The first gravel outing of the year got off to a colourful ceremonial start last night in the magical town of Guanajuato, a Unesco world heritage site. The occasion gave the Citroën crews a chance to see just how popular they have become in Mexico. The itinerary of the first day of competitive action (135.74km) took competitors into the bare hills that surround host town León and Guanajuato, with a loop of three stages to be contested twice each before two attempts at the evening’s super-special in León.
The day got off to a complex start for Citroën Sport as news broke that the C4 WRC of Dani Sordo and Marc Martí was parked up just kilometres after the start of SS1. “I don’t know what happened,” reported Dani back at service in the Poliforum exhibition centre. “I was keeping to the line made by previous competitors through a left-hand corner, but there must have been a rock because the wishbone broke. It’s bitterly disappointing. Up to that point, we had found a good pace and our split times were looking good.” The Spaniards will rejoin the competition tomorrow morning under the SupeRally ruling.