From WRC.com

Solberg optimistic for Mexico

2003 world champion Petter Solberg has said he's got no worries about a repeat of last year's problems on the Corona Rally Mexico, which denied him the chance to fight for victory. Last year's event was the debut for the 2004-spec Subaru Impreza, while this year's event sees the introduction of the 2005-spec car.

An alternator failure at the end of the opening leg cost Solberg five minutes in road penalties as he had to push his car over the time control ramp. The Norwegian has admitted, however, that he has no fears of a repeat incident. He has tested the new Impreza in Sardinia, and is happy that it is a significant step forward over the current car. He is also counting on a repeat of the more focused approach from the Subaru team in Sweden - the result of a 10-hour pre-rally think-tank - that helped him to his win on the snow event.

"Although I was unlucky on Rally Mexico last year, it's a great event to take part in and I'm really looking forward to going back," he said. "It's a very well run rally - last year the organisers did a very professional job, considering it was their first year in the WRC - and I'd say it's one of the best events of the season. Mexico is an interesting place for us to go visit, too and - as a destination - it's somewhere I'd like to spend more time. The people, food, scenery and atmosphere make it unique.

"The stages seem to suit the Impreza pretty well. We've got a new evolution of the car to launch this time and, hopefully, if we have a clean run with no problems, we've got a good chance of winning. Well, that's the plan. It's all about achieving perfection at every stage of the process, from Phil and me to the guys building the cars and the ones working in service too. It's going to be a tough battle out there, I can promise you."

Team principal David Lapworth admitted that he also shared Solberg's optimism for the event. "Obviously, this is the first event with the new car and you'll always have concerns, but from what we've seen in testing there's no reason for worry," he said.


Now that he won Sweden, Petter's got the inertia that will carry him to the World Championship again!

Gooooo Petter!

:banana:




<shameless bragging>
Even if he doesn't win Mexico, I'll be there in New Zealand Next month to cheer him on, so he'll win there :D
</shameless bragging>

Patron is in the freezer.

Holy crap, a rally thread in the Motorsports forum that actually has an indication of the date the rally is going to be run in it! :eek:

<shameless bragging>
Even if he doesn't win Mexico, I'll be there in New Zealand Next month to cheer him on, so he'll win there :D
</shameless bragging>



Top 5 reasons why Rally Mexico will be better than Rally New Zealand:

5) Costs less
4) Tequila and lots of free Corona
3) Shorter Plane ride
2) all your friends will be there and it is one big party
1) Mexican Woman!!!!

So... http://www.automotivephoto.com/bulletin/images/smilies/misc/asshake.gif

w00t!

We'll see how the 05 Impreza does.


-Mark
MAPmotors.com

Messico!!!!

Remember Petter said he will win 10 rallies this year.....

Top 5 reasons why Rally Mexico will be better than Rally New Zealand:

5) Costs less
4) Tequila and lots of free Corona
3) Shorter Plane ride
2) all your friends will be there and it is one big party
1) Mexican Woman!!!!

So... http://www.automotivephoto.com/bulletin/images/smilies/misc/asshake.gif

pffttt....no hairy Hobbit foots in Messico :p

p.s. if Solberg had won Mex last year I think he'd have repeated.

Top 5 reasons why Rally Mexico will be better than Rally New Zealand:

5) Costs less
4) Tequila and lots of free Corona
3) Shorter Plane ride
2) all your friends will be there and it is one big party
1) Mexican Woman!!!!

So... http://www.automotivephoto.com/bulletin/images/smilies/misc/asshake.gif

Translation: I'm jealous of teh monstar :p

Translation: I'm jealous of teh monstar :p

Touche!

Maybe a little, but only because this is the third year in a row I'll have been at Mexico, have yet to go to New Zealand

BTW did I mention the woman in Mexico?

http://www.morgansegal.com/day1/images/DSC_0258.jpg

http://www.morgansegal.com/crm/images/o)%20Atmosphere_03.jpg

http://www.morgansegal.com/crm/images/p)%20Atmosphere_01.jpg

Touche!

Maybe a little, but only because this is the third year in a row I'll have been at Mexico, have yet to go to New Zealand



So, from your previous experiences of Rally Mexico do you have any tips to share for a first-timer? Recommendations on stages to catch or places to see? (Other than seeing the women, yes? ;))

My flight heads out in 19 1/2 hours! :banana:


The weather reports predict rain. :( Though I guess it will keep the dust down. I wonder if anyone selected wet weather tires?

p.s. if Solberg had won Mex last year I think he'd have repeated.

