México and México City in particular is understandably proud of its main square.
London has Trafalgar. New Yorkers call it Time. And for Venetians, it’s Piazza San Marco.
And they’re all nice. All very impressive. But they don’t quite manage the imposing Zócalo effect. Formally known as Plaza de la Constitución, México City’s main square really is quite something. And never more so than when Sébastien Ogier is flying a Ford Fiesta WRC into the center.
The idea came early in 2016 and by the middle of that season, Rally México director Patrick Suberville had that twinkle in his eye. He was working on something special. But he couldn’t, he daren’t say anything yet. By the end of the year, word was out.
Eighteen months on from one of the most dramatic openings to a James Bond film, Suberville was ready to top Spectre by running a street stage around Zócalo.
The logistics themselves would have put most organizers off. Shakedown was brought forward by a day to the Wednesday, with the event organizer laying on transport to shift the entire field of rally cars 250 miles south from the León service park to the heart of Mexico City and its population of eight million.
More than anybody, México had found the true meaning of taking the sport to the people.
Thursday morning and drivers, co-drivers and team personnel hopped on a pair of specially chartered Boeing 737s and flew down to meet their cars. After an afternoon of meeting and greeting a bunch of folk who had never come close to the World Rally Championship, it was time for business.
Toyota’s Juho Hänninen was fastest on the first run before Ogier went quickest on the second shot at this most famous of street stages.
Standing among the thousands watching was a breathtaking experience. It was impossible to think of anything, anywhere in the world being able to top the Guanajuato street stage for atmosphere, but the Méxicans had managed it.
Stages done, it was out of the city and back to the airport for the 40-minute flight back to León. Just as the crews were climbing into bed, the drivers of some of México’s most precious cargo ever – the entire ‘live’ field of round three of the 2017 World Rally Championship – were just setting out on the road home.
And that’s where the plan went slightly awry. A road traffic accident blocked the highway north and delayed the cars arrival back into service. Friday morning’s first two stages were lost, while the overdue cargo was delivered. But do you know what? It was worth it.
Looking back now, Suberville smiles a wry smile.
“It was a lot of work,” he says. “A lot of work. When we told the government what we wanted to do, they weren’t sure at all. Once we had agreement, the regulations which were laid down were just incredible. We were given this [time] window to work in and we had to be in and out and we had to leave the place precisely as we found it.
“That’s why you would have seen people scrubbing the floor of the Square to get rid of the rubber marks left by the cars. It was a fantastic effort to do it.
“To take our rally to the most famous Square in the country and a place everybody was still talking about because of James Bond was a demonstration of what we do with Rally México.”
