the finnish pilot Esapekka Lappi, from the Hyundai i20 team, finished this Friday as the leader in the second day of activity of the third date of the 2023 World Rally Championshiptaking place in Guanajuato, Mexico, and ending next Sunday.
Lappi clocked a time of 1:25:12.0 on the day consisting of eight stages performed in Guanajuato, a town located just over 350 kilometers north of the Mexican capital.
“I think I ran some of the best stages of my career. It was a good fight we put in, the car responded well and now we must keep this level tomorrow,” said Lappi.
Second place was taken by Frenchman Sébastien Ogier in 1:25:17.3, followed by British Elfyn Evans, who stopped the clock in 1:25:42.1, both from the Toyota team. Dani Sordo, from the Hyundai i20, finished in sixth position; clocked 1:26:39.2.
“We had some problems in the second part of the day, we had a flat tire, we also felt that the car slipped too much in some corners, it was a good day to do something more important, but it was necessary we’ll pass. for this Saturday.” explained the Cantabrian pilot after his participation.
The deaf got off to a good start; he was fourth until midday technical service behind Lappi, Ogier and Evans, but lost pace in the latter stages where he dropped to sixth.
The activity began on the stage known as “El Chocolate”, with a height of 2,650 meters above sea level, one of the highest of the season and where the Estonian Ott Tänak, from Ford, leader of the championship, had his of turbo trouble and fell to the bottom of the standings.
In the third stage, the Japanese Takamoto Katsuta, from Toyota, was abandoned, after an oversight in which he crashed his car.
Emotions reached the limit in the search for first place between Ogier, winner of eight world titles, six of them in a row between 2013 and 2018, and Evans a Lappi defined until the street circuit of León MX1 District in Finnish victory.
Nine episodes will run this Saturday in Rally Mexico 2023.
The activity will start with the mountainous section called “Ibarrilla 1”, a winding route through the mountains known for its low temperatures, and will end with the street circuit called the León Rock & Roll District.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