Win, Lose or Draw, go to Mexico and you are guaranteed to repeat. :devil:

So, from your previous experiences of Rally Mexico do you have any tips to share for a first-timer? Recommendations on stages to catch or places to see? (Other than seeing the women, yes? ;))

My flight heads out in 19 1/2 hours! :banana:


The weather reports predict rain. :( Though I guess it will keep the dust down. I wonder if anyone selected wet weather tires?


Sorry Melinda, I forgot to mention the Mexican men

http://www.morgansegal.com/crm/images/n)%20Atmosphere_01.jpg

ooh la la :lol:

Yes, the opening ceremony is must see, but make sure you get there hours early, like three, four hours its extremely crowded and in a tight back street, but it is amazing. Also it is worth hanging out in Guanajuato, it is a great city.

I have not looked at the stage maps yet to see which they are running this year, but most of the main spectator areas in the past have been amazing, some you can see the cars for miles, so you can't really go wrong

Bring mexican cash with you on the stages, there is some vendors in places selling great food, and stop in one of the villages for some food too if you get a chance.

Make sure you go to the bar/restaurant that is kind of across from the headquarters ( a big yellow place if I recall, you can't miss it) the food is great ad the atmosphere gets a bit wild at times


Rain would be bad

anyone from texas driving? the twisties in mexico are incredible!!!

Sorry Melinda, I forgot to mention the Mexican men

Aw, I don't see how the men could have slipped your mind! ;)

The stages are pretty similar to last year's. Details on what the changes are can be found here (http://www.rallymexico.com/competitors.asp?f=Route&title=Route%20Information) Leg 3 should be interesting, since it's all new stages. (Two of them run twice.) The last one is supposed to be the longest in the WRC at over 44 KM.

Aw, I don't see how the men could have slipped your mind! ;)

The stages are pretty similar to last year's. Details on what the changes are can be found here (http://www.rallymexico.com/competitors.asp?f=Route&title=Route%20Information) Leg 3 should be interesting, since it's all new stages. (Two of them run twice.) The last one is supposed to be the longest in the WRC at over 44 KM.

I probably won't even think about where I will be going until I get there. I will have media credentials so with that you get a pretty extensive book showing all the stages, with maps, directions, details and photos of good places to go for taking photos. In an ideal world I would have gone down early and done a recce, but I could not get down there any earlier and thursday is taken up with shakedown and drivers portraits

Make sure you go to shakedown BTW

Looks like most of the rain will before the rally starts. Weather.com says some showers for Thursday ( :furious: the day I really need it to be nice)
and partly sunny for the weekend

Got in late last night. The weather here is clear and bone dry -- not a bit of rain in sight at the moment.

Off to get breakfast, then check out the recce.

Top 5 reasons why Rally Mexico will be better than Rally New Zealand:

5) Costs less
4) Tequila and lots of free Corona
3) Shorter Plane ride
2) all your friends will be there and it is one big party
1) Mexican Woman!!!!

So... http://www.automotivephoto.com/bulletin/images/smilies/misc/asshake.gif


46 Million reasons why New Zealand will be better than Mexico.....
























http://argnet.fatal-design.com/gfx/photos/nature/sheep/Sheep2003-05-19-1-small.jpg
:devil:

Pictures of Rally Mexico here:

http://homepage.mac.com/ultra.sonic/rally_mexico_05/PhotoAlbum9.html

I just registered for the one-off Mexico WRC+.

Hope it suffices.

the twisties in mexico are incredible!!!

They're only half the fun..the other half is the drunk messicans driving the other way..

Petter is not happy with the new car yet

Interesting shake-down news:

http://www.wrc.com/page/BreakingNewsDetail/0,,10111~638195,00.html

This should make NZ that more exciting as well!

gsus. When does the first stage start? I'm getting impatient.

HERE WE GO!!!

http://www.wrc.com/page/BreakingNewsDetail/0,,10111~638650,00.html

First Stage goes to Petter!

Atkinson is #3!! :banana: :disco:

I never like to see guys lose time to mechanical difficulties but Loeb losing 2+ minutes on stage 2 is great for Solberg.

Agreed, you feel bad, and you want Solberg to win it due to his talent, but it's still part of the game. I mean, he lost out a year ago due to the water splash.

And I'm so impressed with Atkinson, GO SUBIE!!!

