WRC: Rally Argentina - Result

[Rory Phoulorie]

Loeb wins in Argentina.

Citroen's Sebastien Loeb has won the Rally Argentina, the sixth round in the 2007 FIA World Rally Championship.

Loeb took the lead on Saturday on the first �proper' test, after Friday's action was all but wiped out when a number of drivers' and personnel were left stranded in Buenos Aires following the Thursday night super special.

After the logistical problems on Friday though, the event began for real yesterday and Loeb stamped his authority on proceedings from the off. In total the Frenchman won seven of the nine stages on Saturday, to build a 20-odd second lead, which he defended to the finish. He eventually took the win by 36.7 seconds.

Marcus Gronholm meanwhile had to settle for the runners-up spot in his BP Ford Focus WRC. The Finn unable to reduce the margin on the final day and he in fact slipped further back.

Mikko Hirvonen took the final place on the podium, more than 2 minutes off Loeb. Mikko had no real problems, but just conceded that he couldn't set the same sort of pace as Seb and Marcus.

Next up in fourth was Stobart Ford's Jari-Matti Latvala, while Henning Solberg was fifth in the sister car.

Daniel Sordo gained two spots on the final day to finish sixth, recovering from the hydraulic issues on SS18 on Saturday that cost him 90 seconds and dropped him from fourth to eighth.

Subaru's Chris Atkinson and OMV Kronos Citroen's Manfred Stohl completed the top eight.

Full report and result to follow soon...


http://www.crash.net/news_view~cid~4~id~147539.htm

[Rory Phoulorie]

Result - Rally Argentina.

Sebastien Loeb wins the Rally Argentina for the third year in succession - 36.7 seconds up on Marcus Gronholm; Mikko Hirvonen is third, over a minute further back; Jari-Matti Latvala and Henning Solberg round out the top five...


Overall times after SS23 / Leg 3 - Top 20:

1. Sebastien Loeb Citroen Total WRT C4 WRC 2hours 52mins 03.8secs M
2. Marcus Gronholm BP Ford Focus RS WRC 06 +00mins 36.7secs M
3. Mikko Hirvonen BP Ford Focus RS WRC 06 +02mins 15.2secs M
4. Jari-Matti Latvala Stobart Ford Focus WRC 06 +03mins 43.0secs M
5. Henning Solberg Stobart Ford Focus WRC 06 +04mins 10.1secs M
6. Daniel Sordo Citroen Total WRT C4 WRC +04mins 23.6secs M
7. Chris Atkinson Subaru WRT Impreza WRC 2006 +04mins 43.4secs M
8. Manfred Stohl OMV Kronos Citroen Xsara WRC +05mins 20.2secs M
9. Federico Villagra Mitsubishi +16mins 49.9secs P
10. Toshihiro Arai Subaru Impreza +16mins 59.2secs P
11. Juho Hanninen Mitsubishi Lancer Evo +17mins 18.1secs P
12. Juan Pablo Raies Munchi's Ford Focus WRC 06 +18mins 00.6secs M
13. Gabriel Pozzo Mitsubishi Lancer Evo +20mins 11.9secs P
14. Marcos Ligato Mitsubishi Evo +21mins 29.1secs P
15. Sebasti�n Beltran Mitsubishi Evo +22mins 04.0secs
16. Niall McShea Subaru Impreza +22mins 19.8secs P
17. Andreas Aigner Mitsubishi Lancer Evo +22mins 58.8secs P
18. Nicolas Madero Mitsubishi Evo IX +24mins 01.7secs
19. Martin Rauam Mitsubishi Lancer +24mins 55.7secs P
20. Raul Mart�nez Subaru +26mins 47.1secs

Other:

28. Luis Perez Companc Munchi's Ford Focus WRC 06 +46mins 57.9secs M
30. Matthew Wilson Stobart Ford Focus WRC 06 +48mins 38.0secs


Overall PWRC after SS23 / Leg 3 - Top 10:

1. Federico Villagra Mitsubishi 3hours 08mins 53.7secs P
2. Toshihiro Arai Subaru Impreza +00mins 09.3secs P
3. Juho Hanninen Mitsubishi Lancer Evo +00mins 28.2secs P
4. Gabriel Pozzo Mitsubishi Lancer Evo +03mins 22.0secs P
5. Marcos Ligato Mitsubishi Evo +04mins 39.2secs P
6. Niall McShea Subaru Impreza +05mins 29.9secs P
7. Andreas Aigner Mitsubishi Lancer Evo +06mins 08.9secs P
8. Martin Rauam Mitsubishi Lancer +08mins 05.8secs P
9. Stuart Jones Mitsubishi Lancer Evo +10mins 54.5secs P
10. Travis Pastrana Subaru Impreza +14mins 36.3secs P


Notable retirements*:

SS10. Matthew Wilson Stobart Ford Focus WRC 06 Electrical.*
SS10. Luis Perez Companc Munchi's Ford Focus WRC 06 Suspension. M*
SS12. Kristian Sohlberg Subaru Impreza Mechanical. P
SS17. Petter Solberg Subaru WRT Impreza WRC 2006 Mechanical. M
SS18. Nasser Al-Attiyah Subaru Impreza Mechanical. P
SS18. Leszek Kuzaj Subaru Impreza Mechanical. P
SS19. Amjad Farrah Subaru Impreza WRX Mechanical. P
SS20. Stefano Marrini Mitsubishi Lancer Evo Mechanical. P
SS21. Fumio Nutahara Mitsubishi Lancer Evo Mechanical. P
SS21. Spyros Pavlides Subaru Impreza Mechanical. P
SS22. Loris Baldacci Subaru Impreza Mechanical P
SS22. Fabio Frisiero Mitsubishi Lancer Mechanical. P
SS22. Mirco Baldacci Subaru Impreza Mechanical. P

* denotes elected to re-start under SupeRally format.

M - denotes Manufacturer entry.
P - denotes Production Car WRC entry.

all times unofficial


http://www.crash.net/news_view~cid~4~id~147547.htm

[Plex]

Another win for Sebastien Loeb...C4...