Стартовали

43 машины вышли на старт второго дня ралли Мексики 2007.

Маршрут

Субботний маршрут был очень похож по конфигурации на пятничный, только другие участки. Два одинаковых круга по три спецучастка в каждом команды и леонский суперспешиал. Общая протяженность дня 347.45 км, из которых 158.38 км приходится на спецучастки. Стоит отметить, что субботняя дорога была более петляющей.

Погода

Утром было пасмурно, но все так же тепло. Днем погода расгулялась, а столбик термометра поднялся до отметки в 28 градусов по цельсию.

Сошли с дистанции

День прошел без особых происшествий.

Успехи команды Субару

После драматического первого дня ралли Мексики, на второй день ралли отдуваться за всех пришлось Крису Аткинсону. Он не смог удержать второе место, но за 4 участка до финиша расчитывает на финиш в пятерке лидеров. Гонка за призовыми очками продолжается.

SS9 08:19 Ibarrilla 1 (30.20 км)

Leg two began from Leon at 0730hrs with partly cloudy conditions and a temperature of 13 degrees Celsius. Ibarrilla, the first stage of the day, was located to the north east of the city 15km from the service area. The dry weather ensured that the 30km speed test was dusty, and meant there was plenty of loose gravel covering the twisty mountain route. The fastest time was set by rally leader Sebastien Loeb, but the battle for second place between Mikko Hirvonen and Chris Atkinson intensified as Hirvonen pulled ahead of his Subaru rival by 1.2sec. “We had a good pace at the start, even though there was a lot of dust in the air, but were over cautious towards the end, we’ll keep trying, don’t worry,” said Atkinson.

Лучшее время: Лоеб (Ситроен) 18:17.3

SS10 09:42 Duarte 1 (23.51 км)

According to Petter Solberg’s co-driver, Phil Mills, the number of 90-degree bends on the 23km Duarte stage make it the most twisty of the rally. The narrow, technical route is also one of the least forgiving, and most of the corners have rocks on the apex, the outside edge, or both. Having altered the suspension set-up of his new Impreza WRC2007 at the end of leg one, Atkinson was still getting used the feel of the car, but was confident enough to set the fourth-fastest time and claw back 1.1 sec of Hirvonen’s advantage. At the end of the stage, the gap between the pair was a slender 0.1sec.

Лучшее время: Лоеб (Ситроен) 17:55.0

SS11 10:33 Derramadero (23.27 км)

After a very tight and technical stage, crews headed 16km west to a particularly quick one. Derramadero starts with a flat-out 15km sprint on a hard smooth surface, before getting rougher and ending with a series of violent jumps and dips. After suffering with an engine problem for much of leg one, Marcus Gronholm attacked hard on SS11 to take the stage win and leap from fourth to second in the overall classification. Another good stage time from Dani Sordo meant that four drivers, separated by less than 10sec, were now in the fight for second place. Chris Atkinson lost part of his car’s front bumper in one of dips near the end of the stage, but didn’t think the incident had slowed him.

Лучшее время: Гронхольм (Форд) 14:01.6

SS12 13:07 Ibarrilla 2 (30.20 км)

After a 30-minute service halt in Leon, crews headed back to the village of Ibarrilla to begin the repeat pass through the morning’s stages. Weather conditions remained overcast, with a temperature of 20 degrees Celsius and little or no wind. Many drivers reported visibility problems during the 30km section as dust clouds from the cars ahead hung in the air. With most of the loose gravel swept from the road during the first run, stage winner Loeb completed the test 11sec quicker than he had on SS9. At the finish line Chris Atkinson reported problems: “We lost some engine power half way through and dropped off a fair bit. We’ve no idea why, but I think we gave away nearly 20 seconds.” As a result the Australian dropped back one place to fifth in the overall classification.

Лучшее время: Лоеб (Ситроен) 18:06.2

SS13 14:30 Duarte 2 (23.51 км)

After a refuelling stop, the drivers made their way back to the twisty and technical Duarte stage. Before starting the test, Atkinson pulled over on the road section and ran a series of diagnostic checks on his car’s engine. The most likely source of the power loss was intermittent turbo boost pressure. He went on to complete the stage in the fourth-fastest time and kept himself firmly in contention for a podium finish. In an incredibly close grouping, Atkinson remained fifth overall, but less than two seconds from third. Danni Sordo moved up a place to third after Hirvonen spun in the first split section and lost around 20 seconds.

Лучшее время: Гронхольм (Форд) 17:32.2

SS14 15:21 Derramadero 2 (23.27 км)

The furious scrap for third continued on the last of the day’s mountain tests. Hirvonen and Sordo swapped places once again, while Atkinson pushed as hard as he could. The gap between the three drivers extended to 10 seconds, but with only the two Superspecials remaining on leg two, the scene was set for a thrilling finale on the final day’s 62 competitive kilometres. At the top of the leaderboard, Loeb recorded his fourth stage win of the leg and pulled 1min 2.2sec clear of Gronholm in second.

Лучшее время: Лоеб (Ситроен) 13:49.4

SS15/SS16 16:35/16:39 Superspecial 3/4 (2.21 км)

The final two tests of the day were run together at the Superspecial in Leon. In front of a huge crowd, the crews completed two laps of the mixed surface spectator stage as SS15 before switching lanes and repeating the course as SS16. Gains over such a short distance were slim, but in the battle for the final podium position, Sordo did enough to re-take third place from Hirvonen.

Лучшее время: SS15 Сордо (Ситроен) 1:44.6 / SS16 Вилсон (Форд) 01:43.3