WRC: Loeb reclaims points lead in Argentina - AutoWeek Magazine

Sebastien Loeb won the Rally Argentina last weekend for the fourth straight time.
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By ANTHONY PEACOCK

Frenchman Sebastien Loeb became the most successful driver in the history of the Rally Argentina by winning the event for the fourth-straight time, racking up his 39th career victory. Loeb also reclaimed the drivers' world championship lead and propelled his Citroën team back into contention for the manufacturers' title.

With summer turning into autumn in the southern hemisphere, weather was expected to be warm and dry in the Cordoba region west of Buenos Aires. Instead, driving rain and high winds turned the gravel roads into a quagmire over the rally's three days.

Despite thick fog at the start, Ford driver Mikko Hirvonen took an early lead, going a full 50 seconds quicker than anybody else on the opening stage. His dominance was short-lived: The Finn hit a rock buried in mud, handing the advantage to Loeb on Friday afternoon. The reigning world champion controlled his pace to the finish over classic stages that climbed more than 2000 meters high through the Andes foothills.

This year's new tire rules, designed to cut costs, mean that crews have to use the same rubber compound for a number of the gravel rallies, but Argentina's cold and wet conditions did not suit the hard-compound Pirellis. Teams were allowed previously to hand-cut extra grooves in the tires to cope with extreme conditions, but this, too, has been outlawed.

"The tire rules made this rally quite dangerous," said Loeb. "We were just skating on a layer of mud for a lot of the time. These rules need to be changed so we can cut the tires."

The Subarus of Petter Solberg and Chris Atkinson fought a close battle for second through most of the rally, but Solberg retired from the runner-up spot with electrical problems just two stages from the finish. It would have been the Norwegian's best result since last year's Rally of Portugal.

Loeb's teammate, Dani Sordo, inherited third ahead of the privateer Citroën of Conrad Rautenbach--who became the first Zimbabwean ever to score points in WRC.

Hirvonen fought back to fifth overall after his early misfortune, but he relinquished his championship lead and now trails Loeb by five points. Citroën is just three points behind Ford in the constructors' standings, after the other factory Focus WRC of Jari-Matti Latvala retired.

"I think it's been our worst event since the China Rally in 1999," Ford team boss Malcolm Wilson concluded.

On that occasion, the Ford Focus entries of the late Colin McRae and of Thomas Radstrom both retired on the opening stage after hitting the same concrete gully.

The WRC will take a step into the unknown at its next round, with the first Jordan Rally, at the end of April.


RESULTS
COURSE: RALLY ARGENTINA

DATE: MARCH 28-30

1. Sebastien Loeb, Citroën C4 WRC, 4h 5m 48.6s; 2. Chris Atkinson, Subaru Impreza WRC 07, +2m 33.2s; 3. Daniel Sordo, Citroën C4 WRC, +4m 4.7s; 4. Conrad Rautenbach, Citroën C4 WRC, +20m 3.5s; 5. Mikko Hirvonen, Ford Focus WRC 07, +25m 15.3s; 6. Federico Villagra, Ford Focus WRC 07, +27m 42s; 7. Gigi Galli, Ford Focus RS WRC 07, +27m 51.8s; 8. Andreas Aigner, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, +28m 59.3s; 9. Sebastien Beltran, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, +30m 4.9s; 10. Jari Ketomaa, Subaru Impreza N12, +31m 52.5s;

11. Fumio Nutahara, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, +32m 58.4s; 12. Martin Rauam, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, +38m 27.4s; 13. Amjad Farrah, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, +47m 15.8s; 14. Martin Prokop, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, +47m 19.2s; 15. Jari-Matti Latvala, Ford Focus RS WRC 07, +49m 13.2s; 16. Walter Rodriguez, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, +1h 1m 39.8s; 17. Gaston Genovese, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, +1h 3m 38.6s; 18. Bernardo Sousa, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, +1h 7m 13.8s; 19. Simone Campedelli, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, +1h 8m 21.4s; 20. Gabor Mayer, Subaru Impreza N12, +1h 8m 42.8s

POINTS LEADERS: 1. Loeb, 30; 2. Hirvonen, 25; 3. Atkinson, 22; 4. Latvala, 16; 5. Galli, 11; 6. Sordo, 9; 7. Petter Solberg, 9; 8. Rautenbach, 5; 9. Francois Duval, 5; 10. Villagra, 5

NEXT: Jordan, April 24-27

 

People quickly forget Sebastian Loeb when talking about domination in the sports world. He has already surpassed Gronholms win record ( 38-32 ), and has already equaled Makkinen and Kankunnen in the drivers title standings ( 4 WDC )

We are unlikely to see this sort of dominance in WRC for a long time to come.

I picked him when he was still racing WRC2 for Citreon in the little Saxo as the next champion.

 

WRC still available in US? Was on Speed for a while, but not for few years now... elsewhere?

 

^ Nope. Sucks royal azz.

Did I hear that the Outdoor Channel had it for a bit?