Sunday’s final two stages saw the Spanish team confirm the lead it had built up over the three days of the Rally Corona México, Rally of Nations, to be finally proclaimed winners.
Xevi Pons and Dani Solà were victorious in ten of the rally’s eighteen stages, accumulating a total of 1,067.5 points, followed in second place by Austrians Manfred Stohl and Andreas Aigner, who together won on four occasions. At the close of the competition, 128 points separated the two countries. The last place on the podium was taken by France, led by Didier Auriol, who, with the help of Brice Tirabassi, managed the fastest time on only one of the stages. Spain, therefore, takes away the 50,000-dollar first prize.
Austrian driver Stohl has no reason to feel defeated, however, he was the fastest individual driver with a winning total time of 2’57:28.7 for the 18 stages, just 14.4 seconds faster than his fellow countryman Aigner. Stohl, meanwhile, walks away with 15,000 dollars for being the fastest driver on each day of the competition.
The final order of the first ten places remained unchanged from yesterday, the drivers setting out today to hold on to their positions, though still putting on quite a show for the hundreds of fans who gathered on the Guanajuato sierra, and at León’s racetrack, where the Scotiabank Super Special stage took place. The prize-giving and closing ceremony took place, as it does every year, at the Foro del Lago, where fans came to say goodbye to the competitors.
This first edition of the Rally of Nations was enjoyed by all those who took part, all of whom expressed their admiration for this new format, one which will undoubtedly draw many more competitors in the future. The first edition of this event confirms the enormous popularity of the state of Guanajuato’s roads as a venue for rallies, it having brought together major names from the rallying world, as can be seen from its line-up.
Rally of Nations’ unofficial positions
1. Spain - Pons/Solà 1067.5
2. Austria - Stohl/Aigner 939.5
3. France - Tirabassi/Auriol 712
4. Germany - Gassner Jr./Wallenmein 542.5
5. Sweden - Sandell/Andersson 422.5
6. Mexico 2 - Triviño/Salgado 320
7. Finland - Gardemeister/Rovanpera 240
8. USA 2 - Johnson/Bartram 191.5
9. Mexico 1- Ordóñez/Cortes 127
10. Peru - Tijero/Pestana 38
Unofficial positions
1. Stohl/Minor - Austria 2’57:28.7
2. Aigner/Weissengruben - Austria +14.4
3. Auriol/Giraudet - France +1:45.9
4. Pons/Haro - Spain +2:14.6
5. Wallenwein/Kopczyk - Germany +7:35.3
6. Gassner Jr./Wustenhagen - Germany +10:11.7
7. Solà /Sánchez - Spain +11:34.2
8. Triviño/Salom - Mexico 2 +16:09.9
9. Johnson/Beavis - USA 2 +21:25.1
10. Ordóñez/Pimentel - Mexico 1 24:38.2
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