[Argentina Day 3] Loeb’s Five From Five

On day one he allowed his rivals and sniff of hope but over the subsequent two days of competition in Argentina Sebastien Loeb set about systematically destroying his nearest challengers. After five Rounds of the WRC Loeb holds an unbeaten record, and from his past five starts in Argentina Loeb has yet to be challenged.

Rally Argentina is one of the championship’s classic events and huge crowds estimated at more than a million people flocked into the pampas to view the action. The gravel tracks in the mountains near Carlos Paz in Cordoba province were rocky and rougher than normal after an unusual spell of warm weather in the south American autumn. Temperatures reached 26ºC during the weekend after a cloudy and cool opening day on Friday.

Competitors tackled 23 special stages covering 331.80km during the four days of action. The route included three passes over a spectacular test inside Cordoba’s international soccer stadium and a double pass over the famous El Condor and Giulio Cesare tests, high amid the stunning rock formations of the Traslasierra mountains.

It was Loeb thought who took the glory at the event finish, when he and co-driver Daniel Elena climbed onto the bonnet of their Citroen C4 to spray the champagne.

“It’s always nice to win this rally,” he continued. “This year’s event was difficult to begin with and we had to drive flat out until Saturday lunchtime. The situation then tipped in our favour when (Ford’s) Mikko Hirvonen hit trouble and we were able to control from in front after that. That said, I tried to keep up a quick pace all the way to the finish because it can be so easy to make a mistake over a jump, or by clouting one of the countless rocks that line the stages here. It’s been a dream start to the season for us!”

Dani Sordo finished second overall to dislodge Mikko Hirvonen from second place by one point in the chase for the Drivers’ title.

“I felt comfortable throughout the weekend,” Sordo said. “This is our second one-two finish of the year and it’s a great result for the whole team. My intention now is to defend my second place in the championship.”

With Ford’s Hirvonen forced to the sidelines with a blown engine, third place appeared to be heading the way of team mate Jarri-Matti Latvala. “We came down a long straight and through a watersplash with two crests just afterwards. The rear of the car hit the crown of one of the crests, a warning light came on and the engine stopped,” Latvala said.

“I tried lots of different things to restart it before eventually rebooting the whole system, after which the engine fired up. It was just bad luck. I’m disappointed to lose the podium but pleased to finish,” he added.

It was a surprised Henning Solberg, who passed Latvala and then brother Petter, to claim third. “It’s a fantastic result for us, I can’t believe it. It’s been such a long time since my last podium and we have really worked hard this year and especially on this event; it was much tougher than I expected. I’m very sorry for Petter, he has done a good job here also, but this is what happens in rallying,” he exclaimed.

The Championship returns to Europe as it reaches the halfway point of the season on the Italian island of Sardinia next month. Round six is the gravel Rally d’Italia Sardegna, which is based in Olbia on 21-24 May.

Final Outright Positions:
1. Sebastien Loeb (Citroen C4 WRC) 3h57m40.3s
2. Dani Sordo (Citroen C4 WRC) +1m13.1s
3. Henning Solberg (Ford Focus WRC08) +4m04.1s
4. Federico Villagra (Ford Focus WRC08) +5m59.7s
5. Matthew Wilson (Ford Focus WRC08) +6m10.9s
6. Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford Focus WRC08) +9m50.0s
7. Sebastien Ogier (Citroen C4 WRC) +20m55.1s
8. Nasser Al-Attiyah (Subaru Impreza WRX) +23m11.6s
9. Juan Marchetto (Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution) +23m34.3s
10. Marcos Ligato (Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution) +25m24.5s