After stage 3:
1 SOLBERG
Subaru 42:21.20.0

2 GRÖNHOLM
Peugeot 42:30.5

3 DUVAL
Citroën 42:32.9

4 MÄRTIN
Peugeot 42:34.1

5 ATKINSON
Subaru 42:42.0

6 PANIZZI
Mitsubishi 42:46.7

7 WARMBOLD
Ford 43:07.6

8 ROVANPERÄ
Mitsubishi 43:07.7

9 GARDEMEISTER
Ford 43:10.0

10 KRESTA
Ford 43:10.7

Loeb 17th? :confused:


-Mark
MAPmotors.com

nooo!@!!!!!!!

swrt.com removed the Hi-res pictures

even the ones in the archive

My preliminary skepticisms about Atkinson are going away. Maybe he was really that good in Sweden.

nooo!@!!!!!!!

swrt.com removed the Hi-res pictures

even the ones in the archive


i know i just looked there before this thread. WTH?!?!!!!
:huh: :huh: :huh: :huh: :huh:

Looks good for Solberg..

Check out www.swrt.com for times and complete results..

Lex

Just to keep everyone happy I'd suggest you post your thoughts on the Mexico rally here. Mexico Sticky Thread (http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=728401)

OK now please do not EVER post ANY spoiler WRC information in ANY thread title.

Capiche?

Us tapers want to be able to watch the rally coverage Sunday or Monday without knowing the results. WRC info is discussed in a special sticky every rally weekend. Keep it there. Thank you for only putting it in the Motorsports forum, but next time keep spoiler info out and clearly label that the thread has spoiler information within.

Thank you for your support.

OK now please do not EVER post ANY spoiler WRC information in ANY thread title.

what he said ^
:furious:

Sorry about that.. Was excited.. Forgot about protocol..
VR
Alex

Go Atkinson! I'm really impressed.

Oh, and that Petter guy seems to be doing well too!

Well unofficially the first leg is over. Solberg is up on Gronholm by 20.5 seconds. Atkinson is sitting in 5th, good day for Subaru.

Well unofficially the first leg is over. Solberg is up on Gronholm by 20.5 seconds. Atkinson is sitting in 5th, good day for Subaru.

This was just posted minutes ago.

WRC: Rally Mexico leg one standings
Date: Sat, 12 Mar 2005 01:02:45 GMT
From: press@motorsport.com
Newsgroups: rec.autos.sport.info
Followup-To: rec.autos.sport.rally


Pos Driver Car Class Time Gap To 1st
--- -------------------- ------------------------ ----- --------- ------- -------
1. Petter Solberg Subaru Impreza WRC 05 A+ 1:23:56.0
2. Marcus Gronholm Peugeot 307 WRC A+ 1:24:16.5 20.5 20.5
3. Markko Martin Peugeot 307 WRC A+ 1:24:26.9 10.4 30.9
4. Francois Duval Citroen Xsara WRC A+ 1:24:29.9 3.0 33.9
5. Christopher Atkinson Subaru Impreza WRC 05 A+ 1:24:46.6 16.7 50.6
6. Roman Kresta Ford Focus RS WRC 04 A 1:25:12.8 26.2 1:16.8
7. Harri Rovanpera Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05 A+ 1:25:15.6 2.8 1:19.6
8. Daniel Sola Ford Focus RS WRC 04 A+ 1:25:25.3 9.7 1:29.3
9. Antony Warmbold Ford Focus RS WRC 04 A 1:25:32.2 6.9 1:36.2
10. Toni Gardemeister Ford Focus RS WRC 04 A+ 1:25:32.9 0.7 1:36.9
11. Gilles Panizzi Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05 A+ 1:25:52.6 19.7 1:56.6
12. Armin Schwarz Skoda Fabia WRC A+ 1:26:50.1 57.5 2:54.1
13. Xavier Pons Peugeot 206 WRC A 1:26:59.8 9.7 3:03.8
14. Sebastien Loeb Citroen Xsara WRC A+ 1:28:17.1 1:17.3 4:21.1
15. Guy Wilks Suzuki Ignis J 1:30:52.3 2:35.2 6:56.3
16. Per-gunnar Andersson Suzuki Ignis J 1:31:35.7 43.4 7:39.7
17. Ricardo Trivino Peugeot 206 WRC A 1:31:35.9 0.2 7:39.9
18. Michael Kahlfuss Mitsubishi Lancer Evo N4 1:40:50.0 9:14.1 16:54.0
19. Luca Cecchettini Fiat Punto J* 1:45:14.6 4:24.6 21:18.6
20. Jani Paasonen Skoda Fabia WRC A+* 1:48:50.5 3:35.9 24:54.5


