2006 Rally México
# 2006 Rally México

The 20º Corona Rally México, the third round of the 2006 World Rally Championship season took place from March 3–5, 2006.

## Event

The event saw the first win of the season for Sébastien Loeb. After a spirited battle with Petter Solberg over the first two days - that saw both drivers suffering problems(Loeb losing power steering on stage 13 and Solberg's Subaru colliding with a dog) - Loeb eventually pulled clear to give the Belgian Kronos team their first WRC victory. Marcus Grönholm had a less successful event, suffering a crash on day one and having to rejoin the rally on day two under Superally rules. Despite a twenty-minute penalty, he managed to pick up a point for eighth place. Manfred Stohl collected the final podium place with his Peugeot 307.

## Results

| Pos. | Driver | Co-driver | Car | Time | Difference | Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| WRC |||||||
| 1. | Sébastien Loeb | Daniel Elena | Citroën Xsara WRC | 3:47:08.8 | 0.0 | 10 |
| 2. | Petter Solberg | Phil Mills | Subaru Impreza WRC 2006 | 3:47:57.7 | 48.9 | 8 |
| 3. | Manfred Stohl | Ilka Minor | Peugeot 307 WRC | 3:51:47.9 | 4:39.1 | 6 |
| 4. | Dani Sordo | Marc Martí | Citroën Xsara WRC | 3:52:36.5 | 5:27.7 | 5 |
| 5. | Henning Solberg | Cato Menkerud | Peugeot 307 WRC | 3:59:44.2 | 12:35.4 | 4 |
| 6. | Gareth MacHale | Paul Nagle | Ford Focus RS WRC 04 | 4:03:11.1 | 16:02.3 | 3 |
| 7. | Chris Atkinson | Glenn MacNeall | Subaru Impreza WRC2006 | 4:07:48.3 | 20:39.5 | 2 |
| 8. | Marcus Grönholm | Timo Rautiainen | Ford Focus RS WRC 06 | 4:08:53.0 | 21:44.2 | 1 |
| PCWRC |||||||
| 1.(9.) | Toshi Arai | Tony Sircombe | Subaru Impreza WRX STI | 4:09:43.4 | 0.0 | 10 |
| 2.(10.) | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Chris Patterson | Subaru Impreza WRX STI | 4:10:32.3 | 48.9 | 8 |
| 3.(11.) | Mirco Baldacci | Giovanni Agnese | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX | 4:15:32.6 | 5:49.2 | 6 |
| 4.(13.) | Leszek Kuzaj | Maciej Szczepaniak | Subaru Impreza WRX STI | 4:19:29.6 | 9:46.2 | 5 |
| 5.(15.) | Sergey Uspenski | Dmitri Yeremeyev | Subaru Impreza WRX STI | 4:24:30.6 | 14:47.2 | 4 |
| 6.(17.) | Marcos Ligato | Rubén García | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX | 4:32:38.1 | 22:54.7 | 3 |
| 7.(18.) | Štěpán Vojtěch | Michal Ernst | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII | 4:35:30.2 | 25:46.8 | 2 |
| 8.(21.) | Francisco Name | Armando Zapata | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII | 4:56:54.7 | 47:11.3 | 1 |

## Retirements

* Xavier Pons - engine (SS8)
* Fumio Nutahara - excluded (SS7)
* Sebastián Beltrán - accident (SS8)
* Gabriel Pozzo - differential (SS8)

## Special stages

All dates and times are CST (UTC-6).

