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As the FIA World Rally Championship approaches the halfway point, reigning champion and current leader BP-Ford faces what most regard as two of the toughest events of the season in just three weekends. Round seven of the 16-event series takes the team to the Mediterranean island of Sardinia for Rally d’Italia Sardegna (17 – 20 May), a gravel rally which ranks among the most abrasive and demanding of the year.

Following the disappearance of Cyprus and Turkey from the 2007 calendar, Rally d’Italia Sardegna and next month’s Acropolis Rally of Greece are the only Mediterranean gravel events this year and both have a reputation for being hard. In Sardinia a fine sandy surface masks a hard base beneath and once the early starters have swept the loose gravel away, the rocky roads combine with relatively high spring temperatures to demand strong durability from BP-Ford’s BFGoodrich tyres.

Although the rally has been a WRC round for the past three seasons, BP-Ford drivers Marcus Grönholm and Timo Rautiainen and team-mates Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen cannot say they know the speed tests well. Organisers change much of the route annually and for the third successive year more than half of this year’s special stages will be new. However, the characteristics of the roads are familiar to both drivers as the island is regularly used as a test location by the team.

The rally is based in the industrial town of Olbia, in the Costa Smeralda region in the north of the island, but starts and finishes in Porto Cervo, one of Europe’s most exclusive holiday resorts. The stages contain a mix of narrow, twisty roads and more flowing tracks. While organisers have removed many of the roughest roads from the itinerary, there are still enough there to demand strength and reliability from the team’s Ford Focus RS World Rally Cars.

After extending its lead in the manufacturers’ championship on the last round in Argentina, BP-Ford goes to Sardinia with a nine-point advantage. Grönholm lies second in the drivers’ standings, just three points from the lead, and the 39-year-old Finn already has five podium finishes to his credit from six events this season.

“When we first started going to Sardinia the stages weren’t so enjoyable but organisers have removed some of the roughest and narrowest roads and they are wider and faster now, although there are still plenty of narrow sections,” he said. “It’s one of the most abrasive rounds of the championship and if the weather is hot it’s important to think about looking after the tyres. But the pace is such that it’s hard to think about driving at anything other than flat out.

“We’re making a few small set-up changes following Rally Argentina. There’s nothing major, just a few small tweaks that we hope will make improvements. The time difference between myself and Loeb on the first full day in Argentina was little more than a tenth of a second a kilometre. That’s not big, but it’s big enough and these days it’s not easy to find that kind of time. We’re all working hard to close that gap in Sardinia,” added Grönholm.

Hirvonen lies third in the drivers’ championship and was second here last year. “The rally is in the same area as always but each year the organisers make changes to the route to miss out certain sections and include new ones,” he said. “It doesn’t make a big difference. The most difficult aspect is that the stages are so narrow, even when they are faster and flowing, often with large stones right on the edge of the road. It’s important to be precise with my driving and equally so with my pace notes for the new sections.

“One of my targets for this season was to be closer to Marcus and Sébastien Loeb in terms of stage times. In Sweden, Norway and Mexico I achieved that but in Argentina that wasn’t the case. Maybe it was because I had less experience of the roads, but I drove too safely. So I want to find more speed and be braver in Sardinia,” he added.

BP-Ford World Rally Team increased its lead at the top of the FIA World Rally Championship after claiming a double podium finish on Rally Argentina today. Marcus Grönholm and Timo Rautiainen finished second on this sixth round of the 16-event series in a Ford Focus RS World Rally Car while team-mates Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen were third in a similar car.

The results enabled reigning manufacturers’ champion BP-Ford to widen its advantage in the 2007 title race to nine points. Grönholm and Hirvonen remain second and third in the drivers’ championship respectively.

Most of the opening leg was cancelled when several drivers became stranded in Buenos Aires, 700km south of the rally base in Carlos Paz, after the opening speed test there on Thursday night. Organisers added an additional special stage to today’s final leg to ensure the event completed the required two-thirds distance to award full points. Drivers tackled 246.36km of competition in total, much of it across the wide open plains for which Argentina is renowned.

