Nine-time WRC champion, Sebastien Loeb, staged a remarkable return to end Friday’s opening leg of Rally Guanajuato Mexico just seconds behind leader Dani Sordo.
The 44-year-old Frenchman, driving his first WRC rally for more than three years and his first gravel round since May 2013, turned back the clock to win two speed tests as he hunted down the Spaniard this afternoon.
Loeb trailed Sordo by almost 18sec before consecutive stage victories vaulted him into second place in a Citroën C3, 7.2sec behind. It could have been even more of a fairytale comeback had it not been for an earlier overshoot.
Sebastien Loeb sits a remarkable second in his comeback event for Citroen. Photo: Willy Weyens
"I didn't see a junction because I was looking further ahead and I was too late on the brakes," he said.
"It was a very good day for me. I didn't know what to expect but we're here and that's great news."
Both drivers benefited from a low start position in the sweltering mountain speed tests above León. Those ahead ploughed a line through thick gravel to leave a cleaner and faster surface to exploit.
Sordo took the lead this morning and won two tests in a Hyundai i20, but was unable to press home his advantage after surprisingly choosing to mix soft compound tyres with more favoured hard rubber this afternoon.
"I think we made a small mistake with the tyres. We were struggling all the time. The traction was okay but the lateral grip was nothing. We took a risk and it's like this," he explained.
Ott Tanäk drove around overheating problems in his Toyota Yaris to hold third, 3.8sec behind Loeb.
The Estonian held a 14.0sec advantage over Kris Meeke's C3, the Ulsterman dropping back with two spins after leading this morning.
Kris Meeke sits in fourth position after day one. Photo: Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
Championship leader, Thierry Neuville, had a nightmare day. Photo: Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
WRC 2 leader Pontus Tidemand, Gus Greensmith and Pedro Heller completed the top 10.
High temperatures and arduous conditions made it a day of attrition.
Elfyn Evans rolled out of third and will not restart tomorrow as co-driver Dan Barritt has concussion. Team-mate Teemu Suninen retired after hitting a barrier in his Fiesta.
Toyota's Jari-Matti Latvala and Esapekka Lappi struggled with overheating initially. Worse followed when Lappi crashed out and his fellow Finn stopped with alternator problems.
Jari-Matti Latvala struggled with overheating problems before an alternator issue dropped him further down the leaderboard. Photo: Willy Weyens
Saturday brings another tough day containing 140.35km of action. Two identical loops of three gravel tests north and east of León are punctuated by three asphalt sprint stages.
Classification after Day One
1
D. Sordo
C. del Barrio
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
1:47:55.4
2
S. Loeb
D. Elena
Citroën C3 WRC
+7.2
3
O. Tänak
M. Järveoja
Toyota Yaris WRC
+11.0
4
K. Meeke
P. Nagle
Citroën C3 WRC
+25.0
5
S. Ogier
J. Ingrassia
Ford Fiesta WRC
+30.2
6
A. Mikkelsen
A. Jæger
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
+31.7
7
T. Neuville
N. Gilsoul
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
+2:01.9
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