Tactical drive pays off for Latvala
Mexico winner hails 'clever' approach
Ogier: 'We gave it everything'
Sébastien Ogier has no regrets about his strategy of maximum attack at last weekend's Rally Guanajuato México, even though it failed to deliver the victory he was hoping for.
Following his successes in Monte Carlo and Sweden, the Volkswagen driver was first out on legs one and two in Mexico, occupying an unenviable position in the start order that left him facing the worst of the loose gravel on the road.
In contrast, his team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala started from a more favourable position of eighth and quickly overcame Ogier's early advantage to take the lead. Ogier and co-driver Julien Ingrassia settled into second place on Friday and despite a huge push through Saturday and Sunday's stages they weren't able to catch Latvala's lead.
"Julien and I have no regrets", said Ogier. "We gave it everything from start to finish. Our tyre selections were a gamble to compensate for our road position and I was pushing it to the limit. All the same, we couldn't have hoped for any better than this second place, so it's a sound result."
Ogier and Ingrassia boosted their points haul with three extras on the Power Stage and left the event, the 100th WRC rally of their career, with a championship lead of 35 points.
"In the end this worked out very well for the championship; I only lost six points on Jari-Matti, who I still consider to be my biggest rival for the title," he said. "I still keep the equivalent of a two-victory lead over him and the gap has widened between me and my closest challenger."
