This was supposed to be a picture of Markko Märtin’s Ford Focus RS WRC03 winning the first ever World Rally Championship-qualifying Rally México.
But cruising the awesome Girardo archive, how can you resist a shot of Sébastien Loeb sharing the shade of a tree with a cowboy? The Frenchman was waiting to start a stage and sought solace from one of the hotter Guanajuato days.
The pair shared a brief chat as well as the shadows and it’s fair to say, neither really had the first clue who the other one was.
Keeping cool worked well for Loeb as he moved into the lead after defending world champion Petter Solberg hit trouble. Sadly for the Citroën star who would lift the crown from the Norwegian’s head months later, a damaged sump in El Gigante spelled the end of his ride aboard the Méxican wave.
Märtin hit the front and remained there for the rest of the event. Even the Estonian admitted he hadn’t seen this win coming. It didn’t matter one bit. Malcolm Wilson’s Ford World Rally Team celebrated the first ever world championship win in León.
Don’t forget, this picture of Loeb and his León pal’s available for sale at Girardo & Co.
