Estonia's Markko Martin leads the Mexico Rally after the final stage of yesterday's second
leg as early race leader Sebastien Loeb of France retired because his Citroen Xsara was leaking too much oil.
Ford driver Martin was 14.5 seconds ahead of Spain's Citroen driver Carlos Sainz. Martin's team mate Francois Duval of Belgium was third, adrift by 18.1 seconds.
"We always have to have hope, but to expect a lead like this yesterday (Friday) was too optimistic to think about," Martin said. "It's a good example of how unpredictable rallying is."
Loeb was aiming to become the first driver in history to win the first three rallies of the season following victories in Monte Carlo and Sweden.
He noticed damage to his sump on the sixth stage but said at the time his car's performance was not suffering. He limped out after the seventh stage.
"The car landed heavily on a rock embedded in the road after a full speed jump," Loeb told reporters. "The sump was cracked and after attempts to fix the car on the road we were ultimately forced into retirement."
Loeb's withdrawal handed Martin the first spot which he kept for the rest of the leg, despite a smoking engine and a timing slip-up that cost him a 10-second penalty for arriving one minute late for the 10th stage.