ANDREAS AIGNER / KLAUS WICHA
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MARCOS LIGATO / RUBEN GARCIA
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SEBASTIAN BELTRAN / RICARDO ROJAS
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Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution drivers conquered difficult early conditions on today’s opening leg of Rally Argentina to dominate the leaderboard of the FIA Production Car World Rally Championship. Andreas Aigner (Austria) led the category comfortably at the end of the day one with a total of eight Mitsubishi drivers in the Production top 10 after 150 kilometers of flat-out competition.
The crews were faced with awful conditions on the opening two stages of the day, which rose up out of the Punilla Valley near La Cumbre, 80km north of the rally’s base in Villa Carlos Paz. The torrential rain which had plagued yesterday’s shakedown test continued as the flag dropped on the competition. In La Cumbre, however, there was dense fog and low cloud for the competitors to deal with at the same time. It was the lack of visibility which hit many of the drivers the hardest, sapping their confidence on the opening day of what looks set to be one of the toughest Production Car World Rally Championship rounds of the season.
Despite the inclement weather for the late summer in the southern hemisphere, Aigner battled through to take the lead on the second stage of the day - where he also posted fastest time. He further extended his advantage when he went quickest again in stage three. He admitted, however, that his early lead hadn’t come easily.
"I had to push quite hard," said Aigner when the crews returned to Villa Carlos Paz for lunchtime service. "But the car has been incredible. We’ve been over some very big rocks this morning, but the car’s taken everything. The conditions have been really tough. This afternoon I want to try and take less risks over the rocks and try to consolidate this position."
Good as his word, Aigner picked his way through the worst of the afternoon’s rocks, albeit it in much-improved conditions as the rain and fog faded, to maintain his grip on the lead. Leaving the tricky dirt stages behind, Aigner led the field into Cordoba for the day’s final test in the grounds of the city’s football stadium, where he thrilled thousands of fans with a controlled and quick drive through the spectator stage. Not only did he hold a commanding lead in the PWRC category, but the Austrian could also celebrate placing his Mitsubishi in a top 10 position on the overall leaderboard.
Marcos Ligato (Argentina) was determined to make the most of his sole PWRC outing of the year. After being a regular competitor in the series in recent years, the Argentinian has been entered on his home round of the FIA World Rally Championship as a wildcard for this event. Fastest on the fourth stage of the day, Ligato settled into second overall.
"I was too careful this morning," said Ligato. "I should have pushed more, but the risk is always there. It’s been better this afternoon, but the car seems like it has been jumping a little bit. Tomorrow is a big push."
Behind Ligato, his countryman Sebastian Beltran (Argentina) was engaged in a ferocious battle for fourth overall with Fumio Nutahara (Japan). Nutahara suffered a broken rear shock absorber on SS5 which made the car difficult to control on the fast sections. Nutahara said: "I think we have lost the oil from the shock absorber. Apart from this, we had a good run in the morning, we had to be careful - but we still pushed." Beltran clinched the overnight third with a fine run through SS8, where he moved 22 seconds ahead of Nutahara.
Bernardo Sousa (Portugal) gave the Red Bull team even more to smile about, posting fastest time on the sixth stage of the day, assisting his climb from an early 10th overall to an overnight sixth.
Tomorrow’s action takes the crews in the opposite direction to today, as they turn south of Villa Carlos Paz for the faster stages of 154.38km around San Agustin.
At the front of the field, Sebastien Loeb (Citroen, France) controlled proceedings after Ford man Mikko Hirvonen (Finland) crashed off the road on the fifth stage. Chris Atkinson (Australia) held second for Subaru with his team-mate Petter Solberg third.
