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Sebastien Ogier increased his Rally Mexico lead further on Saturday afternoon, with second-placed Elfyn Evans coming under intense pressure from a charging Ott Tanak behind.

Citroen's sole remaining driver Ogier pulled further ahead of M-Sport's Evans through the loop of three gravel stages and three superspecials, pushing his lead advantage up to 27 seconds going into Sunday.

A drama-filled morning for Ogier had included a puncture and a notional time being awarded for his first run through Guanajuatito, and trouble struck once more at the end of the day - this time on the Leon Autodrome stage.

Caught out by surface water that had not been present on Friday, Ogier overshot a chicane and hit a hay bale side-on, stalling his C3 WRC and dropping six seconds.

Behind him, championship leader Tanak was on a charge, winning two of the three full-length gravel stages on the afternoon loop and quickly cutting into Evans's advantage.

Tanak gained 19.6s over Evans across Saturday's last five stage and is now just 2.2s behind with three stages remaining on Sunday.

The Toyota driver even closed to within half a minute of rally leader Ogier by day's end - thanks in part to Ogier's small mistake on the Leon superspecial.

Behind third-placed Tanak, Thierry Neuville had a straightforward run to maintain his fourth position, ending the day 46.5s behind his title rival and as the best-placed Hyundai driver.

Fifth-placed Kris Meeke had briefly led on Saturday morning before a puncture and suspension damage set him back.

But more problems struck in the afternoon, as Meeke overshot a chicane on the Leon superspecial and went nose-first into a tyre barrier.

Thereafter his Yaris struggled with a gearbox issue, with Meeke stuck in second gear for the Leon city sprint and losing over a minute across the final two superspecials.

He also apologised for suggestions earlier in the day that Citroen had pushed for a red flag to protect Ogier's lead when he sustained a puncture on the same stage that his team-mate Esapekka Lappi went off the road.

Citroen and the rally organisers had clarified that the stoppage was the clerk of the course's decision.

WRC2 leader Benito Guerra remains sixth overall and now has a comfortable lead over Marco Bulacia Wilkinson in seventh, the latter picking up a front right puncture on Guanajuatito.

Rally2 returnees Jari-Matti Latvala, Dani Sordo and Andreas Mikkelsen all picked their way past several WRC2 midfielders and local entrants, finishing the day eighth, 10th and 11th respectively.

They were aided by Alberto Heller retiring from seventh place, suffering terminal steering damage to his Ford Fiesta R5 a few corners from the end of Otates.

Toyota's lowest-placed driver Latvala has moved into striking distance of seventh-placed Bulacia Wilkinson, with the Yaris only 52.8s in arrears with three stages remaining on Sunday.

Latvala lost 10s before the pair of Leon Autodrome superspecials, checking in a minute late after a set-up change to his Yaris went wrong and picking up a time penalty.

Separating Latvala and Hyundai's pair of Rally2 returnees, seven-time NACAM Rally champion Ricardo Trivino holds ninth by only 0.1s from Sordo behind. But he has a much more comfortable advantage over Mikkelsen of over 14 minutes.

Mikkelsen suffered an unusual drama on the afternoon pass of Guanajuatito, when he was forced to stop for over a minute as co-driver Andreas Jaeger had to climb out of their Hyundai i20 to open a shut gate that was blocking the stage.

He was later given a notional time only 0.4s slower than team-mate Sordo's time on the same test by the rally organisers.

Rally Mexico has a history of similar incidents, with Mikkelsen's former Volkswagen team-mate Ogier experiencing the same problem on his way to victory in 2013.

Multiple drivers came across a shut gate on the Duarte test, which does not feature this year, in 2007.

Leading positions after SS18

Pos Driver Team Car Gap 1 Sebastien Ogier, J.Ingrassia Citroen Total WRT Citroen 2h57m21.4s 2 Elfyn Evans, S.Martin M-Sport Ford WRT Ford 27.0s 3 Ott Tanak, M.Jarveoja Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota 29.2s 4 Thierry Neuville, N.Gilsoul Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai 1m15.7s 5 Kris Meeke, S.Marshall Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota 4m37.1s 6 Benito Guerra, J.Zapata Benito Guerra jr. Skoda 12m06.0s 7 Marco Bulacia Wilkinson, F.Cretu Marco Bulacia Wilkinson Skoda 15m39.6s 8 Jari-Matti Latvala, M.Anttila Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota 16m32.4s 9 Ricardo Trivino, M.Marti Ricardo Trivino Skoda 21m59.6s 10 Dani Sordo, C.del Barrio Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai 21m59.7s



