This year, the Rally Mexico is not part of the World Rally Championship calendar, but this weekend’s competition is taking place on the same special stages. The Rally of Nations differs slightly from regular rallies as, in addition to the individual competition, teams also battle for the team victory.
The victory for Østberg and Dennis Rådström, currently sixth in the overall standings, and their Scandinavian team seems certain unless they encounter technical difficulties on Sunday’s seven special stages.
Østberg, who also won the race in 2022, has set the fastest time on all special stages so far, putting the Scandinavian team more than 100 points ahead.
“The stages are beautiful, and I enjoy this rally. I always enjoyed it when it was part of the WRC. It suited my driving style,” Østberg told.
While the Scandinavian team is flying high, the French camp has faced challenges. Rally legend Didier Auriol retired on Friday’s spectator stage, and on Saturday, master co-driver Julien Ingrassia was forced to retire before the start of the actual race day due to a mechanical failure.
In the overall standings, Italian Andrea Mabellini is in second place, a little over a minute behind Østberg. They are followed by host country’s Ricardo Cordero, Alejandro Mauro Sanchez, and Miguel Granados.
Østberg shared his strategy at the end of Saturday’s racing day.
“In the morning, we were pushing. I knew the speed of the others and knew I had an disadvantage being first on the road. We pushed for the first two stages, and after that, we tried to back off a little bit, but it made it more difficult to drive.”
Finnish rally legend Harri Rovanperä and co-driver Angelica Fuentes could not keep up with the leading pace on Saturday. However, they are driving a less powerful Toyota GR Yaris, while the top drivers are in the more powerful Rally2 cars.
After Saturday’s special stages, Rovanperä is 14th in the rally, over 12 minutes behind the leader Østberg.
The Rally of Nations continues on Sunday afternoon Central European Time.
Rally of Nations, standings after SS8/15:
1. Mads Østberg Skoda 56.13,7 2. Andrea Mabellini Skoda +1.16,9 3. Ricardo Cordero Citroen +2.35,6 4. Alejandro Mauro Skoda +2.43,9 5. Miguel Granados Skoda +4.17,9 6. Dennis Rådström Toyota +6.08,9 --- 14. Harri Rovanperä Toyota +12.03,5
