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| 2008 Rally Argentina : WRC Round 4 of 15 : 28th - 30th March In this issue: Leg 2 Unofficial Leaderboard Leg 2 News Leg 2 Team by Team News Remaining Event Schedule 1. Unofficial Leaderboard 1. S. Loeb/D. Elena (Citroën C4) 3 h 28 min 16.5s 2. P. Solberg/P. Mills (Subaru Impreza) + 1 min 19.6s 3. C. Atkinson/S. Prevot (Subaru Impreza) + 2 min 08.5s 4. D. Sordo/M. Martí (Citroën C4) + 3 min 32.3s 5. C. Rautenbach/D. Senior (Citroën C4) + 18 min 00.1s 6. M. Hirvonen/J. Lehtinen (Ford Focus) + 24 min 44.5s 7. A. Aigner/K. Wicha (Mitsubishi Lancer) + 25 min 27.2s 8. F. Villagra/J. Pérez-Companc (Ford Focus) + 25 min 53.4s 9. N. Al-Attiyah/C. Patterson (Subaru Impreza) + 26 min 18.3s 10. S. Beltrán/R. Rojas (Mitsubishi Lancer) + 26 min 33.9s 2. Leg News Sébastien Loeb (Citroen) maintained his lead after winning three stages, the Frenchman still 80sec clear. Team-mates Chris Atkinson and Petter Solberg (both Subaru) fought over second. Atkinson was overhauled by Solberg on the opening stage but kept the gap small until Solberg pulled away this afternoon to end 48.9sec ahead. Dani Sordo (Citroen) is fourth, ahead of privateer Conrad Rautenbach (Citroen). Many leading drivers failed to last the day. Stobart's Gigi Galli (Ford), in fourth, damaged his exhaust on the morning's final stage and resulting electrical problems could not be repaired in time at service. Team-mate Matthew Wilson (Ford) was sixth when a broken track control arm sidelined him. Third squad member, Henning Solberg, completed the first loop to increase his experience after losing time yesterday before withdrawing at the midday service. Toni Gardemeister (Suzuki) drove all four morning tests with only rear-wheel drive after a front driveshaft broke and was later sidelined with no hydraulic pressure. Team-mate Per-Gunnar Andersson stopped with broken suspension. The final day of Rally Argentina will take competitors through 43 competitive kilometres and just three stages; the famous El Condor stages and the third and final running of the spectator stage in the Cordoba Stadium. Heading west from the service park into the mountain roads of Traslasierra, crews will climb to an altitude of 2122 metres above sea level for perhaps the most evocative stage of the rally, the so-called Down Condor. Day three is the highest of the rally and engines will start to lose power in the oxygen-thin air. The twisty roads can be unforgiving if crews start the day fighting for positions and pushing hard. 4. Team by Team News BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team http://ford.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=2 BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen staged a superb recovery to power back up the Rally Argentina leaderboard today. During a second gruelling day of competition, which again proved too much for many rivals, the Finns kept cool to stay out of trouble and battle back from an overnight 25th to hold sixth position in a Ford Focus RS World Rally Car. Team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila held eighth in their Focus RS until a heavy impact with a rock damaged their car's starter motor and the Finns were unable to make repairs in the time allowed. Their car was later restored to full health and 22-year-old Latvala will return for tomorrow's final day under SupeRally regulations. The afternoon was even better for 27-year-old Hirvonen as the roads, now rough and rocky after the morning pass, took their toll on man and machine. One second fastest time and three third quickest performances enabled him to storm up to sixth and fifth in the manufacturers' points standings. #3 : Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen: "I didn't think I could make up so many positions," he admitted. "It was hard to find motivation this morning looking at our position but I was quite excited this afternoon when cars started to fall by the wayside. Tomorrow the plan is to drive flat out because anything can happen ahead and I could score a lot more points here than I thought was possible last night. I don't want to let Loeb leave here with too many more points than us. It was incredibly rough and the car took some massive hits underneath this afternoon, but the Focus is strong and we were OK, although the impacts cracked the windscreen and the drivers' side window." #4 : Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila: Latvala, hoping to regain more positions after yesterday morning's roll, was fifth through the opening test but a heavy impact meant his car refused to start for the following stage. When the car was finally started Latvala had exceeded the time limit. Although he completed the remaining tests, he faced exclusion from the rest of the day and was therefore withdrawn on his return to the service park. "On the first stage we drove down a long fast straight with some jumps and dips," said Latvala. "In one compression, just before a crest, there was a rock which had become exposed in the middle of the road and it struck the sump guard beneath the car. At the finish we opened the bonnet to check everything was OK before driving to the next stage. "We stopped before the start to wait for our turn, but when I tried to start the engine nothing happened. We tried to 'bump start' it to release the starter motor but it was no good. The sump guard must have impacted with the starter motor. When we realised we had gone beyond the time limit, spectators helped push start it and we drove the stage. I've made mistakes here but I've also had no luck. I hope we have some tomorrow," he added. Citroen Total World Rally Team http://citroen.