Today’s itinerary took competitors into the rocky and twisty Traslasierra mountains for two loops of the famous Giulio Césare and El Cóndor tests, followed by a second pass over the super special stage at Cordoba’s soccer stadium. Massive overnight storms flooded the service park and caused considerable damage to teams’ equipment. They left the mountain stages, two of the toughest in the championship, in treacherous condition. The roads, which peak at 2195 metres, were muddy with thick fog in El Condor adding to the hazards.

Grönholm started in second, just 19.2sec behind Sébastien Loeb. The 39-year-old Finn attacked hard on the opening 23.18km Giulio Césare stage but dropped eight seconds after hitting some rocks. Accepting that finishing second was a better option than risk losing valuable points in trying to catch Loeb, Grönholm paced himself through the final four stages to finish 36.7sec behind the Frenchman. It was his fifth podium of the year.

“I went out to push hard this morning but the feeling wasn’t so good,” he said. “I ran wide and hit a stone with the rear of the car. I was worried it didn’t feel right and it was hard to stay on the road. I dropped eight seconds to Loeb so I knew the fight was over. I lost a few seconds after sliding off the road at the beginning of the second stage but after that I had no problems. It was a shame that the first leg was cancelled and that made it a strange rally. I’m disappointed that the fight with Seb wasn’t closer but second and third means that Ford has increased its lead.”

Hirvonen restarted in third, with no opportunity of catching anyone ahead or of being caught from behind. The 26-year-old Finn eased through the day to secure his fourth podium of the season, 2min 15.2sec behind Loeb.

“There was so much fog this morning that there were sections where visibility was down to 20 metres,” he said. “They were really tricky stages but that is the nature of this rally. Quite often here there is bad weather and fog to deal with. The car has been perfect but I’m a little disappointed with the weekend, although I can’t complain about six points and a podium. Maybe my lack of experience of these roads was the telling factor because when the stages were repeated I was much quicker.”

BP-Ford team director Malcolm Wilson was delighted with a strong team result. “Marcus and Loeb were on a different rally to anyone else in terms of pace and it seems Marcus is the only driver who can take the challenge to Seb. We increased our championship lead over Citroen and were helped by the Focus RS cars of the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford team who took points from our rival,” he said.

Jost Capito, director of Ford TeamRS, said: “Four Ford Focus RS cars finished in the top five positions which emphasises the competitiveness and reliability of the Focus. Both championships remain close and we must continue to work as hard as possible to try to put Marcus back on top of the drivers’ standings.”

Both BP-Ford World Rally Team cars hold podium positions after today’s second leg of Rally Argentina. Marcus Grönholm and Timo Rautiainen won two speed tests on their way to second in a Ford Focus RS World Rally Car, while team-mates Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen are third in another Focus RS.

After yesterday’s opening leg was virtually wiped out when some drivers were left stranded in Buenos Aires following transport delays, this sixth round of the FIA World Rally Championship began in earnest today. Competitors tackled five gravel special stages this morning on the sandy roads of the Punilla Valley, north of the rally base in Carlos Paz, before four more afternoon tests over faster and more flowing roads in the Calamuchita valley to the south – a total of 159.16km.

In contrast to the sunshine and high temperatures of the last few days, overcast skies and drizzle greeted drivers as they left this morning. Both Grönholm and Hirvonen opted for soft compound BFGoodrich tyres on their Focus RS cars throughout the day, with extra cuts carved in to help clear loose gravel on the drier sections and mud in the wetter areas.

Patchy fog and mud hampered drivers on the vast, open plains this morning but Grönholm climbed from fourth to second on the opening two stages. The 39-year-old Finn then set top three times in each of the next three stages to return to service in Carlos Paz in second, 15.4sec behind Sébastien Loeb. He won two of the four afternoon stages to end the leg 19.2sec behind his French rival.

“It was good to finally get started on the real stages this morning,” he said. “The roads were very rough and the underneath of the car was hitting the ground in places. I didn’t feel comfortable with that. We had no difficulties with the river crossings in the stages, although we went through a deep crossing after the finish of the first stage this morning and changed the air filter before the next test as a precaution.

