Latvala wins Rally Argentina
Jari-Matti Latvala took his second victory of the season when he won Rally Argentina for the Volkswagen team driving a Polo R, 1min 26.9sec ahead of team-mate Sébastien Ogier. It was Volkswagen's ninth consecutive WRC victory, breaking Citroen's previously held record.
Kris Meeke claimed third place in a Citroen DS3, finishing the four-day event, round five of the FIA World Rally Championship, 5min 54.7sec behind Latvala. Meeke, under pressure after crashing in Mexico and Portugal, never put a foot wrong but kept an eye on the closing Andreas Mikkelsen and headed the Norwegian's Polo R by 23.6sec.
Conditions on Rally Argentina today were appalling, with thick fog and deep mud in the classic El Condor and Giulio Cesare stages. Ogier refused to chase Latvala and the gap widened by almost a minute through the four stages covering 76.78km. Ogier claimed maximum points in the Power Stage and now heads Latvala in the championship standings by 24 points.
Thierry Neuville broke a driveshaft on his Hyundai i20 early in the final stage but came home in fifth ahead of Robert Kubica who, after a crash-plagued season, sacrifice some speed and his tactics appeared to paid dividends.
Welshman Elfyn Evans was seventh on his Argentine debut ahead of the similar Ford Fiesta RS of Martin Prokop. Three stage wins in the final day propelled Mikko Hirvonen into ninth and WRC 2 winner Nasser Al-Attiyah rounded off the top 10. The championship now returns to Europe for round six; Rally Italia Sardegna. on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia 6 - 8 June.
11th May, 2014