Organised one month after the Rally de Portugal, Rally Argentina is another legendary event which is often quoted by the drivers as one of their favourites because of the outstanding welcome they are given, the mouth-watering smell of barbecued asados and the unique atmosphere of towns like Villa Carlos Paz, Mina Clavero and Santa Rosa de Calamuchita. All these ingredients and more give a distinctively festive feel to the trip to South America.
In addition to the country’s charms, the event itself is described by many as the “the most complete challenge of the year”. Indeed, it features a bit of everything, from high-speed jumps to slower, technically-demanding portions and some spectacular fast sections. The local speciality is the number of water-splashes that crews have to cross; an exercise that can be particularly complex when autumn rain falls in abundance over the Argentine sierra.
Because of this feature, Technical Manager Xavier Mestelan-Pinon is particularly cautious before the start. “Our pre-event testing went well,” he says. “However, as always, nothing can replace actual competition. The way the Citroën C4 WRC copes with water-splashes is a bit of an unknown factor. We will also have to see how it performs over the rougher portions, a type of terrain it has yet to encounter in anger. It will be interesting, too, to see how it goes on soft, rutted surfaces.”
The celebrated Punilla, Calamuchita and Traslasierra Valleys through which the stages wind their way have traditionally been kind to Citroën which has claimed three consecutive successes on the South American event. Outgoing two-time winners Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena have also won this year’s rounds in Mexico and Portugal and currently top the Drivers’ championship standings. Even so, Sebastien prefers not to get carried away. “It’s a great rally,” he says. “The stages are challenging, the spectators are extremely enthusiastic and we always get to eat great meat! The C4 WRC has shown it is competitive on dirt, but we have also seen that we have had to push hard to make a difference. When you’re fighting to the nearest second, it can always go either way. I am optimistic, but I think it will be very close.”
This is Dani Sordo’s third trip to Villa Carlos Paz, although Marc Marti – who will be making his 100th WRC appearance here – benefits from more experience of the event than his driver. “It’s a highly varied event,” observes the 2005 JWRC Champion whose primary objective will once again be to continue to learn. “I enjoyed my first two visits to Argentina but there is so much to learn. We will do our best to obtain another top result for Citroën.”
Guy Frequelin has bitter sweet memories of Argentina. He was unable to fully savour his win on the 1981 event because of a painful twisted neck but he has since made up for that thanks to the back-to-back successes of Carlos Sainz and Sebastien Loeb. “Argentina is one of the year’s highlights. The setting, the well-behaved connoisseur spectators and the highly varied stages make it a remarkable event. Classic tests like Giulio Cesare and El Condor mean it is never easy though. That’s why I prefer to be cautious before the start. We have a chance of winning, but I don’t expect it to be easy.”