+Eligible for WRC Manufacturers' Championship points
*Failed to complete one or more stages; 5-minute penalty applied for each stage

I have been posting my photos from Mexico on www.subaru.net

http://www.morgansegal.com/Hottie_web.jpg

Tapers? they still may tapes?!?! :eek:

*flap,flap*

Beautiful work Morgan. It sounds like a broken record, but those pics are fantastic.

lovely looking lady. :)

Atkinson stuffed it, he will probably restart tomorrow.

lovely looking lady. :)

Atkinson stuffed it, he will probably restart tomorrow.

Happened down the stage from me- power steering failed and he caught it on a drainage ditch. Not much damage but he could not continue. I have photos of it to be posted later this evening


Edit: I could not see it because of all the people around the car but I later found out that Chris ripped the right front wheel off

I have been posting my photos from Mexico on www.subaru.net

http://www.morgansegal.com/Hottie_web.jpg

Damn!:eek:






So far so good for Petter. :)

http://www.morgansegal.com/crm/images/p)%20Atmosphere_01.jpg

She's going to have to go light on the cheese on the next couple of burritos and everythings going to be ok.

well, TiVo'ers. I still call it taping...

Day Two is up on www.subaru.net



http://www.subaru.net/media/2005/mexico/day2/images/DSC_9932.jpg

See my other thread to see who else I got to do a portrait of http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=731634

so overall in this season in wrc, who is winning? like including all of the races this season, who is number1? can someone provide a list? thnanks.

Whoooohooo!

did you see loeb get pulled by the cops when he had 3 wheels? funny

http://www.morgansegal.com/day_three/images/DSC_1634.jpg

The rest of the photos should be up shortly

w00t!

Solberg won by some 34 seconds. Atkinson lost oil pressure on SS14 and retired.

1. Solberg +0.00
2. Gronholm +34.5
3. Martin +1:38.3
4. Loeb +3:51.1
5. Rovanpera +3:58.1
6. Gardemeister +4:05.6
7. Wormbold +6:01.0
8. Panizzi +6:01.7
9. Schwarz +8:05.3
10. Pons +18:49.0

Loeb came back to 4th...good job.


-Mark
MAPmotors.com

Morgan, when the heck do you find time to post pics AND chase girls?? ;) We've been running so much I haven't even gotten time to look at yesterday's pics, much less get them in any shape to post.


We were at the finish control from the last stage. The flag that Petter waved at the end is mine! :banana: I nearly got it stolen when he passed it back.

A couple of other things from the finish control:

Jani Paasonen apparently hit a cow on the last stage. He came in with no front bumper.

Apparent some spectators threw a rock at Harri Rovanpera's car. It broke the codriver's window, and his codriver, Risto Pietilainen got a cut on his chin. (He said he thought it was a rock, but he's going to hope that it was just a tree branch.)

No need to chase them, they're everywhere! :D

Spending a lot of time in the media room working my arse off is how ;)


Day three is up and I already have a buzz, now off to the party! :banana:

http://www.subaru.net/media/2005/mexico/day3/images/DSC_1436.jpg

WOW! Great shots!

Muy bien.

A good rally. I esp liked the long 45k srage at the end. A good test for the drivers brains.

Kudos to SpeedTV for doing a fine job on the broadcast.

:lol: @ Kai Lindstrom yelling at his driver.

A good rally. I esp liked the long 45k srage at the end. A good test for the drivers brains.

Kudos to SpeedTV for doing a fine job on the broadcast.

:lol: @ Kai Lindstrom yelling at his driver.

Indeed! How frickin' funny was that?!?
Helluva rally- great job, Petter!

Tremendous drive by Loeb, Ugh! Man, it's gonna be a tough year. (Speaking selfishly, I hope lots more Citroen "sumpguard"/skidplates fail... :lol: )
Hey- I missed the very beginning- what were they saying about FIA officials meeting? Something to do w/ a penalty for Loeb changing engines?
Atkinson looked awesome!

Morgan- you've outdone yourself; fabulous photos of both the cars and the women. :D

Russ R

Hey- I missed the very beginning- what were they saying about FIA officials meeting? Something to do w/ a penalty for Loeb changing engines?


