Ogier began the second full-day of competition with a 13.5 second advantage and in the opening test, SS11 – the 30.27 km Ibarrilla 1 stage, the Frenchman was quickest, albeit only 0.2 seconds up on Latvala.
Ogier then went quickest again in SS12 and with Latvala forced out – after hitting a bank and losing a wheel – he was left 50.5 seconds ahead of Citroen’s Mads Ostberg.
Ogier eventually ended the loop with 1 minute 8.3 seconds advantage and is seemingly on course for his third win of the season, although he insisted the “pressure is not off”.
“It is just a bit different now,” he told the official WRC site. “It is not an easy job [to manage the gap] especially without split times.
“It is important to keep in the rhythm. It is going to be very hot this afternoon, and more abrasive on the tyres. I will have to be cautious.”
Behind, Ostberg complained of front-right wheel issues in SS13 and lost over 15 seconds after spinning at the first corner, allowing Volkswagen Motorsport II pilot Andreas Mikkelsen to close up. The two are now split by 9.7s.
“I think I hit something on the long stage and that damaged my right-front suspension,” Ostberg said. “The front end was very nervous from there on. Now Andreas is close behind but I am not too worried – I will continue in the same speed.”
M-Sport’s Elfyn Evans is fourth in his Fiesta RS WRC car, 34.5 seconds further adrift, and 19.2s up on Dani Sordo’s Hyundai i20 WRC in P5.
“It has been quite mixed,” said Evans. “Overall not bad, but I feel we are hesitating in places and I can feel that we are a bit too careful. This afternoon we will try and iron out those hesitant moments.”
“Not bad,” added Sordo, “but I am sure we have benefited from our road position. Now our gearbox is broken [too], and we need to swap it in service. The problem is the replacement gearbox has a problem as well…”
Ford privateer Martin Prokop rounds out the top six and then along way back – over 4 minutes – is WRC2 runners Yuriy Protasov, Nasser Al-Attiyah, Jari Ketomaa and Nicolas Fuchs in positions 7 through to 10. Protasov’s heads WRC2 by 35.3 seconds, gaining almost 20 seconds in SS13 when Al-Attiyah spun.
Of the rest, Thierry Neuville, Kris Meeke, Robert Kubica, Hayden Paddon, Bentio Guerra Jr and Lorenzo Bertelli all re-started this morning under Rally 2 after their exits on Friday. Ott Tanak also re-joined, but was unable to make it to the start of SS11, while Bertelli stopped again in SS12, the same test that claimed Latvala.
Rally Mexico now continues this afternoon with four more stages on the bill. SS15, the 30.27km Ibarrilla 2 test, is due to start at 15.09 hours local time
2015 Rally Mexico: Overall standings after Stage 14 (Top 10):
1. Sebastien Ogier Volkswagen Motorsport Polo R WRC 2h 38m 36.9s M
2. Mads Ostberg Citroen Total Abu Dhabi WRT DS 3 WRC +1m 08.3s M
3. Andreas Mikkelsen Volkswagen Motorsport II Polo R WRC +1m 18.0s M
4. Elfyn Evans M-Sport WRT Ford Fiesta RS WRC +1m 52.5s M
5. Dani Sordo Hyundai Motorsport i20 WRC +2m 11.7s M
6. Martin Prokop Jipocar Czech National Team Ford Fiesta RS WRC +3m 07.9s M
7. Yuriy Protasov Ford Fiesta RRC +7m 32.5s WRC2
8. Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta RRC +8m 10.0s WRC2
9. Jari Ketomaa Ford Fiesta R5 +12m 38.7s WRC2
10. Nicolas Fuchs Ford Fiesta R5 +13m 47.4s WRC2