There’s only one World Rally Championship (WRC] stage in North America, the location: the beautiful area of Guanajuato, Mexico. If you don’t know, Guanajuato is one of the most unique cities in the world, recognized by UNESCO as World heritage site, a must-visit city. This is the 3rd stage of the World Rally Championship and Mexico is the first country where they switch from snow and ice to full dirt roads.
By the way, we just came back after a crazy week in Vegas at The Mint 400, change of clothes and took a flight straight to León Guanajuato the very next day, the off-road photographer life.
The WRC in Mexico has some unique aspects for the Championship, first as we said, is the first stage on dirt roads, then the altitude, most of the stages are ran on the mountains around the area, racing at altitudes over 5,600 feet above the sea level and less important but more awesome are the stages through the tunnels of the historic center of Guanajuato, if you don’t know what we are talking about, don’t worry, we have the photos to show you…
The Format
The Rally is divided into 4 days, sadly with all the coronavirus paranoia the FIA made the decision to cancel the last day to ensure the teams could make it home before any flight restrictions happen.
The first day was more about show and presentation with only two stages of barely a mile long, this was right at the very heart of Mexico, using roads and areas where the Mexican Independence from the Spanish crown was fought, lots and lots of history and culture make this event unique and a fan-favorite all over the world.
Speaking of the race itself, Sebastien Ogier was the overall winner reaching Sebastien Loeb record of six total victories in the Mexican stage. “This win tastes very different because this rally shouldn’t happened in the first place, safety must come first than racing” Ogier posted in his social media accounts. Teemu Suninen of M-Sport finished second and 2019 WRC Champion Ott Tanak finished third after winning 6 of 20 stages ending 27.8 seconds behind Ogier. This is the first win for Toyota putting them in great position for the Manufacturers cup.
In other news, the popular driver, Ken Block made a surprise last minute entry in the WRC2 category to make a failed attempt at the rally when at the second day of racing his engine died in the middle of a stage, isn’t that easy when is about real racing and not just videos we guess.
Here’s the final results after 21 stages of the 2020 WRC Rally Mexico
- Sébastien Ogier (FRA)/Julien Ingrassia (FRA) Toyota Yaris WRC 2hr 47min 47.6seg
- Ott Tänak (EST)/Martin Järveoja (EST) Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 2hr 48min 15.4seg
- Teemu Suninen (FIN)/Jarmo Lehtinen (FIN) Ford Fiesta WRC 2hr 48min 25.5seg
- Elfyn Evans (GBR)/Scott Martin (GBR) Toyota Yaris WRC 2hr 49min 01.0seg
- Kalle Rovanperä (FIN)/Jonne Halttunen (FIN) Toyota Yaris WRC 2hr 50min 08.1seg
- Pontus Tidemand (SWE)/Patrik Barth (SWE) Škoda Fabia Evo 2hr 58min 16.9seg
- Nicolay Gryazin (RUS)/Yaroslav Fedorov (RUS) Hyundai NG i20 3hr 00min 14.6seg
- Marco Bulacia (BOL)/Giovanni Bernacchini (ITA) Citroën C3 3hr 01min 25.1seg
- Gus Greensmith (GBR)/Elliott Edmondson (GBR) Ford Fiesta WRC 3hr 01min 44.1seg
- Ole-Christian Veiby (NOR)/Jonas Andersson (SWE) Hyundai NG i20 3hr 03min 19.8seg
And now we leave you with our frames that we managed to capture after long days of chasing speed and dust, enjoy.
First day on the streets. 
M-Sport is the only American company racing with Ford support. 
Really challenging to capture a good frame in these conditions and restrictions. 
From the beginning the teams give everything. 
Ott Tanak is the current WRC Champion, and this year he has Hyundai as race team. 
The FIA is pretty strict with media credentials, so we had to make it work with what we had. 
Toyota is always a favorite to win with Ogier leading the team. 
Textures of the streets. 
Lights and shadows. 
One of the most popular spots to enjoy the race, the UNESCO round about. 
Through bridges and tunnels, unique of Guanajuato. 
One of the most picturesque cities in the World. 
It’s all about precision and speed. 
Hyundai might not be that popular in the US but here, they are tough to beat. 
Ott Tanak and Thierry Neuville are the main drivers for Hyundai. 
Textures. 
Fans all over the world, corona what, again? 
During the street stages you have heavy restrictions where to shoot. 
Perfect turns. 
Neuville is the only German driver currently. 
Only 5 teams made it to the finish in the main WRC category, Neuville wasn’t one of them. 
El Chocolate stage is one of the longest stages of the whole year. 21 miles long approximately. 
The WRC cars are limited to speeds up to 200kmh or roughly 124mph. 
They might not lift dust like a Trophy-Truck but they certainly try. 
380HP are enough for this machines to be exceptional. 
Mexico backgrounds. 
Las Minas special stage goes through abandoned mines used last century, hence the name. 
3rd day of racing, El Derramadero Special Stage. 
Tanak pushed hard but problems with the rear suspension made it impossible to recover time. 
The Mexican landscapes. 
That in the background is called Cristo Rey, considered by locals to be the very center of the country. 
Ogier is arguably the best driver in the World, change my mind.
And like that, the WRC heads back to Europe to the fifth stage in Portugal after the Argentina stage got completed cancel due to the Covid-19 virus, Stay safe everyone.
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