Team-BHP - WRC Round 4 - Rally Argentina
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This fourth round of the FIA World Rally Championship has not run in March for several years, but there was little of the fading south American summer to enjoy in the pampas of Cordoba province today. The vast open plains of the Punilla Valley, north of the rally base in Carlos Paz, were blitzed by fog, low cloud, heavy rain and mud this morning before - finally - sunshine made a brief appearance. Massive crowds packed Cordoba last night for the start ceremony, more than 50,000 fans lining the roads as competitors headed out of the city to Carlos Paz. The action began in earnest this morning but constantly changing conditions made life difficult for competitors over the 150.86km of gravel speed tests. Cool temperatures made it hard for drivers to generate heat into the hard compound Pirelli Scorpion tyres that regulations demand all competitors use and mud ensured normal grip was sporadic.


Unofficial Leaderboard

1. Loeb / Elena Citroen C4 WRC 1h 54m 28.0s
2. Atkinson / Prevot Subaru Impreza WRC2007 +1m 30.6s
3. Solberg / Mills Subaru Impreza WRC2007 +1m 38.9s
4. Galli / Bernacchini Ford Focus RS WRC 07 +1m 47.7s
5. Sordo / Marti Citroen C4 WRC +2m 06.9s
6. Villagra / Perez Companc Ford Focus RS WRC 07 +4m 48.3s
7. Wilson / Martin ;Ford Focus RS WRC 07 +6m 18.3s
8. Latvala / Anttila Ford Focus RS WRC 07 +9m 27.5s
9. Rautenbach / Senior Citroen C4 WRC +10m 31.8s
10. Aigner / Wicha Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX +12m 21.0s

madan, which channel airs the WRC? really want to watch it.

After SS13. The Overall Leadership Board looks like this:

1. Sébastien LOEB 2:41:05.4 0.0
2. Petter SOLBERG 2:42:37.8 +1:32.4
3. Chris ATKINSON 2:42:41.9 +4.1
4. Gigi GALLI 2:43:52.2 +1:10.3
5. Daniel SORDO 2:43:54.9 +2.7
6. Matthew WILSON 2:50:06.5 +6:11.6
7. Federico VILLAGRA 2:51:04.9 +58.4
8. Jari-Matti LATVALA 2:51:15.7 +10.8
9. Conrad RAUTENBACH 2:55:42.3 +4:26.6
10. Andreas AIGNER 2:59:59.7 +4:17.4
11. Sebasitán BELTRÁN 3:01:33.2 +1:33.5
12. Nasser AL-ATTIYAH 3:02:03.1 +29.9
13. Fumio NUTAHARA 3:02:35.4 +32.3
14. Jari KETOMAA 3:02:35.7 +0.3
15. Martin RAUAM 3:04:53.3 +2:17.6
16. Toni GARDEMEISTER 3:05:05.2 +11.9
17. Mikko HIRVONEN 3:05:31.2 +26.0
18. Patrik SANDELL 3:09:57.6 +4:26.4
19. Henning SOLBERG 3:10:48.6 +51.0

A strong run from Subaru so far. Good to see them performing well again. Fords are suffering a bit.

Both factory Suzukis out of the rally. Both stopped on SS14. Per-Gunnar Andersson stopped around 15km into the stage with broken suspension. Toni Gardemeister had some hydraulic problem which affected the power steering and gear shift systems.

Matthew Wilson of the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team, went out in SS15 due to suspension problems.

Here are the overall standings after SS17:

Pos Driver Time Diff
1. Sébastien LOEB 3:26:35.4 0.0
2. Petter SOLBERG 3:27:55.5 +1:20.1
3. Chris ATKINSON 3:28:42.4 +46.9
4. Daniel SORDO 3:30:02.8 +1:20.4
5. Conrad RAUTENBACH 3:44:31.5 +14:28.7
6. Gigi GALLI 3:49:09.6 +4:38.1
7. Mikko HIRVONEN 3:51:16.7 +2:07.1
8. Andreas AIGNER 3:51:52.7 +36.0
9. Federico VILLAGRA 3:52:08.0 +15.3
10.Nasser AL-ATTIYAH 3:52:45.3 +37.3
11.Sebasitán BELTRÁN 3:52:59.1 +13.8
12.Jari KETOMAA 3:54:02.6 +1:03.5

Rally Argentina after 21 special stages (with driver, country, manufacturer and time):

1. Sebastian Loeb, France, Citroen Total WRT, 5 hours, 5 minutes, 48.6 seconds.
2. Chris Atkinson, Australia, Subaru World Rally Team, 2:33.2 behind.
3. Daniel Sordo, Spain, Citroen Total WRTh, 4:04.7.
4. Conrad Rautenbach, Zimbawe, Rautenbach Conrad Citroen WRC, 20:03.5.
5. Mikko Hirvonen, Finland, BP Ford, 25:15.3.
6. Federico Villagra, Argentina, Munchi's Ford, 27:42.0.
7. Gigi Galli, Italy, Stobart VK M Ford, 27:51.8.
8. Jari-Matti Latvala, Finland, BP Ford, 49:13.2.
9. Per-Gunnar Andersson, Sweden, Suzuki WRT, 1:12:32.9.



Drivers' Standings
1. Sebastien Loeb, France, 30 points.
2. Mikko Hirvonen, Finland, 25.
3. Chris Atkinson, Australia, 22.
4. Giggi Galli, Italy, 11.
5. Petter Solberg, Norway, 9.

Solberg had sheer bad luck with him on the 3rd day. He had a very good rally, but as WRC is such a unpredictable sport, the Solberg's Subaru gave up on SS19 just two stages before the finish. This also ended his chances for the podium. I never seen Solberg so disappointed. Was heartbreaking.

every mondays after the rally weekend on starsports at 11 pm


All times are GMT +5.5. The time now is 20:42.