Day 2 – Loeb Remains Leader Despite Carnage!

The Frenchman Sébastien Loeb in his Citroën C4 continued to lead the Argentine Rally and with more than a minute ahead of the second, he is well on his way to claiming his 4th victory here. He is ahead of the two Subaru drivers, with Peter Solberg leading in front of Chris Atkinson. The Ford catastrophe continues.

The two teams that have (for the moment) survived this 15th Argentina rally are Citroën and Subaru, placing their drivers in the top 4. Ford has to be content with minor points. Hirvonen is, for example, 6th, but more than 24 minutes behind the Alsatian leader.

Most of the leading men encountered problems on this second day. However, in much better weather conditions than the previous day, most of the drivers fell victim to mechanical failures, with the suspensions struggling to withstand the rocky Argentine terrain.

Jari-Matti Latvala (BP Ford) as well as the Stobart trio; Gigi Galli, Henning Solberg, and Matthew Wilson all succumbed to mechanical issues. The first three in the morning, while Wilson, then 6th on his return to the WRC, had to abandon in stage 15 after his front suspension broke.

The two Suzuki drivers were also forced to retire. Per-Gunnar Andersson couldn’t repair his suspension damage from the previous day, while Toni Gardemeister stopped due to hydraulic issues that caused a power steering failure.

If the standings do not change, it will be the first time since the Rally GB 2003 that Subaru places two Impreza WRCs on a World Championship podium. Petter Solberg had won it, and Tommi Mäkinen had taken the third position.

« I’m easing off », assures Atkinson. « I won’t drive slowly but there’s no need to take risks. Points for Subaru are my priority. Of course, a second place would be a good result, but I have a chance to be on the podium for the third time in four rallies. It would be a better start to the season than expected. Petter drove very well. Our day will come. »

Frederico Villagra for Ford Munchi’s is currently 8th in his home rally. The Argentine remains more than 25 minutes behind Loeb but is consistent and manages to take advantage of his opponents’ mistakes. He would thus achieve his best result in WRC. Also noteworthy is the very good performance of Conrad Rautenbach in the Xsara. The Citroën driver is 5th just behind Dani Sordo.

Mikko Hirvonen, after his exit on the first day, managed to climb back to 6th position. He recorded top 3 times on each stage and thus succeeded in putting pressure on the top 5. His teammate, Latvala, is currently 16th, just behind Malcolm Wilson, who is 15th.

Gigi Galli, despite his problems, takes the 11th position and more importantly, scores points again for the constructors’ championship.

There will be 4 special stages for Loeb to handle tomorrow to claim his 4th Argentinian win and his third victory of the season.

Rally Argentina – Day 2