| Day | Stage | Time | Name | Length | Winner | Time | Avg. spd. | Rally leader |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 (3 MAR) | SS1 | 09:37 | Ibarrilla 1 | 22.40 km | P. Solberg | 13:17.3 | 101.2 km/h | P. Solberg |
| 1 (3 MAR) | SS2 | 11:00 | Guanajuato 1 | 28.87 km | P. Solberg | 16:56.4 | 102.3 km/h | P. Solberg |
| 1 (3 MAR) | SS3 | 11:51 | El Cubilete 1 | 21.61 km | P. Solberg | 12:06.8 | 107.0 km/h | P. Solberg |
| 1 (3 MAR) | SS4 | 14:28 | Ibarrilla 2 | 22.40 km | P. Solberg | 13:17.0 | 101.2 km/h | P. Solberg |
| 1 (3 MAR) | SS5 | 15:51 | Guanajuato 2 | 28.87 km | S. Loeb | 16:33.9 | 104.6 km/h | P. Solberg |
| 1 (3 MAR) | SS6 | 16:42 | El Cubilete 2 | 21.61 km | S. Loeb | 11:45.4 | 110.3 km/h | P. Solberg |
| 1 (3 MAR) | SS7 | 19:17 | Nextel Superspecial 1 | 4.42 km | M. Stohl | 3:21.6 | 78.9 km/h | P. Solberg |
| 2 (4 MAR) | SS8 | 10:08 | El Zauco 1 | 25.22 km | S. Loeb | 16:30.4 | 91.7 km/h | S. Loeb |
| 2 (4 MAR) | SS9 | 11:26 | Duarte 1 | 23.75 km | P. Solberg | 18:07.4 | 78.6 km/h | P. Solberg |
| 2 (4 MAR) | SS10 | 12:17 | Derramadero 1 | 23.27 km | S. Loeb | 14:03.6 | 99.3 km/h | P. Solberg |
| 2 (4 MAR) | SS11 | 15:10 | El Zauco 2 | 25.22 km | S. Loeb | 16:21.4 | 92.6 km/h | P. Solberg |
| 2 (4 MAR) | SS12 | 16:28 | Duarte 2 | 23.75 km | S. Loeb | 17:44.0 | 80.4 km/h | S. Loeb |
| 2 (4 MAR) | SS13 | 17:19 | Derramadero 2 | 23.27 km | S. Loeb | 13:50.1 | 100.9 km/h | S. Loeb |
| 2 (4 MAR) | SS14 | 19:49 | Nextel Superspecial 2 | 4.42 km | S. Loeb | 3:21.7 | 78.9 km/h | S. Loeb |
| 3 (5 MAR) | SS15 | 08:28 | Leon | 37.99 km | S. Loeb | 25:32.1 | 89.3 km/h | S. Loeb |
| 3 (5 MAR) | SS16 | 10:11 | Silao | 18.01 km | P. Solberg | 10:20.8 | 104.4 km/h | S. Loeb |
| 3 (5 MAR) | SS17 | 11:26 | Nextel Superspecial 3 | 4.42 km | M. Stohl | 3:17.0 | 80.8 km/h | S. Loeb |

## Championship standings after the event

### Drivers' championship

| Pos | Driver | MON | SWE | MEX | ESP | FRA | ARG | ITA | GRC | GER | FIN | JPN | CYP | TUR | AUS | NZL | GBR | Pts |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Sébastien Loeb | 2 | 2 | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 26 |
| 2 | Marcus Grönholm | 1 | 1 | 8 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 21 |
| 3 | Manfred Stohl | 4 | 18 | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 11 |
| 4 | Petter Solberg | Ret | Ret | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 8 |
| 5 | Toni Gardemeister | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 6 |
| 5 | Daniel Carlsson | | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 6 |
| 5 | Dani Sordo | 8 | 16 | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 6 |
| 8 | Gigi Galli | Ret | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 5 |
| 8 | Henning Solberg | Ret | 8 | 5 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 5 |
| 8 | Chris Atkinson | 6 | 11 | 7 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 5 |
| 11 | Stéphane Sarrazin | 5 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 4 |
| 11 | Thomas Rådström | | 5 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 4 |
| 13 | Kosti Katajamäki | | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 3 |
| 13 | Gareth MacHale | 16 | | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 3 |
| 15 | Mikko Hirvonen | 7 | 12 | 14 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2 |
| 15 | Xavier Pons | 9 | 7 | Ret | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2 |
| Pos | Driver | MON | SWE | MEX | ESP | FRA | ARG | ITA | GRC | GER | FIN | JPN | CYP | TUR | AUS | NZL | GBR | Pts |

Key :

| Colour | Result |
| - | - |
| Gold | Winner |
| Silver | 2nd place |
| Bronze | 3rd place |
| Green | Points finish |
| Blue | Non-points finish |
| Blue | Non-classified finish (NC) |
| Purple | Did not finish (Ret) |
| Black | Excluded (EX) |
| Black | Disqualified (DSQ) |
| White | Did not start (DNS) |
| White | Cancelled (C) |
| Blank | Withdrew entry from the event (WD) |

### Manufacturers' championship

| Rank | Manufacturer | Event | Event | Event | Event | Event | Event | Event | Event | Event | Event | Event | Event | Event | Event | Event | Event | Total points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Rank | Manufacturer | MON | SWE | MEX | ESP | FRA | ARG | ITA | GRC | GER | FIN | JPN | CYP | TUR | AUS | NZL | GBR | Total points |
| 1 | Kronos Total Citroën World Rally Team | 11 | 13 | 10 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 34 |
| 2 | BP Ford World Rally Team | 14 | 12 | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 30 |
| 3 | OMV-Peugeot Norway | 6 | 4 | 11 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 21 |
| 4 | Subaru World Rally Team | 5 | 3 | 12 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 20 |
| 5 | Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team | 0 | 7 | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 9 |
| 6 | Red Bull Škoda Team | 3 | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 3 |
