ANDREAS AIGNER / KLAUS WICHA
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SEBASTIAN BELTRAN / RICARDO ROJAS
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FUMIO NUTAHARA / DANIEL BARRITT
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Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution driver Andreas Aigner’s (Austrian) guarded approach to today’s day 2 of Rally Argentina, based in Villa Carloz Paz, paid dividends as the Red Bull-backed driver now takes a comfortable lead into tomorrow’s final three stages. The top 10 places in the PWRC leaderboard remain packed with Mitsubishis - with seven Lancer Evolutions among the frontrunners.
Aigner, who has led the event from the second stage, showed his pace with a set of blistering times through atrocious conditions yesterday morning and has been able to sit back and control proceedings throughout the second day. Eight of today’s nine stages took place south of Villa Carlos Paz in the Santa Rosa de Calamuchita area, where the roads are generally the fastest of the entire route. Throughout the day, Aigner was calm and collected.
"It’s been a tricky day," he admitted following the day’s final blast around the grounds of the Cordoba football stadium, where once again thousands of South American rally fans cheered the cars’ every turn. "The road surface was tough to follow this morning. Sometimes there was good grip, but sometimes there was very little it would have been a big risk to push hard in these conditions. At the same time, I was worried sometimes by the level of water in the river crossings, they seemed quite a lot deeper than when we came through here in the recce. You must be careful there. But now, okay, we are in a good position for tomorrow. We just have to stay focused now."
Prior to the start, Aigner had been wary of his chief rival for PWRC victory in Argentina, fellow Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX driver Marcos Ligato (Argentina). Unfortunately for the local hero, Ligato’s efforts came to nothing on the opening stage of the day. A heavy landing damaged the oil cooler in his Lancer, forcing him into retirement.
Ligato’s countryman Sebastian Beltran (Argentina) moved straight up into second position in the Production standings, but came under intense pressure from 2006 PWRC title winner Nasser Al-Attiyah (Qatar) who eventually passed him for second.
Fumio Nutahara (Japan) began the day in third place, but lost time when he slid wide and collided with a gate post in SS13, Santa Rosa-San Agustin. He ended the day fifth, just under a minute behind the fourth-placed Jari Ketomaa (Finland).
Nutahara said: "I was too wide in a slow corner. The back of the car slid and we damaged the left-rear suspension. It was quite close to the end of the stage, so we didn’t lose too much time. It is frustrating, though, we had a push in the stage before and everything was looking good. We will keep on going and pushing as hard as we can. The roads have been a bit better and a bit drier this afternoon, but there are some very big rocks being pulled out."
Martin Rauam (Estonia) was sixth in the PWRC standings at the end of the day, although he admitted he wasn’t particularly pleased with his progress. "I’m driving too slowly," he said candidly. "I have to try and make some time up. It’s been a tough day. The weather’s been better, but still the roads are so slippery and the river crossings really tricky."
Tomorrow’s third and final day of Rally Argentina might only have three stages with 42.67km, but it will be anything but straightforward. When two of those stages are El Condor and Mina Clavero, nothing can be taken for granted. When the competitors have finished those two stunning stages out west of Villa Carlos Paz, they will receive a hero’s welcome in Cordoba football stadium at the lunchtime finish.
At the top of the leaderboard, Sebastien Loeb (France) continued to lead for Citroen, with Subaru men Petter Solberg (Norway) and Chris Atkinson (Australia) second and third respectively.
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| 1 |
Andreas Aigner
Klaus Wicha |
A
D |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
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3:53:43.7 |
**:**:**.* |
| 2 |
Nasser Al Attiyah
Chris Patterson |
QAT
GB |
SUBARU IMPREZA |
N
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3:54:34.8 |
0:51.1 |
| 3 |
Sebastian Beltran
Ricardo Rojas |
RA
RA |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
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3:54:50.4 |
1:06.7 |
| 4 |
Jari Ketomaa
Miika Teiskonen |
FIN
FIN |
SUBARU IMPREZA |
N
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3:55:53.3 |
2:09.6 |
| 5 |
Fumio Nutahara
Daniel Barritt |
J
GB |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
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3:56:47.0 |
3:03.3 |
| 6 |
Martin Rauam
Silver Kutt |
EE
EE |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
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4:01:43.3 |
7:59.6 |
| 7 |
Patrik Sandell
Emil Axelsson |
S
S |
PEUGEOT 207 |
N
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4:03:13.8 |
9:30.1 |
| 8 |
Amjad Farrah
Nicola Arena |
HKJ
I |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
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4:08:18.8 |
14:35.1 |
| 9 |
Martin Prokop
Jan Tomanek |
CZ
CZ |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
