MEXICO CITY - Citroen's Sebastien Loeb was heading for a repeat of his 2007 Rally Mexico win after establishing a comfortable lead of more than a minute in the second leg.
The four times world champion, 9.6 seconds adrift of Finland's Jari-Matti Latvala after the opening day
on the rocky gravel roads around Leon, ended the second day 1:01.4 clear of Australian Chris Atkinson in a Subaru.
While Atkinson was on course for a career best result, Ford's Latvala slipped to third place and more than two minutes off the lead after suffering a turbo boost problem on stages 13 and 14.
Loeb needs a win to rein in Finn Mikko Hirvonen, the Ford driver who is six points clear in the overall standings after two rounds of the championship.
"Now it's easier," the Frenchman told the wrc.com website. "We were pushing hard until we had a good lead on Jari-Matti, but now we have a good lead over Atkinson and it's a bit more comfortable.
"From now on we just have to finish, and finish first. There's still a long way to go but if it ends like this it will be the perfect rally.
Latvala, the 22-year-old whose victory in the previous round in Sweden made him the youngest winner of a world championship rally, paid the price for his pace on Friday by taking over the unwanted role of 'roadsweeper'.
"We tried to repair the boost pipe but unfortunately it didn't help," said Latvala. "Our fight for the lead might be over but if we can finish on the podium here that would be perfect."
Hirvonen slipped to fifth place after hitting a rock and suffering two punctures on stage 12.
Norwegian Henning Solberg, whose brother Petter retired from the leg after suffering a driveshaft failure on stage 10, moved up to fourth for the Munchi's Ford team.
Britain's Matthew Wilson was in sixth place for Ford Stobart. The rally finishes on Sunday.
- REUTERS
