Rally Mexico - day one is underway

Rally Mexico, round three of the World Rally Championship, got underway on Thursday evening with a spectacular ceremonial start in the town of Guanajuato - a UNESCO world heritage site - famous for its brightly-coloured houses and network of underground tunnels that traverse the town centre.

In front of thousands of excited fans, the WRC crews drove their cars over the start ramp and through the cobbled streets before they were brought back to Leon, ready for this morning’s first day of the competition.

Crews left the Leon service area this morning from 0800hrs in dry and sunny conditions and under clear skies. Ahead of them lie eight stages; six based on the rock-strewn tracks to the north of Leon and two passes through the 2.2km Superspecial.

The start order for day one is based on the current championship standings, meaning that Mikko Hirvonen has the dubious honour of running first on the road, where he will encounter the worst of the loose, dusty conditions.

Here’s the rest of today’s WRC class running order:

1. Mikko Hirvonen
2. Jari-Matti Latvala
3. Sebastien Loeb
4. Gigi Galli
5. Petter Solberg
6. Chris Atkinson
7. Dani Sordo
8. Toni Gardemeister
9. Per-Gunnar Andersson
10. Henning Solberg
11. Matthew Wilson
12. Federico Villagra
13. Conrad Rautenbach

As always you'll be able to follow live stage results here at wrc.com. The 'live stage times' button on the left of the home page will take you straight there - or just follow this link: Live stage times