Rally Argentina was marked by several twists but finally Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena came out on top for the sixth time on the bounce.
The seven-time world champions took the lead on the last stage, after having made up the one-minute penalty they received on the first day. Despite a roll in the longest stage of the event, Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia finished on the third step of the podium. Citroën continued its series of wins in South America, which began in 2004.
The last day of Rally Argentina was an atypical one, with a stage of over 48 kilometres to be tackled as the sun rose. The crews had been up since 5am and they had a quick stop in the Villa Carlos Paz service park before battle began. They then set off for Ascochinga for the longest stage since the start of the season!
Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia, first out on the road, made a cautious start to nurse their 43.7s lead. In the final kilometre of the stage, their Citroën DS3 WRC rolled onto its roof. “A stupid mistake,” admitted Ogier at the finish. “All we had to do was to drive on to victory. I had noted an apex to be taken in a corner, and it ended in a roll. We were able to restart, but the car was damaged. In addition to the superficial damage, we no longer had power steering. The windscreen was broken and we lost our rear wing.”
Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena, in third place, quickly realised that the nature of the terrain wouldn’t allow them to get the better of Mikko Hirvonen: “There was fog and it was very damp. In these conditions there’s no sweeping. Our first split times weren’t great. We had to go ‘pedal-to-the-metal to overtake.” The winner of the last five Rally Argentinas managed to snatch second place in the overall classification at the very end of the timed sector.
In the last three stages – some 10 kilometres – Ogier tried to defend his position. Before the start of the Power Stage, he was only 3.3s in front of Loeb and 5.7s in front of Hirvonen: “It was really tough. In the last stage, I felt that I wouldn’t be able to hold the wheel. Without power steering, the car became incredibly heavy. We were totally unable to fight our corner,” summed up Sébastien.
While Loeb and Hirvonen took advantage of Ogier’s problems to overtake the Frenchman, he took the points for third place. Ogier said: “It’s a lesser evil for the team. We haven’t lost too many points in the manufacturers’ classification. On the other hand, it’s not a great result for the drivers’ title chase. I’m really very disappointed.”
Loeb was in attack mode right till the very end and took the lead from his team-mate. At the flag, he was 2.4s in front of Hirvonen: “After Friday’s penalty, I wasn’t counting on this victory. We pushed really hard to get back in contact with the frontrunners and to beat Hirvonen. Once again, the outcome was decided by a hair’s breadth. It seems that Rally Argentina is my happy hunting ground!”
Loeb congratulated his team-mate and insisted: “I understand what he must be feeling. I’ve had similar misadventures. It’s frustrating and disappointing, but these mistakes can happen. Still he managed to bring the car home to the finish, and that’s very important for the team.”
