WRC Argentina Recap

The WRC event in Argentina at the end of March was quite a spectacular one! First, some facts about Rally Argentina: it’s known for its unpredictable terrain, water splashes, and dramatic elevation differences. Hosted in the city of Cordoba, it boasts 216 miles of competitive stages. This year, it was hosted 6 weeks earlier than usual, so instead of dust and dirt, the drivers had mud and fog to deal with. The FIA regs that determine which control tire gets used in each event came under heavy fire by all of the drivers. The FIA stipulated this season that everybody is to use the same tire and is not allowed to modify it for any reason. In previous years, the teams were permitted to make "cuts" or extra grooves in the tires to help disperse mud and water, but the practice has since been banned, making it tricky for competitors to get optimal traction with the standard-issue tires. Sebastien Loeb said, "I would like to find the FIA official and have him go for a ride with me to explain how treacherous and dangerous the no-cut rule is on rallies like this."

Day-by-day recap of the 3-day event below the jump…

Day 1
With the first stage underway, teams faced slow going through the stages amidst the plentiful mud and fog, with the likes of Jari-Matti and Mikko Hirvonen being caught out. Jari-Matti suffered a big crash but was able to get going again, and Mikko was too close on the inside and caught a rock. Both cars would start the race again under the restart rules on the next day. In previous years, restarts weren’t allowed, so if you had a wreck or broke something you were done. Now, the crews are allowed to repair their cars and return to the rally. For every stage missed after their crash/out they’re penalized 5 minutes, which might not sound like much but when the difference between 1st place and 5th is 5 minutes, it’s huge!

Hennig Solberg of the Ford team was also caught out when a rock pushed his suspension tower through the passenger side hood. It was a bad for Ford, as three of their biggest contenders didn’t finish the day!
Suzuki also faltered as they continue to grow through their teething issues, with a rock ending Toni Gardemeister’s day and P. G. Anderson suffering from electrical problems. The big news of the day came from the Subaru team as they finished in 2nd and 3rd at the end of the day; not too shabby for a 3-year-old car.

Day 2
Jari-Matti Latvala was unable to restart the day as an impact with a rock destroyed his starter, and the team was unable to repair it in the time allowed. Gigi Galli experienced electrical problems after water in the car from one of the immense water splashes caused the cab of the car to fill with smoke. The damage was so severe he had to retire completely from the rally. Mikko restarted after his crash on Day 1 and climbed from 30th place to 6th in one day. The difference, however, between the top 8 finishers was immense. The first 3 teams were within 4 minutes of each other, but the margin between 3rd and 4th was 18 minutes: that’s hard to make up.

Day 3
The "Sierra Grande" and "El Condor" stages were the last two stages of the day, featuring a 3280-foot climb and an equal decline through a path strewn with VW-sized boulders. Hennig restarted yet again, only to succumb to the same fate that befell him on Day 1: suspension through the passenger side strut tower. The one sad note for Day 3 was that Subaru’s number one, Petter Solberg, had electrical problems less than 1700 before the finish of the "Sierra Grande" stage, which left Subaru’s Chris Atkinson to bring home points for the team.