The weather won’t play a big role in Argentina

The organizers of the Argentine rally, which is scheduled to take place next week, have prepared for all weather conditions.

Indeed, for the fourth round of the WRC season, on South American soil, the weather is almost unpredictable, especially as the year 2008 already promises to be historic in terms of abrupt changes in conditions; Drought giving way to torrential rains just a day later.

To calmly address potential problems that could disadvantage competitors in the World Rally Championship, organizers have decided to prohibit access to certain special stages. SS 12 and 16, which traverse the forests of San Agustin and Villa General Belgrano (due to fire risks in case of drought). Conversely, if the rain is too heavy, the route will not pass through the plains north of Villa Carlos Paz, a valley often flooded.

« If it’s wet, we prefer soft tires but it’s the nature of our sport », comments Paul Howarth, team manager of Subaru.

« The special stages of the first day can be rough, so there won’t be much of a difference. However, putting on hard tires on the second and third days could be challenging if it rains, especially on Saturday. If that happens, the conditions will become very difficult and the drivers will certainly need to ensure safety. Even with soft tires, it wouldn’t have been easy but all the drivers are in the same situation. »

Sébastien Loeb, winner at the Mexico rally, spoke about the conditions in Argentina at the end of the weekend: « Compared to Mexico, the tires will face more difficulties in Argentina. The hot conditions were suitable for hard tires. In Argentina, it’s colder. The hard tires could pose a problem. »

Regardless of the weather conditions in Argentina, all WRC crews will use the hard Pirelli Scorpion tires already tested in Mexico. The decision was made at the end of 2007 based on the expected conditions at the time.

According to the quotes collected by the WRC (web)