WRC: Loeb set for Rally Argentina victory

[Plex]

Sebastien Loeb continues to serenely dominate the Rally Argentina as incredible attrition takes its toll on the rest of the field.

The factory Citroens and Subarus are the only World Rally Cars to have got through the first two days without incident or serious delay, and are nearly 15 minutes clear of the chasing pack.

Drivers continued to fall by the wayside throughout this afternoon's loop of stages. Factory Ford driver Jari-Matti Latvala and Stobart Ford duo Gigi Galli and Henning Solberg all failed to rejoin following service due to their various morning problems, while Matthew Wilson did not last much longer in the third Stobart entry - retiring from sixth after breaking his suspension in SS15.

Both Suzukis retired for a second consecutive day, with Per-Gunnar Andersson sustaining suspension damage and Toni Gardemeister stopping with hydraulic failure.

Local favourites Munchi's Ford were the other team in trouble. A variety of glitches, including power steering issues and overheating, saw Federico Villagra lose time throughout the afternoon and fall from sixth to eighth, while his teammate Luis Perez Companc has withdrawn from the event due to illness.

As the rest of the WRC pack wilted, Loeb maintained a comfortable lead over Subaru duo Petter Solberg and Chris Atkinson, with Dani Sordo a lonely fourth in the second Citroen.

Solberg won three of the afternoon's full-length stages, reducing Loeb's advantage to one minute and twenty seconds and keeping the leader on his toes.

"We are pushing hard because Solberg is pushing," Loeb said. "So we're trying to keep him more than one minute behind for tomorrow. He's a bit too far behind to really put me under pressure, but I have to keep up a good rhythm and not lose any time."

Although the Subaru driver has no expectation of catching Loeb, he was thrilled with his Impreza's performance today.

"There was so much more grip after we left service today," Solberg said. "It's going really well. I'm not pushing, not taking any silly risks."

Teammate Atkinson has also eased off to focus on securing third place.

"We've backed right off now," he said. "There's no need to take any risks. Second would be nice, but three podiums in the first four rallies of the year is still better than we would have expected."

Behind fourth-placed Sordo, Citroen's rookie WRC driver Conrad Rautenbach has risen to fifth thanks to the retirements, despite being 18 minutes behind the leaders.

Works Ford driver Mikko Hirvonen - who dominated day one until breaking his suspension on a rock - rejoined in 23rd under superally rules today, but has already been elevated right up to sixth position as others faltered.

Production class leader Andreas Aigner and the struggling Villagra complete the top eight, with just two full-length stages and another trip to the Cordoba superspecial remaining tomorrow morning.

Leading positions after day two:

Pos Driver Car Time
1. Loeb Citroen 3h28:16.5
2. P Solberg Subaru + 1:19.6
3. Atkinson Subaru + 2:08.5
4. Sordo Citroen + 3:32.3
5. Rautenbach Citroen + 18:00.1
6. Hirvonen Ford + 24:44.5
7. Aigner Mitsubishi + 25:27.2
8. Villagra Ford + 25:53.4
9. Al-Attiyah Subaru + 26:18.3
10. Beltran Mitsubishi + 26:33.9

Autosport

[Rory Phoulorie]

It looks like SWRT has implemented team orders to bring their cars home in 2nd and 3rd (1st double podium since 2003).

I was watching some highlights on WRC.com and they were showing those Argentinians standing right next to the water splash getting wet, and not moving, every time a car passed through it. They stood there like if they were being blessed with some holy water from the WRC cars.