After a wild Friday, World Rally Championship crews will be hoping for a much calmer second day of action on the México gravel.
Here’s DirtFish’s guide to the five different tests drivers will face on Saturday, and the conditions they’re likely to encounter on those stages.
SS13/16 Guanajuatito (15.51 miles)
The stage closest to Leon, Saturday morning’s opener starts outside the village of Guanajatito, goes through Buenos Aires (seriously – but not that one) and finishes in El Gigante. The only change to this stage is a short section at the finish, where the last half-mile is new. It was used in 2017, but in the opposite direction.
There’s a good mix in here with some nice wide sections, but a long tricky narrow stretch in the middle with plenty of bridges and places where the drivers will need the focus and fix on pacenotes to be absolutely vital. A tricky start to the day, and there’s only a short road section before the start of Alfaro, so anybody carrying damage out of SS13/16 could be compromised going into the next one.
SS14/17 Alfaro (10.55 miles)
The first mile of the stage is back from 2017, but otherwise the stage runs as it did last season. Even though it’s only a couple of miles away from the end of Guanajuatito, this stage is slightly different in nature with more fast and flowing corners. A highlight of this one is the jump towards the finish – but that’s nothing compared with the jump that’s coming an hour or so later.
SS15/18 Derramadero (13.53 miles)
It’s the first time the first half of this stage has run in this direction for three years. Once the cars get to the village of La Estancia, the southerly half of the stage doubles as the El Brinco powerstage on Sunday. The whole stage is quite twisty, but even though it’s more twisty and technical there’s a genuine flow to it if you can get into the groove. And then there’s that jump. That jump. The big one at the bottom of the hill. Watch those cars fly.
SS19/20 Autodromo Shell V-Power (1.44 miles)
Exactly the same as last season, side-by-side stage at a circuit. The organizers will water the track as often as possible, but expect plenty of dust and drivers grumbling that their side of the track was undoubtedly the worst.
SS21 Rock & Rally León
The closest stage to service, this all-asphalt test runs essentially around the car park of the poliforum. It’s not complicated, but it can be tricky – as Kris Meeke showed when he clattered a plant pot last season.
