Five pilots in a handkerchief

The only driver in this top 5 to be deprived of a best time, Mikko Hirvonen returned to the service park with first place in the general classification: “The car is very competitive but I have two or three details to modify. The starting position was not decisive this morning but I think it will be different during the second round. »

With two best times in SS1 and SS5, Sébastien Loeb concedes 0??6 to the leader: “The sweep was quite penalizing in the first two specials. For the next two, I modified my driving style and the differential setting a little. It is therefore quite difficult to know what made the difference in the last two. I don't know what will happen in the second round. Often, in Argentina, the sweep is even more penalizing than the first pass. But the rain that is starting to fall could change things. »

At the other end of the ranking, Sébastien Ogier occupies the tenth and last place of WRC : ?We weren?t very fast this morning. We may have been too careful in the rougher sections. We will take stock with the team to find solutions to improve our performance without taking more risks. The important thing is really to finish the rally without making any mistakes. »

The crews set off again on the same stages as this morning, in a different order.