SEAT's, Mitsubishi's, Škoda's and Ford's factory teams, as well as for privateer teams, he joined the ...
and Per-Gunnar Andersson had to retire from the rally for good. Also Stobart's Gigi Galli wasn't able to finish the event - the Italian had to retire from top-eight position after breaking the suspension in his Ford Focus. The top eight was followed by the JWRC podium - Frenchman Sebastien Ogier in Citroën C2 S1600,
Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...
n
Jaan Mölder Jaan Mölder (born 9 June 1987) is an Estonian former rally Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Political demonstration, a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event hel ...
and Pole Michał Kościuszko, both in Suzuki Swifts S1600.


Result change

Mexican Ricardo Triviño was disqualified during the second day of the event for using non- homologated driving gloves; he was able to complete the rally after deciding to appeal his case to higher jurisdiction. His request was later rejected and Triviño was excluded from the event, which resulted in Sebastien Ogier, WRC debutant, to score one point in drivers' championship. It was the first time in World Rally history that JWRC driver driving
Super 1600 Super 1600, also known as S1600, is a Rallying, rally car formula that was primarily used in the Junior World Rally Championship between 2001 and 2010, as well as international rallycross championships and various national rally championships. Any ...
front-wheel drive Front-wheel drive (FWD) is a form of internal combustion engine, engine and transmission (mechanics), transmission layout used in motor vehicles, in which the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel-drive vehicles feature ...
rally car scored points in overall classification.


Results


Special stages

All dates and times are CST ( UTC-6). Footnotes * A  all times local


Championship standings after the event


Drivers' championship


Manufacturers' championship


Junior championship


References


External links


Results
a
eWRC-results.com

Results
at official pag
WRC.com
{{Rally Mexico
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
Rally Mexico
Rally Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Political demonstration, a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a North American school or college sporting event Sport ...