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| 1 |
Andreas Aigner
Klaus Wicha |
A
D |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
1 |
2:06:49.0 |
**:**:**.* |
| 2 |
Marcos Ligato
Ruben Garcia |
RA
RA |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
2 |
2:08:27.1 |
1:38.1 |
| 3 |
Sebastian Beltran
Ricardo Rojas |
RA
RA |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
3 |
2:08:36.1 |
1:47.1 |
| 4 |
Fumio Nutahara
Daniel Barritt |
J
GB |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
4 |
2:08:58.9 |
2:09.9 |
| 5 |
Nasser Al Attiyah
Chris Patterson |
QAT
GB |
SUBARU IMPREZA |
N
5 |
2:09:30.1 |
2:41.1 |
| 6 |
Bernardo Sousa
Carlos Magalhaes |
P
P |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
6 |
2:10:11.9 |
3:22.9 |
| 7 |
Jari Ketomaa
Miika Teiskonen |
FIN
FIN |
SUBARU IMPREZA |
N
7 |
2:10:15.7 |
3:26.7 |
| 8 |
Martin Rauam
Silver Kutt |
EE
EE |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
8 |
2:11:00.6 |
4:11.6 |
| 9 |
Evgeny Aksakov
Alexander Kornilov |
RUS
RUS |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
9 |
2:13:58.1 |
7:09.1 |
| 10 |
Amjad Farrah
Nicola Arena |
HKJ
I |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
10 |
2:15:46.7 |
8:57.7 |
| 11 |
Giorgio Bacco
Silvio Stefanelli |
I
I |
SUBARU IMPREZA |
N
12 |
2:16:31.6 |
9:42.6 |
| 12 |
Patrik Sandell
Emil Axelsson |
S
S |
PEUGEOT 207 |
N
13 |
2:16:37.9 |
9:48.9 |
| 13 |
Gabor Mayer
Robert Tagai |
H
H |
SUBARU IMPREZA |
N
14 |
2:18:52.3 |
12:03.3 |
| 14 |
Stefano Marrini
Matteo Braga |
I
I |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
15 |
2:21:03.3 |
14:14.3 |
| 15 |
Martin Prokop
Jan Tomanek |
CZ
CZ |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
18 |
2:23:48.3 |
16:59.3 |
| 16 |
Spyros Pavlides
Denis Giraudet |
CYP
F |
SUBARU IMPREZA |
N
19 |
2:32:01.6 |
25:12.6 |
| 17 |
Travis Pastrana
Derek Ringer |
USA
GB |
SUBARU IMPREZA |
N
21 |
2:37:48.0 |
30:59.0 |
| 18 |
Evgeny Novikov
Dimitry Chumak |
RUS
RUS |
SUBARU IMPREZA |
N
22 |
2:39:35.0 |
32:46.0 |
| 19 |
Mirco Baldacci
Giovanni Agnese |
RSM
I |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
23 |
2:41:35.5 |
34:46.5 |
| 20 |
Simone Campedelli
Danilo Fappani |
I
I |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
24 |
2:42:24.0 |
35:35.0 |
| 21 |
Toshi Arai
Glenn Macneall |
J
AUS |
SUBARU IMPREZA |
N
25 |
2:43:38.1 |
36:49.1 |
| 22 |
Andrej Jereb
Miran Kacin |
SLO
SLO |
SUBARU IMPREZA |
N
26 |
2:45:04.9 |
38:15.9 |
| 23 |
Gianluca Linari
Gianni Melani |
I
I |
SUBARU IMPREZA |
N
29 |
2:51:05.8 |
44:16.8 |
| 24 |
Subhan Aksa
Hendrik Mboi |
RI
RI |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION VIII |
N
30 |
2:51:05.8 |
44:16.8 |
1
M |
Sebastien Loeb
Daniel Elena |
F
MC |
CITROEN C4 WRC |
A
1 |
1:54:28.0 |
**:**:**.* |
2
M |
Chris Atkinson
Stephane Prevot |
AUS
B |
SUBARU IMPREZA WRC 2006 |
A
2 |
1:55:58.6 |
1:30.6 |
3
M |
Petter Solberg
Philip Mills |
N
GB |
SUBARU IMPREZA WRC 2006 |
A
3 |
1:56:06.9 |
1:38.9 |
4
M |
Gigi Galli
Giovanni Bernacchini |
I
I |
FORD FOCUS RS WRC 07 |
