The full guide to the 2020 World Rally Championship drivers’ form going into this weekend’s Rally México – and how they’ve fared on the opening gravel rally of the season previously.
#3 Teemu Suninen/Jarmo Lehtinen (Ford Fiesta WRC)
Last 3 WRC results: 8th-8th-7th
Last 3 México results: DNF-12th-9th
Rally México marked the nadir of Teemu Suninen’s 2019 WRC campaign, as he damaged his Ford Fiesta WRC badly in a Friday crash and retired – marking his third non-score from the opening three rounds of the season, even if he had showed winning qualities on the previous round in Sweden.
This time round, the Finn has two solid, if unspectacular, eighth-place finishes under his belt. The second of those, on Rally Sweden, left him disappointed after failing to replicate his pace from a year earlier – so Suninen needs to make good on his promise to “be a stronger driver” to kickstart his campaign.
#4 Esapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm (Ford Fiesta WRC)
Last 3 WRC results: 5th-4th-DNF
Previous México results: 14th-11th
Based on previous form, Esapekka Lappi might be forgiven for heading to Rally México with a sense of trepidation. Neither of his two prior starts have yielded points, and last year he returned under Rally2 rules after beaching his Citroen C3 WRC on Saturday afternoon.
But things already appear to be a little different this season. Two top-five finishes at the start of 2020 hint at the sort of consistency that Lappi and M-Sport need, and a favourable fifth in the running order on Friday should make a third such result achievable.
#6 Dani Sordo/Carlos Del Barrio (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC)
Last 3 WRC results: 3rd-5th-5th
Last 3 México results: 9th-2nd-8th
Don’t read too much into last year’s ninth place on Rally México; Sordo had been within five seconds of rally leader Ogier on the first day proper when his Hyundai suffered an electrical issue.
Make no mistake, Sordo is out to win in México. His place at the tail end of the Friday running order should assist that bid, and given his last four WRC starts have yielded top-five finishes – including a victory on the gravel-based Rally Italy last year – there’s every reason to expect a podium bid from the third Hyundai.
#8 Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC)
Last 3 WRC results: 2nd-DNF-2nd
Last 3 México results: 2nd-14th-4th
A massive off in Monte Carlo was hardly the ideal start to life at Hyundai Ott Tänak was hoping for, so runner-up spot in Sweden was an important marker to lay down after team-mate Thierry Neuville’s victory on the season opener. Given his opening results of 2020 have been at opposing ends of the scale, dare we guess what’s to come in México this week?
The Léon-based rally’s not been the happiest of hunting grounds for the reigning champion. Last year’s second place is Tänak’s only podium in México, otherwise it’s been a handful of top-five and top-10 finishes, a podium charge halted by a turbo issue two years ago, and of course that lake incident back in 2015.
#11 Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC)
Last 3 WRC results: 6th-1st-1st
Last 3 México results: 4th-6th-3rd
Much like team-mate Ott Tänak, Thierry Neuville has found results hard to come by in México in recent years. Only once in the past five visits has the Belgian finished on the podium, although he did well to limit the damage and finish fourth last year after suffering a puncture on the opening stage.
This is the third year in a row that Neuville has headed to México in the top two in the standings. It’s still early doors, but a third strong result at the start of the campaign seems important this weekend if Neuville is to mount a concerted title challenge in 2020.
#17 Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (Toyota Yaris WRC)
Last 3 WRC results: 4th-2nd-8th
Last 3 México results: 1st-1st-2nd
Statistically, this has been six-time champion Sebastien Ogier’s worst since his campaign in Volkswagen’s Škoda Fabia S2000 in 2012. That he’s still third, and only five points off the lead, should give his rivals cause for concern – particularly heading to an event he’s won five times.
The omens are good for what would be a hat-trick of México wins for Ogier in three years, too. He’ll start Friday third, the same road position he had last year. The end result that time? A 30-second margin of victory.
#33 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota Yaris WRC)
Last 3 WRC results: 1st-3rd-6th
Last 3 México results: 3rd-DNF-9th
Elfyn Evans’ start in Toyota colours has been blistering – team principal Tommi Makinen was right to highlight just how different the addition of a fourth driver to the title fight makes that dynamic. A first ever Rally Sweden win for a British driver also made Evans the first Briton to lead the WRC standings since 2001, but can he maintain that promise?
México will be a real test of his credentials, as his place at the head of the order is almost certain to cost him some ground come the end of Friday’s stages. How much he loses is likely to be a pretty good measure of whether Evans has the legs for a title fight.
#44 Gus Greensmith/Elliott Edmonson (Ford Fiesta WRC)
Last 3 WRC results: 63rd-15th-34th
Previous México results: 9th
If any driver is in need of a good showing in México it’s Gus Greensmith, after a wretched weekend on the Monte Carlo season opener. A turbo problem was hardly his fault, but a slip down a bank at low speed contributed to him being outside the top-60 cutoff to contest the final day of the event.
Greensmith has expressed a desire to prove he deserves to be in one of M-Sport’s Fiesta WRCs “on merit”. The fact the Briton scored his first points finish on this event two years ago, and the slightly smaller than usual World Rally Car field, should give him the confidence to show that.
#69 Kalle Rovanperä/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota Yaris WRC)
Last 3 WRC results: 3rd-5th-12th
Previous México results: 15th
The sky is seemingly the limit for the WRC’s new wunderkind. If there were any doubts about Kalle Rovanperä’s potential, those were surely eliminated by his defeat of Sébastien Ogier in a head-to-head fight for third on Rally Sweden, thanks to a maiden powerstage win.
The doubts, if anything, are about how soon Rovanperä will be in a position to win. If he was capable of outgunning his six-time world champion team-mate on only his second world championship start in a World Rally Car, is it beyond the realms of possibility that the teenager could challenge for victory in México?
DirtFish coverage
Keep an eye on DirtFish plus our social media channels for the fastest and most comprehensive Rally México coverage this weekend.
We’ll have coverage of every stage, all the news from the service park, on-the-scene conditions updates from Wednesday morning and regular video insight and interviews from Colin Clark and David Evans.
Then check back on Monday for David Evans’ unrivaled in-depth analysis of how the rally was won, our ‘things we learned’ rundown of the biggest talking points, the best pictures of the weekend (and some of the quirkiest from behind the scenes) and our new driver ratings feature.
