Sébastien Ogier is in control of Rally México, holding a 28.5-second advantage over Elfyn Evans as the cars head into midday service.
Ogier, who had not led at all this weekend until Saturday’s first pass of Ibarrilla, found himself thrust into a more than healthy lead when Esapekka Lappi crashed out.
He was yet to extend his overall advantage since taking first place until SS14 – where he added 1.5s to his lead – but that won’t be of concern for the Toyota driver as Evans keeps an eye on Thierry Neuville behind in third.
Neuville has been on fine form all morning long, winning three of the four stages which made up Saturday’s first leg, and is now 8.7s from second.
That gap has remained fairly neutral and no major gains have been made, but with the pace Neuville has been showing in his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 so far on Saturday, Evans’ advantage could start to come down more in the afternoon.
It’s been a quiet morning for reigning champion Kalle Rovanperä who has silently got on with the task at hand, he sits fourth overall and 36.6s shy of Neuville ahead.
Dani Sordo is a further 43.1s behind as he looks to recover time lost to a puncture yesterday.
Ott Tänak will head to midday service hoping some changes can be made to his Ford, as he has not been happy with the feeling in the car throughout the morning. He remains 14 minutes from the leaders after his Friday problems.
This afternoon’s loop will start once more with a pass of Ibarrilla, and will end as it did last yesterday with two short superspecial stages.
