Ogier recovers from puncture to regain Rally Mexico lead

Top 15 classification after SS12 at Rally Mexico

Sebastien Ogier has recovered from an opening stage puncture on Saturday to regain his lead at Rally Mexico with a 19.2s advantage over Elfyn Evans after the morning route.

The Citroen Total driver picked up an early puncture on a disaster SS10 for the French manufacturer as teammate Esapekka Lappi slid off and out of the event.

But with a strong fightback on SS11, coupled with new leader Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Kris Meeke picking up his own puncture, the defending WRC champion returned to the overall lead before a joint top time with Jari-Matti Latvala on SS12 allowed him to open up a useful gap on former M-Sport Ford teammate Evans.

With Evans in second, WRC points leader Ott Tanak has moved up to third place for Toyota, over 20 seconds off the Welsh driver, but holds a comfortable 38.5s advantage over Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville in fourth place.

After his puncture and a technical issue Meeke has slipped to fifth place and over two minutes behind Neuville as the last of the premier class runners still going at the highly-attractional Rally Mexico.