WRC – Volkswagen takes pride of place in Argentina

Volkswagen suffered in the second stage of the Rally from Argentina. Sébastien Ogier was outpacing Sébastien Loeb before making a mistake in SS7 (see video). The Championship leader managed to regain second place while Mikko Hirvonen fell in the standings following a puncture and engine failures. However, it is with a delay of almost 40 seconds on the nine-time world champion that he will approach this last day of the event. “We lost a little time in the 7th stage by sliding in a long right turn covered in mud”, comments the Frenchman. “Luckily we were able to turn it around and continue. It's a shame to lose your mind like this, but it's obviously part of the rally. We remain ahead of our direct opponents in the Championship and we have a great opportunity to score important points. This is precisely what we are going to do. »

Jari-Matti Latvala had the opportunity to return to the provisional podium following problems encountered by Mikko Hirvonen in SS9, but the Volkswagen driver lost almost two minutes by being forced to stop to change a wheel. If the Finn remains in fourth position before starting the last stage, he has the opportunity to aim for a finish on the podium, with Evgeny Novikov only having an eight-second lead. “It was another long and varied stage”, underlines the former Ford driver. “We weren't comfortable in the slow sectors in the first pass, but things were better in the second after we made some changes to the settings. Then, while third place was reaching out to us, we had a problem with a tire which was damaged on a jump. I continued to attack in the last special and managed to get back to the provisional podium. We are only 8"2 behind Novikov and I can't wait for the duel. »

Andreas Mikkelsen was no luckier. The Norwegian was in sixth place before retiring on the SS9 junction after damaging his suspension. The Volkswagen driver will start again in Rally 2 today.