Yesterday was the end of the Rally of Argentina and as usual the attrition numbers were high. On Day 2 we lost Mikko Hirvonen to overheating and day 3 saw its fair share of retirements. Jari Matti Latvala retired late in the day as did Petter Solberg. Both drivers had fuel pressure issues after a jump on course damaged the system. Sebastian Loeb won his 52nd rally of his career and his fifth straight this year. Citroen Total teammate Dani Sordo finished second and overtook Mikko Hirvonen for second in the drivers title. Citroen continue to increase their lead in the manufacturer’s title and look invincible. BP Ford’s Malcolm Wilson however, thinks that his team still has a chance. Apparently Malcolm has reason to believe that the same failed strategies he has been using will be good enough to propel Ford ahead of the Citroen juggernaut. Third place and rounding out the podium was Henning Solberg for Team Stobart Ford. Solberg has been running fairly consistently all year and was there to take advantage of the mechanical failures of his opponents for his best finish of the year.
In another related story regarding the WRC class, Petter Solberg’s team were apparently robbed after retiring from the event. As if it did not sound disturbing enough, the team’s money, passports, and documents regarding the future of the team. When it rains bad luck, it poors bad luck.
P-WRC saw Nassar Al-Attiyah take his first win of the season. The driver from Qatar propelled himself above Patrik Sandell and into a tight fight with Armando Araujo. The current gap heading into the next round is at 2 points.
The J-WRC was taken by the Suzuki drivers who finished 1 and 2. Kosciuszko took the victory and remains 4 points ahead for the J-WRC title.
Rally d’Italia Sardegna is the next round of the WRC and takes place 22-24 May. Loeb will look for six straight and the BP Ford team will be looking for answers.
Results are as follows:
| 1. | 1 |
Sebastien LOEB |
M | 3:57:40.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 2. | 2 |
Dani SORDO |
M | 3:58:53.4 | +1:13.1 | +1:13.1 |
| 3. | 6 |
Henning SOLBERG |
M | 4:01:44.4 | +2:51.0 | +4:04.1 |
| 4. | 9 |
Federico VILLAGRA |
M | 4:03:40.0 | +1:55.6 | +5:59.7 |
| 5. | 5 |
Matthew WILSON |
M | 4:03:51.2 | +11.2 | +6:10.9 |
| 6. | 4 |
Jari-Matti LATVALA |
M | 4:07:30.3 | +3:39.1 | +9:50.0 |
| 7. | 12 |
Sebastien OGIER |
M | 4:18:35.4 | +11:05.1 | +20:55.1 |
| 8. | 150 |
Nasser AL-ATTIYAH |
P | 4:20:51.9 | +2:16.5 | +23:11.6 |
| 9. | 155 |
Juan MARCHETTO |
4:21:14.6 | +22.7 | +23:34.3 | |
| 10. | 160 |
Marcos LIGATO |
P | 4:23:04.8 | +1:50.2 | +25:24.5 |
| 11. | 65 |
Nicolás FUCHS |
4:27:05.1 | +4:00.3 | +29:24.8 | |
| 12. | 133 |
Toshi ARAI |
P | 4:27:27.9 | +22.8 | +29:47.6 |
| 13. | 66 |
Raúl MARTÍNEZ |
4:38:41.6 | +11:13.7 | +41:01.3 | |
| 14. | 32 |
Michal KOSCIUSZKO |
J | 4:42:28.8 | +3:47.2 | +44:48.5 |
| 15. | 31 |
Aaron Nicolai BURKART |
J | 4:44:08.7 | +1:39.9 | +46:28.4 |
| 16. | 144 |
Spyros PAVLIDES |
P | 4:45:10.4 | +1:01.7 | +47:30.1 |
| 17. | 39 |
Alessandro BETTEGA |
J | 4:50:02.0 | +4:51.6 | +52:21.7 |
| 18. | 149 |
Eyvind BRYNILDSEN |
P | 4:52:49.9 | +2:47.9 | +55:09.6 |
| 19. | 75 |
Daniel SACUR |
4:54:24.9 | +1:35.0 | +56:44.6 | |
| 20. | 68 |
Sebastián ABRAMIÁN |
4:58:42.1 | +4:17.2 | +1:01:01.8 |
Scruffy McLoeb does it again. I miss the days of multiple skilled and dedicated manufacturers and a deep field of talent.
it may never happen again…everybody and their brother are going to IRC. Which surprises me because of what I have seen, WRC is a way better series that just needs a shot in the arm and a certain French guy to stop winning 🙂