WRC – Loeb and Hirvonen chasing Ogier in Argentina

Sébastien Loeb did not hide the fact that he had difficulty finding his rhythm at Rally of Argentina after missing the last two events in Mexico and Argentina. The nine-time world champion WRC managed to narrowly catch up with his teammate Mikko Hirvonen at the end of the first stage of the event, with only 1"8 difference between the two DS3 WRCs, but the Alsatian will have to increase his speed to reduce his delay of 16 seconds on his compatriot at the top of the general classification. “The car evolved well (in the second pass) and we thought we had taken the right option with the hard tires”, commented Sébastien Loeb at the end of the day. “But the drizzle fell and we tried to lose as little time as possible. We leave about ten seconds to Ogier, it?s a little and a lot at the same time. You will have to make do with it during the last two stages. »

For his part, Mikko Hirvonen has the satisfaction of playing at the forefront after being behind during previous events on gravel. With less than two seconds behind his French teammate, the Finn can not only hope to climb to a better position in the standings but also aim for the lead of the race even if the conditions remain uncertain and Sébastien Ogier is ready to respond to attacks from Citroën drivers. “It’s a day that I consider positive, much more so than the last two rallies”, added the manufacturer's second driver to the rafters. “We are still in the race for victory. The (next) stage promises to be the most difficult, especially if it continues to rain. Everything is still possible. »

On the other hand, Dani Sordo saw his hopes of a good result disappear from the start of the first stage when he rolled over following an error in notes from his co-driver Carlos del Barrio. The Spaniard can, however, still play good points since he remains in the top ten even if he is more than three minutes behind the Fiesta RS WRC of Gabriel Pozzo. “I was not comfortable in SS2, which I found very slippery”, explained the Hispanic pilot. “Unfortunately we had a problem with Carlos' door. This distracted him and he didn't give me the right grade. It's a big disappointment, but that's how it is. We are still in the race and we will continue to race to get the best possible result. »

The program for today's stage can be found on this link. Video summaries of yesterday's day are available on this link.