His team was fined $10,000 for changing engines instead of a time penalty.

Anyone have a non coopyrighted pic I can use in the homepage news?

Loeb did a stellar job. What would he have placed if he'd made the first two stages on the pace he set later on? Just incredible considering the damage his car took and the circumstances with which he started. I wonder if they bribed the cops...

Sounds like the Peugeot team is going to be doing some work on their braking systems for next year's Mexico Rally.

I don't know about the rest of you, but even though Nicky Grist was assuring the audience that Subaru had been working on fixing the water crossing problem, I was holding my breath and clenching my buttcheeks until I saw Petter make it through the splash. :lol:

That Kai Lindstrom thing was heeelarious. :lol: I hope someone saves that little clip to a reasonably sized movie file ;)

I wonder if they bribed the cops...


Dude, this was Rally MEXICO. I'll guarantee you that some cash changed hands there.

I don't think I've ever seen Granholm so..subdued :lol: He did a fantastic job though considering the 307 had all those braking problems..Loeb was awesome after the car troubles were sorted out but who's to say he'd have driven with the same gusto if he didn't have to make up so much time?

Two in a row!!! GO PETTER!!

Loeb driving the car while hanging out the window was awesome. Atkinson is very impressive, I'm glad Subaru has a competitive #2 driver this year.

We have the makings of a great season on our hands.

Just want to say the SPEED's coverage this year is GREAT!!!! That woman announcer is perfect for the job (is she the same one who won the contest a few years back) .

was it legal for Marcus to leave those brake pads behind on the road section? If i was a spectator I'd have picked them up, then mounted and framed them for the wall! ;)

Atkinson is very impressive, I'm glad Subaru has a competitive #2 driver this year.

We have the makings of a great season on our hands.

.

David Lapworth announced at the press conference that Subaru's goal is the drivers title for Petter and not the manufacturers title. He said the goal with Atkinson is to make him into a future rally champion

was it legal for Marcus to leave those brake pads behind on the road section? If i was a spectator I'd have picked them up, then mounted and framed them for the wall! ;)

There is so much garbage all over the place there in Mexico I am sure it did not matter.

His team was fined $10,000 for changing engines instead of a time penalty.

Ah- thanks, man.
Nice to see karma in action; bitch-slapping Loeb w/ suspension problems (and more to the point- a time penalty :lol: :lol: after that...!!)

Russ R

Atkinson is very impressive, I'm glad Subaru has a competitive #2 driver this year.

It's early days with Atkinson right now, so far so good but he isnt doing anything extra-ordinary compared to Hirvonen last year at the same stage.

Chris went out after stage 8 efectively (you can now restart under the super rally rules), he was in P4 at that point. Mikko on the 2004 event was also P4 after stage 8. Mikko finished the event 5th, Chris retired.

For Sweden, Chris finished 19th in 2005, Mikko finished 9th in 2004.

Let's see a few more events before being able to say Atkinson is doing a better job of it than Mikko, hopefully he does do very well, but the jury is still out right now.

was it legal for Marcus to leave those brake pads behind on the road section? If i was a spectator I'd have picked them up, then mounted and framed them for the wall! ;)
The camera crew probably set up that shot. All 4 pads were on one side of the car. I would guess they probably also picked them up.

David Lapworth announced at the press conference that Subaru's goal is the drivers title for Petter and not the manufacturers title. He said the goal with Atkinson is to make him into a future rally champion

The #2 helps too ... imagine if Atkinson would've held onto 4th place ... Loeb would only get 4 points instead of 5.

That was a kickass rally..I will NEED to attend next year. Loeb impressed me with all the time that he made up...although the two drivers ahead were not at the top of their games either.

Way to go Petter & Phil :D

If you remember correctly, Petter went through the same situation as Loeb on last year's rally Mexico, he was first and dropped to 13th (5 min penalty) and he drove great to go up to 4th place. This year, basically same thing happened to Sebastien, he dropped to 14th with about 4.5 minutes behind the leader and he made it up to fourth. They both showed they're really world champions.

His team was fined $10,000 for changing engines instead of a time penalty.

I wondered what was up. I was shooting pictures of Leob's car in thier spot on Thursday and all of a sudden there were all sorts of people looking under the hood. Then they marched this big tent up around the car and put panels up so you couldn't see it anymore from any direction. They were just so, obviously trying to hide something it was funny. I just got back tonight and hadn't heard about this. It all make sense now