2008 Rally México

Infobox Rally
name = 2008 Rally México
native_name = 22º Corona Rally México
round = 3
championship = 2008 World Rally Championship
previous_round = 2008 Swedish Rally
next_round = 2008 Rally Argentina
country = MEX


caption = Sierra Madre mountains in México.
rallybase = León, México
startdate = February 29
enddate = March 2, 2008
stages = 20
stagekm = 353.75
overallkm = 830.83
surface = Gravel
driver1 = flagicon|FRA Sébastien Loeb
team1 = flagicon|FRA Citroën-Total World Rally Team
teamsstart = 39
teamsfinish = 29
commons = Category:2008 Rally MexicoThe 2008 Rally México, officially "22º Corona Rally México", was the third round of the 2008 World Rally Championship season. The rally was held on February 29 — March 2 and began with a ceremonial start on Thursday, February 28. It was the first gravel event of the season and also the opening round of the Junior World Rally Championship this season.cite web
url=http://www.crash.net/motorsport/wrc/news/160116-1/preview_rally_mexico_-_pt_1.html
title=Preview: Rally Mexico - Pt. 1.
date=2008-02-26
accessdate=2008-03-01
publisher=Crash.net]

The event

The rally consisted of 20 special stages, one of which was cancelled due to safety reasons, as there were too many spectators gathered around the road.cite news
url=http://www.crash.net/motorsport/wrc/news/160343-0/rally_mexico_ss18_-_cancelled.html
title=Rally Mexico: SS18 - cancelled.
date=2008-03-02
accessdate=2008-03-02
publisher=Crash.net] Also five of the stages were Super Special Stages. Some of the sections were placed as high as 2700 meters over sea level, causing significant engine power loss due to lower air pressure.

changing the engine in his car after a major malfunction during the shakedown, [cite news
url=http://www.crash.net/motorsport/wrc/news/160178-0/loeb_hit_by_engine_problems.html
title=Loeb hit by engine problems.
date=2008-02-29
accessdate=2008-03-02
publisher=Crash.net] but the team reverted back to the original unit and avoided a five minutes penalty. [cite news
url=http://www.crash.net/motorsport/wrc/news/160212-0/loeb_reverts_to_original_engine_avoids_penalty.html
title=Loeb reverts to original engine, avoids penalty.
date=2008-02-29
accessdate=2008-03-02
publisher=Crash.net] The first rally leader was Jari-Matti Latvala, but after having to be the opening driver on the second day's stages and suffering from the broken intercooler pipe, causing the turbo to overheat and break, he dropped back to third. [cite news
url=http://www.crash.net/motorsport/wrc/news/160329-0/latvala_out_to_save_his_podium.html
title=Latvala out to 'save' his podium.
date=2008-03-02
accessdate=2008-03-02
publisher=Crash.net] Subaru's Chris Atkinson finished second after constant pace placing him in the top eight on every stage, achieving the best result in his career so far. Fourth overall was Mikko Hirvonen who lost large amounts of time after a few punctures and having to change a wheel in his Ford Focus RS WRC 07. [cite news
url=http://www.crash.net/motorsport/wrc/news/160325-1/rally_reactions_rally_mexico_-_day_2.html
title=Rally reactions: Rally Mexico - Day 2.
date=2008-03-01
accessdate=2008-03-02
publisher=Crash.net] Henning Solberg lost his battle for fourth with Hirvonen and had to settle for fifth after damaging his damper. [cite web
url=http://ewrc-results.com/results_main.php?event=151&stage=2970&category=&group=
title=Rally Mexico 2008 results - SS20 - drivers comments
accessdate=2008-03-02
work=ewrc-results.com] The rest of pointing drivers were Matthew Wilson, Federico Villagra, both in Focuses 2007 spec and privateer Ricardo Treviño driving a Peugeot 206 WRC. Petter Solberg managed to score the last point in Manufacturers' Championship, even tough having to restart under SupeRally format after having mechanical problems with the front left driveshaft in his Subaru Impreza WRC2007 on SS10. [cite news
url=http://www.crash.net/motorsport/wrc/news/160296-0/news_flash_petter_out.html
title=NEWS FLASH: Petter out.
date=2008-03-01
accessdate=2008-03-02
publisher=Crash.net] Citroën's number two, Daniel Sordo, came back into the fight after breaking the suspension in his C4 WRC and retiring too, [cite news
url=http://www.crash.net/motorsport/wrc/news/160280-0/official_sordo_to_re-start.html
title=Official: Sordo to re-start.
date=2008-03-01
accessdate=2008-03-02
publisher=Crash.net] but even though he won 3 stages overall, he wasn't able to regain the penalty he was given.

