Sebastien Loeb has won Rally Mexico four times so far. That also happens to be four times more than anybody else, making him by far the most successful driver in Mexico’s six-year World Rally Championship history.
Who better then to tell us how to win the second round of the WRC series, famous for its flat-out gravelly stages, breath-taking altitudes and even the occasional lone cactus?
Here are the seven times world champion’s top tips about how to win Rally Mexico. With only one more day to go on this year’s event, win number five could be just around the corner for him…
Like a bit of rough
“Many people think that Mexico is a smooth and normal gravel rally, but actually it is really quite rough in places and very different to anywhere else. You have to show the roads a lot of respect or they can catch you out. Sometimes you find very big rocks, so it’s important to drive round them and avoid making mistakes.”
But keep it clean
“The most important thing about Mexico is that you have to keep your driving very precise. The altitude is higher than any other World Championship rally, around 2800 metres in places. The effect is that the engines are really starved of oxygen and there is no power. In fact, sometimes you think you have a technical problem when you don’t at all: it’s just the altitude taking power from the engine. So if you lose momentum anywhere you can’t get it back, especially with the new generation of cars. The only way is to be very neat and precise in every corner even if it feels slow. Often it’s actually the quickest way.”
Note it well
“Pace notes in Mexico are vital because the character of the roads is quite difficult to read. There are a lot of places that look very similar, so it is easy to think that you know where you are when in fact you don’t. Also you can have long stretches of road that are reasonably straightforward but then a section that is suddenly really complex and hidden. So you need very good notes – especially because you have to drive precisely all the time, like I said before.”
Think tactically
“Personally I don’t like tactics but sometimes people have to use them. The basic problem is that you lose a lot of time if you run first on the road in Mexico, because normally there is a lot of loose gravel to sweep away. So if you are first on day one or day two, it could be worth dropping some time at the end of the day to ensure that you have a better start position during the following day. It’s a dangerous game though and you have to calculate it well.”
Be prepared for anything
“You have to stay concentrated on the road sections as well as the stages in Mexico. You see horses and carts on the roads, pick-up trucks full of people, motorbike riders without crash helmets…anything really. The most important thing is to stay safe.”
Want more?
- Check out redbull.com's event page dedicated to Rally Mexico
- Sebastien Loeb's profile on redbull.com
- Get the latest on Rally Mexico at the official WRC site
GEPA Pictures/Citroen
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