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=1 The conditions of the second day of the 2008 Rally Argentina, round four of this year's World Rally Championship, were every bit as treacherous as those encountered on Friday, but that didn't prevent Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena successfully defending their overnight lead at the wheel of their Citroën C4 WRC. Meanwhile, Dani Sordo and Marc Martí also put in an assertive run to move up to fourth place. #1 : Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena: "The lead we built up yesterday made life easier for us today," observed Sébastien Loeb. "It was still very difficult, though, because the 2008 regulations meant that our tyre supplier Pirelli could only give us hard compound tyres for this event. On today's slippery stages, the mud gave very little grip and we knew it would be difficult to drive flat out. It's a shame that a small 'cut' to the pattern of our tyres – the same for everyone – wasn't allowed. Lots of decisions that have been positive for our safety have already been taken and this measure would have been simple to introduce. Even so, we came through the day unscathed and we now need to do the same again tomorrow to keep our lead." #2 : Daniel Sordo/Marc Marti: After being slowed on Friday with a steering rack problem, Dani and Marc were looking to make up for lost ground today. "My aim was to get a little closer to the podium," said Dani. "It didn't take me long to realise that it wouldn't be easy without taking lots of risks. It was impossible to know for sure how the car was going to react in all the dirt churned up by the cars running ahead of us and I was caught between the desire to push and the fear of compromising our chances of a good result. I didn't want to throw everything away. The final day is the shortest of the rally but we will need to stay totally focused if we want to come away with vital championship points for Citroën." Subaru World Rally Team http://subaru.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=5 Both Subaru Impreza WRC2007s remain firmly in the top three after another strong performance in Argentina. Team-mates Petter Solberg and Chris Atkinson spent the day trading faster stage times in a close fight for position, just seconds apart. Solberg emerged in second position overall, on track for his best result of the season, with Atkinson close behind in third. Atkinson was the second competitor to start this morning, with Solberg in third. Both benefited from better road conditions than they experienced yesterday when starting further down the order and were more able to attack. Nevertheless, on the soft roads the mud was soon knee-deep. As the tyres fought through the slime, so the Impreza vs Impreza battle raged. Solberg was first to strike, taking second position overall on the first stage in which Atkinson felt uncomfortable with the balance of his car in the slippery conditions. With Solberg ahead, Atkinson soon responded and drew closer to the Norwegian throughout the morning. Pushing flat out in a straight fight between team-mates, Solberg won five stages and Atkinson collected his second stage victory of the rally on their way to consolidating the Subaru World Rally Team’s strong start to this event. With only three stages left to run tomorrow, the team is on course for its first double podium finish since Wales Rally GB in 2003. As the afternoon’s repeat stages gave way to the combination of hard tyres and horsepower and became very badly rutted, Solberg repeated his early scintillating pace to mount a charge, closing on the rally lead and increasing his gap over Atkinson. As the day drew to a close the Australian eased his pace to avoid any unnecessary risks, ensuring he brought his Impreza home safely on course for his third podium finish from four rallies this season. Solberg’s five stage wins give him the most stage victories over the last two days of competition, and coupled with Atkinson’s two stage wins, the team have also won more stages this weekend than any other manufacturer team. #5 : Petter Solberg/Phil Mills: “It’s been a really good day, I mean I really, really enjoyed this afternoon” said Petter Solberg. “The car worked very well first thing this morning, and then I lost a bit of the feeling in the conditions, but in the afternoon it was really good. Everything worked and we pushed hard but without taking big risks or making any mistakes. The guys have worked so hard, and they made some changes in service that really worked and after that it’s been really good. We have to finish with both cars and the Manufacturers points are very important, but we are in a good position tomorrow. We’ll drive fast but try to take it a little bit carefully as anything can still happen and we don’t want to risk anything at all. I’m very happy though, it’s a great feeling.” #6 : Chris Atkinson/Stephane Prevot: “I’m pleased with the way today has gone, even though we lost a position” said Chris Atkinson. “We were fast this morning and it’s good to win stages for the team. We’ve had some good results this year and it’s important to keep finishing well, so I decided to back off a little, not take any risks and make sure we got to the finish. Petter had a lot of experience here so I decided to settle. Two Subarus on the podium is the main aim here now and it’s important we finish like that tomorrow, for the points and also for everyone in the team.” Stobart VK M-Sport Ford World Rally Team http://ford.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=2 Day two of Rally Argentina has proven to be one of the most unpleasant in the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford rally team’s history. All three crews retired from the leg on one of the most treacherous days the FIA World Rally Championship has seen in recent years. Despite their retirement today, Italian’s Gigi Galli/Giovanni Bernacchini are currently in a good position to score two valuable manufacturer points for the team. Galli was the first casualty damaging the exhaust on his Stobart Ford Focus RS WRC07 in the rocky conditions on stage 13. This caused a small fire forcing smoke into the cockpit losing him precious seconds over the last 10 kilometres of the test. At closer inspection the exhaust damage had caused additional issues with the car and despite a colossal effort by Stobart mechanics to fix them, the official time limit was reached and the crew were forced to retire and will SupeRally tomorrow. Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud cruised through this morning’s stages working on their pacenotes after retiring from Day 1 and restarting this morning in 29th position. A team decision was then made to retire his Focus RS from the day in an effort to preserve the car for Rally Jordan where Solberg will again score manufacturer points for the Stobart squad. Brits Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin firstly succumbed to a similar exhaust problem to Galli but were fortunate enough to make it out of mid-day service with the help of their mechanics, losing just one minute 20 seconds in penalties after leaving service eight minutes late. The 21-year-old was unfortunately not so lucky when he re-entered the afternoon loop of stages, retiring less than one kilometre from the end of stage 15 with a broken track control arm. Like his team-mates the Englishman will also SupeRally tomorrow’s final day in an effort to gain maximum experience for next year’s event. #7 : Gigi Galli/Giovanni Bernacchini: “I am disappointed with what has happened today but in rallying anything can happen. My mechanics did a fantastic job trying so hard to fix the car before time ran out so I must say thank you to them all. With 10 kilometres to go in stage 13 the car started filling up with smoke and I could not see very much so had to slow down a bit. We found the problem in service but unfortunately the heat from the exhaust problem damaged the main wiring loom and it was impossible to fix in the allocated time limit. The stages were very fast and this morning I had trouble finding a good rhythm as they were quite different to what we experienced yesterday. I am disappointed we couldn’t stay out there today and give the fans a good show but we will be back tomorrow to compete on some of the most famous stages in the WRC.” #8 : Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud: “It was unfortunate we had to retire yesterday but it has given me a chance to work on my pacenotes today and get more experience of this rally which I have only done twice before. The plan was to get through the stages with no problems and we have done this so I am happy. We made a decision with the team to retire for the afternoon stages to keep the car in the best condition but we will be back tomorrow to finish the only two stages of the rally we have not completed yet. The next rally is also on gravel so this extra time in the car will help with our preparation for Jordan.” #16 : Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin: “It has been one of those days and I’m just really disappointed because things were looking good and my mechanics did an awesome job to get us back out this afternoon after the problems in the morning. On the first stage today we hit a huge rock on a right-hand bend which cracked the windscreen. The impact must have moved the exhaust slightly because it started to rub against the tunnel sending smoke into the cockpit and it also affected the prop-shaft. The guys got us back out before the time limit was up but then on the final corner of stage 15 we broke the TCA and unfortunately had to retire for the day. We will be back tomorrow to get some experience for next year and a few more miles on gravel before heading to Jordan.” Suzuki World Rally Team http://suzuki.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=12 t has been another tough day for the Suzuki World Rally Team in Argentina, the fourth round of this year's World Rally Championship. The mud of the opening day continued to characterise the second leg of the all-gravel event, putting traction and grip at a premium in the slippery conditions. Both Suzuki SX4 WRCs re-started day two under the super rally system, with P-G Andersson setting times within the top 10 throughout most of the day. Unfortunately, his consistent run was halted by a suspension breakage on the rough surfaces of SS14. Toni Gardemeister had an assortment of different problems throughout the day: in the morning he had only two-wheel drive, while a hydraulic glitch deprived him of the centre differential, semi-automatic gearshift and power steering during the afternoon. He chose to retire after SS15 in order to re-join the final day under the super rally system and be sure of reaching the finish of the event. #11 : Toni Gardemeister/Tomi Tuominen: "We've not had an easy run of things today. We were just a few hundred metres into the first stage this morning when we lost drive at the front. We obviously then lost a lot of time as we had only two-wheel drive. That problem was fixed at service, but next we had another issue with the hydraulic system. We have to remember that this is just the fourth rally of our first full season with the SX4 WRC, so it's normal to expect a few problems. The important thing is just to try and fix them and move on. Hopefully we can have a good day tomorrow, and show a little bit more of our potential." #12 : Per-Gunnar Andersson/Jonas Andersson: "Conditions have been extremely tough throughout this rally: it's probably the biggest challenge of the year we have faced so far. I enjoyed the morning stages: we had no real problems with the car, although I am feeling my inexperience a little bit. The roads were even rougher on the second passage through the stages in the afternoon, and unfortunately we broke the suspension. That's life, but we'll start again tomorrow with the aim of learning as much as possible." 5. Remaing Event Schedule Serv F Carlos Paz (15 mins) 06.55 SS19 Mina Clavero - Giulio Cesare 24.70km 09.13 SS20 El Condor - Copina 16.06km 10.05 SS21 Estadio Cordoba 1.98km 11.50 Serv G Carlos Paz (10 mins) 12.45 Finish Carlos Paz 13.10 |