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| RallyeNewsletter 2009 Rally Argentina : WRC Round 5 of 12 : 24th - 26th April In this issue: 1. Leg 2 Unofficial Leaderboard 2. Leg 2 News 4. Leg 2 Team by Team News 5. Remaining Event Schedule 1. Unofficial Leaderboard 1. S Loeb/D Elena FRA Citroen C4 3hr 26min 03.7sec 2. D Sordo/M Marti ESP Citroen C4 3hr 27min 02.3sec 3. J-M Latvala/M Anttila FIN Ford Focus RS 3hr 27min 43.8sec 4. P Solberg/P Mills NOR Citroen Xsara 3hr 28min 44.0sec 5. H Solberg/C Menkerud NOR Ford Focus RS 3hr 29min 27.7sec 6. F Villagra/J Perez Companc ARG Ford Focus RS 3hr 31min 12.7sec 7. M Wilson/S Martin GBR Ford Focus RS 3hr 31min 30.7sec 8. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen FIN Ford Focus RS 3hr 42min 01.3sec 9. N Al-Attiyah/G Bernacchini QAT Subaru Impreza 3hr 45min 48.7sec 10 S Ogier/J Ingrassia FRA Citroen C4 3hr 46min 23.0sec 2. Leg News Sébastien Loeb (Citroen) moved into the lead ahead of team-mate Dani Sordo as Ford's Mikko Hirvonen sufferred with engine problems which forced him out of the rally. 4. Team by Team News BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team http://ford.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=2 Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila delivered another mature performance during today's second leg of Rally Argentina to climb to third in their Ford Focus RS World Rally Car. The Finns moved three places up the leaderboard during one of the classic day's competition in the FIA World Rally Championship season. Team-mates Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen were less fortunate, retiring from second place this afternoon with an overheating problem in their car's engine. #3 : Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen: &q! uot;I'm disappointed because I had gained time on the previous stage and I think the fight would have gone right down to the finish tomorrow. I had the chance to win but even second would still have given me a chance in the drivers' championship. That's looking very difficult now. Argentina hasn't been kind to me," #4 : Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila: "My plan is to keep this position. I'm 41sec behind Dani Sordo in second with 48km of stages remaining. That would mean gaining almost a second per kilometre and there's no real chance of that. There is no service during the day so we have five stages to tackle in succession. They are quite short and the conditions during the recce were OK so I'm not concerned about that," Citroen Total World Rally Team http://citroen.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=1 Loeb and Sordo looking good for a on! e-two The second day of the 2009 Rally Argentina has played into the hands of Citroën Total World Rally Team. After turning on the speed this morning, Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena succeeded in taking control thanks to a faultless display over the South American round's classic El Condor and Mina Clavero stages. Despite running first on the road today, Dani Sordo and Marc Marti are second overall this evening. #1 : Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena: "We've got a lead of a minute and a half over Jari-Matti Latvala, so it's looking pretty good. Sunday's stages aren't easy, but there are only 48km of competitive action remaining, so I think we should be able to control from in front." #2 : Daniel Sordo/Marc Marti: "Latvala is only 40 seconds behind but I should hopefully be able to keep him at bay. It's looking good for a one-two finish for Citroën, and that would be an excellent result for our World Championship chances." Stobart VK M-Sport Ford World Rally Team http://ford.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=2 Stobart VK M-Sport Ford drivers Henning Solberg and Matthew Wilson overcame a frustrating morning on the second day of Rally Argentina to secure strong point-scoring positions going into the final five stages of the rally tomorrow. With just 48kms of stages remaining Solberg is lying in fifth and Wilson seventh maintaining the team's strong challenge in the manufacturer championship. #5 : Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin: "It's been a tough day and we struggled early on with the dampers. We changed them overnight as a precaution and they just didn't feel the same this morning and it meant we lost some time as the stages today were very technical ! and twisty. We changed them back to the originals in service and it got better for the second pass. But Federico is pushing hard, he obviously knows the stages well and it's been a great fight with him today. I've been too cautious on the rough sections and it's difficult to know exactly how hard to drive on them so that's really where I've lost out this afternoon. The stages have been packed with spectators today and it really is incredible how many people have come to watch this rally." #6 : Henning Solber/Cato Menkerud: "I'm happy with my pace this afternoon and things have felt better after the changes we made at service. This morning's stages were hard work as the road was very slippery after the overnight rain and we were finding it hard to get the car to turn into the corners. That isn't ideal, especially on these twisty! stages, but it was better this afternoon; I started to left foot brake more to get the car turned in. I think we hit the same rock as Petter as we both had a puncture in the same place." Citroen Junior Team http://citroen.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=1 Today's Rally Argentina stages - renowned for being amongst the most difficult of all on the FIA World Rally Championship - did not smile on the Citroën Junior Team. Neither Conrad Rautenbach/Daniel Barritt nor Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia were able to make the finish on day two of the South American event. #8 : Conrad Rautenbach/Daniel Barritt:" I took a line that was a bit too tight and unfortunately we hit a rock on the inside. The steering was damaged and the car spun. We tried to carry on but a few hundred metres later we hit a narrow bridge. " #7: Sebasti! en Ogier/Julien Ingrassia: " A damper had let go just before the finish of the previous stage, " Sébastien recounted. " We didn't hit anything: I think it was just the inevitable consequence of the strain they were subjected to on these very rough roads. We tried to carry on but it was pointless to risk damaging the car further by continuing at slow speeds… " 5. Remaing Event Schedule Sunday 26 April: Day 3 Carlos Paz - Carlos Paz Serv G Carlos Paz (15 mins) 07.30 ! SS19 Villa Giardino - La Falda 15.78km 08.48 SS20 Valler Hermoso - Casa Grande 10.95km 09.20 SS21 Cosquin - Tanti 11.27km 10.03 SS22 Tanti Nuevo - Villa Garcia 7.60km 10.26 SS23 Estadio Cordoba III 2.40km 12.05 Serv H Carlos Paz (10 mins) 13.03 Finish Carlos Paz 13.30 Total 48.00km Rally total 331.80km |