Suzuki drivers suffered from mechanical problems during the first day and both Toni Gardemeister and Per-Gunnar Andersson had to retire from the rally for good. [cite news
url=http://www.crash.net/motorsport/wrc/news/160240-0/news_flash_p-g_retires.html
title=NEWS FLASH: P-G retires.
date=2008-02-29
accessdate=2008-03-02
publisher=Crash.net] [cite news
url=http://www.crash.net/motorsport/wrc/news/160242-0/news_flash_galli_gardemeister_join_retirees.html
title=NEWS FLASH: Galli, Gardemeister join retirees.
date=2008-02-29
accessdate=2008-03-02
publisher=Crash.net] Also Stobart's Gigi Galli wasn't able to finish the event - the Italian had to retire from top-eight position after breaking the suspension in his Ford Focus. [cite news
url=http://www.crash.net/motorsport/wrc/news/160272-0/galli_very_disappointed_to_retire.html
title=Galli 'very disappointed' to retire.
date=2008-03-01
accessdate=2008-03-02
publisher=Crash.net]

The top eight was followed by the JWRC podium - Frenchman Sebastien Ogier in Citroën C2 S1600, Estonian Jaan Mölder and Pole Michał Kościuszko, both in Suzuki Swifts S1600.

Result change

Mexican Ricardo Treviño was disqualified during the second day of the event for using non-homologated driving gloves; he was able to complete the rally after deciding to appeal his case to higher jurisdiction. His request was later rejected and Treviño was excluded from the event, which resulted in Sebastien Ogier, WRC debutant, to score one point in drivers' championship.cite news
url=http://www.crash.net/motorsport/wrc/news/161011-0/rally_mexico_result_revised.html
title=Rally Mexico result revised.
date=2008-03-20
accessdate=2008-03-20
publisher=Crash.net] It was the first time in World Rally history that JWRC driver driving Super 1600 front-wheel drive rally car scored points in overall classification. [cite news
url=http://wrc.com/jsp/index.jsp?lnk=101&id=689&desc=Amended%20Mexico%20result%20makes%20Ogier%20a%20record%20breaker
title=Amended Mexico result makes Ogier a record breaker
publisher=www.WRC.com
date=2008-03-20
accessdate=2008-03-21]

Results

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Manufacturers' championship

Local impact

The 2008 Rally Mexico had a significant economic and cultural impact on the state of Guanajuato. Rallybase in León brought significant tourism and rally-related business to the growing city, while the ceremonial start was held amongst huge crowds in the capital and cultural center of the state, Guanajuato. Due to the nature of the event, however, it touched several other communities in the area. In 2008, the rally was preceded the previous weekend by the Rally of Health, a procession aimed at raising the standards of health care and awareness in the rural areas of the state. Infrastructure as well was enhanced, as the rally funded several road construction programs to improve access to towns in areas covered by the rally's special stages.

References

External links

* [http://ewrc-results.com/results_main.php?event=151 Results] at [http://ewrc-results.com/ eWRC-results.com]
* [http://wrc.com/jsp/index.jsp?lnk=405&season=2008&rally_id=MEX Results] at official page [http://www.wrc.com/ WRC.com]