WRC – Ogier and Volkswagen well placed in Argentina

Sébastien Ogier once again got off to a flying start in Argentina. The Championship leader exploited Volkwagen Motorsport's good strategy by preferring soft tires to hard compounds unlike his opponents from Citroën. Despite having lost seconds behind the DS3 WRC by Dani Sordo, the Frenchman completed the first stage of the event with 16 and 18 seconds ahead of Sébastien Loeb and Mikko Hirvonen as the nine-time world champion aims for an eighth consecutive victory in Argentina after being undefeated since 2005!

“We are very happy with the way this rally started for us », comments the leader of the Rally Argentina. “Winning the first super special was obviously a good start to the start of the stage. We caught Dani Sordo in the second stage (SS3) and it cost us a little time, but that's part of the rally. We chose to carry four soft and two hard Michelin tires for the afternoon, which was far from the worst decision we made. Being at the front at the end of such a difficult day is great, but we are now focusing on the rest of the event. We still have some long and difficult stages awaiting us. »

Jari-Matti Latvala once again thought he saw bad luck befall his Polo R WRC when the Finn hit a stone. But the French driver's teammate managed to reach the finish of the first stage by occupying fourth place behind the two Citroëns of Sébastien Loeb and Mikko Hirvonen, even if he was 22 seconds behind his compatriot. “This day has been full of ups and downs. We had the best with very good times in the first and third stages. But I was a little too fast in the second and I hit a stone. I was lucky to be able to continue, but my handbrake stopped working even though it was important to get through the hairpins. On top of that, our tires started to deteriorate at the end of this stage. After my team did a superb job at service, everything worked as expected even though the handbrake failed again in the fourth stage. I could have done more in this step and I'm not 100% satisfied. »