Shakedown – Petter Solberg in the lead with Subaru!

The Subaru driver, Peter Solberg, was the fastest in the shakedown of the Argentine Rally held on Thursday afternoon. The Norwegian placed his Impreza WRC2007 in the lead with a time of 2’37”6 over the 4.59 kilometers of the stage, four-tenths faster than the reigning world champion Sébastien Loeb, his closest rival.

The Ford Focus cars are not far off as the two BP Ford drivers are in 3rd and 4th positions with Hirvonen, the current championship leader, and Latvala, respectively.

Despite his good pace, Solberg Junior explains that the rain during the session does not provide a real indication of each driver’s performance.

« The weather is good, but I don’t think it’s representative of what we will be able to do during the rally », explains Solberg. « The roads are very soft and create ruts. Like many, we recorded our best time during our first pass, then we were slower. I was four seconds behind on the second pass. But if the rally is as tough as this morning, we are going to have some difficulties. »

After a dry and sunny period in the Cordoba region, showers have increased over Carlos Paz since the start of the week. The roads are expected to be muddy and slippery. A far from ideal terrain for the hard tires of WRC.

« The soft tires would have been more effective in these conditions », admits Solberg. « But the situation is the same for everyone. We will have to be a bit more careful on the muddiest parts. If the weather stays like this, we will use tires for the dry and about thirty degrees… we will need to know when to ease off! »

The other Citroen C4 driven by Dani Sordo is only 12th in this shakedown, while Andersson, driving the second Suzuki SX4, is 13th.

Rally Argentina – Shakedown – Thursday

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