HEALTHY POINTS HAUL FOR STOBART IN MEXICO

M-Sport Stobart Ford’s Norwegian contingent of Mads Østberg and Henning Solberg produced workmanlike performances on Rally Mexico this weekend to finishing fifth and sixth.

The Cumbrian-based squad remain third in the FIA Manufacturers’ Championship after the second round in Central America, 11 points adrift of the Citroen Total World Rally Team in second.

Rally Sweden runner-up Mads Østberg and co-driver Jonas Andersson overcame an unfortunate start when their Fiesta RS WRC suffered from a puncture in the rocky Sierra de Lobos mountains on Friday morning. However he recovered from 11th position after Day One to post what was a satisfying result. “Our result was more than we had hoped for,” said Østberg. “We gave away some positions after our puncture on Friday and we won some back on Saturday and Sunday so that is good. “You cannot expect to come to a rally like this without much experience and to be at the top. The character of the roads was so changeable with some very different types of gravel. “It is all about learning where you can push and how to drive on those types of conditions. We have come here to gain experience of every stage, to improve our pacenotes and to learn as much as we can for future years. We really didn’t expect to finish this rally in this position so we are very happy.”

Henning Solberg and co-driver Ilka Minor had a drama-filled weekend after suffering from power steering problems for the majority of Saturday’s stages. A weary Solberg returned to the final service exhausted and with blistered hands but held seventh overnight. On Sunday morning, however, the M-Sport Stobart driver took advantage of Sebastien’s Ogier crash to move up into sixth. “This is how things go in rallying but we’ve managed to stay on the road. I tried my best just to finish and I have learned a lot about the car this weekend,” said Solberg. “We wanted to make a big push in the power stage and to go flat out but we will have to wait until Portugal now. I’m glad to have finished in this position and it is a good result for the team.”

M-Sport Stobart debutant Evgeny Novikov was locked in a two-way battle for fourth place with Ford Abu Dhabi’s Jari-Matti Latvala at the end of the first full day. Novikov’s fifth place was a remarkable achievement considering the 20-year-old Russian had completed no testing in the Ford Fiesta RS WRC prior to Mexico. However, disaster struck on Saturday morning when his engine overheated after the radiator lost its water supply due to a small impact. After analysing the data, Novikov’s team decided that it would not be wise for the Russian to return to the rally under SupeRally regulations for Sunday’s final leg.

Meanwhile British No.1 Matthew Wilson was in a career-best fourth position on Friday afternoon but an electrical problem with his Ford Fiesta RS WRC caused the 24-year-old Cumbrian to retire on Stage 7. The car was returned to the service park in Leon on Friday evening where the M-Sport team worked hard to repair a damaged main wiring loom. The team’s incredible efforts enabled Wilson and co-driver Scott Martin to return to the second day of action at Rally Mexico under SupeRally regulations. However, their Fiesta RS WRC suffered further problems before the day’s opening stage and the British duo were forced to call it a day. “It’s just not been my weekend,” said Matthew. “Everything was going so well for us on Friday – we’d worked our way up to fourth and I was really happy with the car set-up. Then we had electrical problems on Stage 7. I was gutted but the team worked throughout the night to try and get the car back on the road for today. “Then on the way to the first stage the engine kept cutting out and we knew there was nothing else that could be done. It’s so disappointing but I’d really like to thank all the team for their efforts and hope that we can leave with a good result from Portugal next month.”