A
4 |
1:56:15.7 |
1:47.7 |
5
M |
Daniel Sordo
Marc Marti |
E
E |
CITROEN C4 WRC |
A
5 |
1:56:34.9 |
2:06.9 |
6
M |
Federico Villagra
Jorge Perez Companc |
RA
RA |
FORD FOCUS RS WRC 07 |
A
6 |
1:59:16.3 |
4:48.3 |
7
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Matthew Wilson
Scott Martin |
GB
GB |
FORD FOCUS RS WRC 07 |
A
7 |
2:00:46.3 |
6:18.3 |
8
M |
Jari-Matti Latvala
Miikka Anttila |
FIN
FIN |
FORD FOCUS RS WRC 07 |
A
8 |
2:03:55.5 |
9:27.5 |
9
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Conrad Rautenbach
David Senior |
ZW
GB |
CITROEN C4 WRC |
A
9 |
2:04:59.8 |
10:31.8 |
10
P |
Andreas Aigner
Klaus Wicha |
A
D |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
1 |
2:06:49.0 |
12:21.0 |
11
P |
Marcos Ligato
Ruben Garcia |
RA
RA |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
2 |
2:08:27.1 |
13:59.1 |
12
P |
Sebastian Beltran
Ricardo Rojas |
RA
RA |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
3 |
2:08:36.1 |
14:08.1 |
13
P |
Fumio Nutahara
Daniel Barritt |
J
GB |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
4 |
2:08:58.9 |
14:30.9 |
14
M |
Toni Gardenmeister
Tomi Tuominen |
FIN
FIN |
SUZUKI SX4 |
A
10 |
2:09:16.2 |
14:48.2 |
15
P |
Nasser Al Attiyah
Chris Patterson |
QAT
GB |
SUBARU IMPREZA |
N
5 |
2:09:30.1 |
15:02.1 |
16
M |
Luis Perez Companc
Jose Volta |
RA
RA |
FORD FOCUS RS WRC 07 |
A
11 |
2:10:11.3 |
15:43.3 |
17
P |
Bernardo Sousa
Carlos Magalhaes |
P
P |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
6 |
2:10:11.9 |
15:43.9 |
18
P |
Jari Ketomaa
Miika Teiskonen |
FIN
FIN |
SUBARU IMPREZA |
N
7 |
2:10:15.7 |
15:47.7 |
19
P |
Martin Rauam
Silver Kutt |
EE
EE |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
8 |
2:11:00.6 |
16:32.6 |
20
P |
Evgeny Aksakov
Alexander Kornilov |
RUS
RUS |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
9 |
2:13:58.1 |
19:30.1 |
| ../ |
27
P |
Stefano Marrini
Matteo Braga |
I
I |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
15 |
2:21:03.3 |
26:35.3 |
28
|
Gaston Genovese
Gustavo Beccaria |
RA
RA |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
16 |
2:22:04.6 |
27:36.6 |
30
|
Walter Rodriguez
Laureano Grigera |
RA
RA |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
17 |
2:22:27.3 |
27:59.3 |
31
P |
Martin Prokop
Jan Tomanek |
CZ
CZ |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
18 |
2:23:48.3 |
29:20.3 |
33
|
Ricardo Trivino
Checo Salom |
MEX
E |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION |
N
20 |
2:34:39.6 |
40:11.6 |
37
P |
Mirco Baldacci
Giovanni Agnese |
RSM
I |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
23 |
2:41:35.5 |
47:07.5 |
38
P |
Simone Campedelli
Danilo Fappani |
I
I |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
24 |
2:42:24.0 |
47:56.0 |
42
|
Jose Nicolas
Sergio Perugini |
RA
RA |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION VIII |
N
28 |
2:50:10.6 |
55:42.6 |
44
P |
Subhan Aksa
Hendrik Mboi |
RI
RI |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION VIII |
N
30 |
2:51:05.8 |
56:37.8 |
