The Swede, driving a Skoda Fabia R5, opened his account with fastest time through the old mining tunnels and cobbled streets of Guanajuato on Thursday evening.
He won all nine tests today, the majority in intense heat over gravel mountain roads near León, to overnight with a 3min 07.4sec advantage.
“I’ve really enjoyed it today. Nice stages, good pace notes and the team engineers have given me a fantastic car,” said Tidemand, whose progress was such that he lay eighth overall.
Briton Gus Greensmith was second in a Ford Fiesta R5, the youngster’s only glitch coming this morning when he attacked too hard on the abrasive roads and wore out his tyres.
Greensmith was 4min 20.8sec clear of Chile’s Pedro Heller, driving another Fiesta R5. Fourth, and the final survivor of a hugely attritional day, was 17-year-old Bolivian Marquito Bulacia.
Bulacia suffered overheating problems but kept a cool head on his WRC debut to end just 7.7sec behind Heller.
Finland’s Jari Huttunen was third in a Hyundai i20, despite an early spin, before a damaged radiator brought his day to an early finish.
Teenager Kalle Rovanperä retired after breaking his Skoda Fabia’s radiator when he landed on a rock after a jump, while Junior WRC champion Nil Solans had a disappointing start to his WRC 2 career when he stopped in the second stage.
Head to WRC+ to watch WRC All Live from Rally Guanajuato Mexico
Source: http://www.wrc.com
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