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4:11:11.1 |
17:27.4 |
| 10 |
Gabor Mayer
Robert Tagai |
H
H |
SUBARU IMPREZA |
N
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4:16:15.5 |
22:31.8 |
| 11 |
Spyros Pavlides
Denis Giraudet |
CYP
F |
SUBARU IMPREZA |
N
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4:30:01.8 |
36:18.1 |
| 12 |
Bernardo Sousa
Carlos Magalhaes |
P
P |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
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4:31:12.2 |
37:28.5 |
| 13 |
Simone Campedelli
Danilo Fappani |
I
I |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
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4:33:10.5 |
39:26.8 |
| 14 |
Giorgio Bacco
Silvio Stefanelli |
I
I |
SUBARU IMPREZA |
N
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4:34:00.2 |
40:16.5 |
| 15 |
Evgeny Aksakov
Alexander Kornilov |
RUS
RUS |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
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4:34:38.3 |
40:54.6 |
| 16 |
Andrej Jereb
Miran Kacin |
SLO
SLO |
SUBARU IMPREZA |
N
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4:35:42.0 |
41:58.3 |
| 17 |
Travis Pastrana
Derek Ringer |
USA
GB |
SUBARU IMPREZA |
N
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4:38:42.5 |
44:58.8 |
| 18 |
Subhan Aksa
Hendrik Mboi |
RI
RI |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION VIII |
N
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4:41:59.3 |
48:15.6 |
| 19 |
Stefano Marrini
Matteo Braga |
I
I |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
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4:42:43.0 |
48:59.3 |
| 20 |
Toshi Arai
Glenn Macneall |
J
AUS |
SUBARU IMPREZA |
N
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4:46:14.5 |
52:30.8 |
| 21 |
Evgeny Novikov
Dimitry Chumak |
RUS
RUS |
SUBARU IMPREZA |
N
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5:09:05.4 |
1:15:21.7 |
1
M |
Sebastien Loeb
Daniel Elena |
F
MC |
CITROEN C4 WRC |
A
1 |
3:28:16.5 |
**:**:**.* |
2
M |
Petter Solberg
Philip Mills |
N
GB |
SUBARU IMPREZA WRC 2006 |
A
2 |
3:29:36.1 |
1:19.6 |
3
M |
Chris Atkinson
Stephane Prevot |
AUS
B |
SUBARU IMPREZA WRC 2006 |
A
3 |
3:30:25.0 |
2:08.5 |
4
M |
Daniel Sordo
Marc Marti |
E
E |
CITROEN C4 WRC |
A
4 |
3:31:48.8 |
3:32.3 |
5
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Conrad Rautenbach
David Senior |
ZW
GB |
CITROEN C4 WRC |
A
5 |
3:46:16.6 |
18:00.1 |
6
M |
Mikko Hirvonen
Jarmo Lehtinen |
FIN
FIN |
FORD FOCUS RS WRC 07 |
A
6 |
3:53:01.0 |
24:44.5 |
7
P |
Andreas Aigner
Klaus Wicha |
A
D |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
1 |
3:53:43.7 |
25:27.2 |
8
M |
Federico Villagra
Jorge Perez Companc |
RA
RA |
FORD FOCUS RS WRC 07 |
A
7 |
3:54:09.9 |
25:53.4 |
9
P |
Nasser Al Attiyah
Chris Patterson |
QAT
GB |
SUBARU IMPREZA |
N
2 |
3:54:34.8 |
26:18.3 |
10
P |
Sebastian Beltran
Ricardo Rojas |
RA
RA |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
3 |
3:54:50.4 |
26:33.9 |
11
M |
Gigi Galli
Giovanni Bernacchini |
I
I |
FORD FOCUS RS WRC 07 |
A
8 |
3:55:50.2 |
27:33.7 |
12
P |
Jari Ketomaa
Miika Teiskonen |
FIN
FIN |
SUBARU IMPREZA |
N
4 |
3:55:53.3 |
27:36.8 |
13
P |
Fumio Nutahara
Daniel Barritt |
J
GB |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
5 |
3:56:47.0 |
28:30.5 |
14
P |
Martin Rauam
Silver Kutt |
EE
EE |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
6 |
4:01:43.3 |
33:26.8 |
15
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Matthew Wilson
Scott Martin |
GB
GB |
FORD FOCUS RS WRC 07 |
A
9 |
4:01:51.4 |
33:34.9 |
16
M |
Jari-Matti Latvala
Miikka Anttila |
FIN
FIN |
FORD FOCUS RS WRC 07 |
A
10 |
4:03:13.7 |
34:57.2 |
17
P |
Patrik Sandell
Emil Axelsson |
S
S |
PEUGEOT 207 |
N
7 |
4:03:13.8 |
34:57.3 |
18
P |
Amjad Farrah
Nicola Arena |
HKJ
I |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
8 |
4:08:18.8 |
40:02.3 |
19
P |
Martin Prokop
Jan Tomanek |
CZ
CZ |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
9 |
4:11:11.1 |
42:54.6 |
20
M |
Toni Gardenmeister
Tomi Tuominen |
FIN
FIN |
SUZUKI SX4 |
A
11 |
4:15:18.1 |
47:01.6 |
| ../ |
22
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Walter Rodriguez
Laureano Grigera |
RA
RA |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
11 |
4:19:25.0 |
51:08.5 |
23
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Gaston Genovese
Gustavo Beccaria |
RA
RA |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
12 |
4:22:01.3 |
53:44.8 |
26
P |
Bernardo Sousa
Carlos Magalhaes |
P
P |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
14 |
4:31:12.2 |
1:02:55.7 |
27
P |
Simone Campedelli
Danilo Fappani |
I
I |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
15 |
4:33:10.5 |
1:04:54.0 |
29
P |
Evgeny Aksakov
Alexander Kornilov |
RUS
RUS |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
17 |
4:34:38.3 |
1:06:21.8 |
33
P |
Subhan Aksa
Hendrik Mboi |
RI
RI |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION VIII |
N
20 |
4:41:59.3 |
1:13:42.8 |
34
P |
Stefano Marrini
Matteo Braga |
I
I |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
21 |
4:42:43.0 |
1:14:26.5 |
36
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Ricardo Trivino
Checo Salom |
MEX
E |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION |
N
23 |
5:08:26.0 |
1:40:09.5 |
37
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Jose Nicolas
Sergio Perugini |
RA
RA |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION VIII |
N
24 |
5:08:50.9 |
1:40:34.4 |