“My confidence was good this afternoon and I drove at 110 per cent. The roads were superb and I had really good grip. We made the springs harder at the lunchtime service and the handling was great this afternoon. The gap between myself and Loeb isn’t huge and if it is foggy and tricky tomorrow then the time gaps on the long stages could be big,” added Grönholm.

Hirvonen set a consistent pace all morning, the 26-year-old Finn setting a quartet of fourth-fastest stage times to return to service in fourth, 41.4sec behind Loeb. Two top three stage times helped the Finn climb to third this afternoon when Petter Solberg retired. He is 1min 25.3sec behind Loeb.

“I just couldn’t find the speed,” admitted Hirvonen. “I struggled to find the right feeling and rhythm this morning. It was me, not the car. I was either pushing too hard or not hard enough. I just couldn’t get it right. Maybe it was a lack of knowledge of the stages but I had no chance to stay with Seb and Marcus. But I’m still in a strong position. I have no fight in front or behind tomorrow so I hope to conserve the position that I have and concentrate on finishing the rally.

“There were huge crowds alongside the stages. It’s great to see so many people, especially after the disappointment they had yesterday. The roads were great also. I love the fast sections and the jumps and when there is a big crowd there to watch it’s a real inspiration,” he added.

BP-Ford team director Malcolm Wilson said: “It has been a good day for us. Marcus has been involved in an exciting battle and it’s not all over yet with four long stages to come tomorrow. Mikko improved as the day progressed and he is in a comfortable position to score good points so long as he doesn’t make any mistakes.”

BP-Ford World Rally Team drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen lead Rally Argentina this evening after an opening leg in which virtually the entire itinerary was scrapped after transport problems left many drivers stranded in Buenos Aires last night. Just two short stadium-based speed tests were held, one last night in the Argentine capital and the other tonight in Cordoba, as organisers battled to salvage some action from a leg in which they cancelled seven special stages.

Hirvonen’s Ford Focus RS World Rally Car was fastest on both the 2.40km stage in Buenos Aires’ historic River Plate soccer stadium and the identical test in Cordoba’s soccer arena. The 26-year-old Finn comfortably beat Manfred Stohl on both occasions as two cars at a time raced side-by-side around three laps of the purpose-built loose-surface stages. He leads by 2.4sec from Dani Sordo.

“I have been fastest on every stage in the leg!” he joked. “There were many spectators in Cordoba tonight and it felt better to drive here than in Buenos Aires last night. I love this rally and I can’t wait for it to start properly tomorrow. With no action for most of today I have been catching up on some sleep and preparing for tomorrow by watching in-car videos of the stages from our recce,” he said.

Team-mates and fellow Finns Marcus Grönholm and Timo Rautiainen are fourth in another Focus RS, 3.0sec behind Hirvonen. Thirty-nine-year-old Grönholm defeated championship leader Sébastien Loeb by 0.9sec in the River Plate stadium but was edged out by 1.0sec in Cordoba. “It started to rain in Cordoba just before I started the stage and the surface, which was already wet, became even slippier. I didn’t enjoy it and after the problems today it was hard to become motivated for such a short stage. I’m looking forward to what I hope will be a better day tomorrow,” he said.

The problems for this sixth round of the FIA World Rally Championship began after last night’s stage in Buenos Aires, 700km south of the rally base in Carlos Paz. The drivers were due to return to Carlos Paz by plane, while the cars left for an overnight journey by transporter in readiness for today’s opening leg on the sandy gravel roads in the Punilla Valley, north of the town.

However, radar communication problems at Buenos Aires airport and then a huge storm delayed the flights by four hours. Two of the three charter flights eventually arrived at Cordoba airport, with drivers reaching their hotels in Carlos Paz at 03.30. However, more bad weather forced a third plane to turn back, stranding officials, team personnel and other drivers in Buenos Aires airport for the night. Fog at Cordoba this morning meant the flight was again unable to depart and some drivers did not reach their hotels until shortly before 17.00.

Organisers had to scrap seven stages, to the disappointment of the huge crowds waiting to see their heroes. Tomorrow’s leg will run as scheduled but organisers are considering changes to Sunday’s itinerary to ensure the rally completes the required two-thirds distance for full points to be awarded.