2008 Rally Argentina

2008 Rally Argentina
28º Rally Argentina
Round 4 of the 2008 World Rally Championship
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Host country Argentina
Rally baseCórdoba, Argentina
Dates runMarch 28 – 30 2008
Stages21 (352.07 km; 218.77 miles)
Stage surfaceGravel
Overall distance1,619.45 km (1,006.28 miles)[1]
Statistics
Crews56 at start, 31 at finish
Overall results
Overall winnerFrance Sébastien Loeb
France Citroën Total World Rally Team

The 2008 Rally Argentina, officially 28º Rally Argentina, is the fourth round of 2008 World Rally Championship season; it is a second gravel round of the championship and also the second round of the Production World Rally Championship. The event began with a ceremonial start on Thursday, March 27 in Córdoba[2] and ended after a Super Special Stage and ten minutes service "E" in Villa Carlos Paz.[3]

Some stages of the rally, especially the ones from final day, similarly to those seen on the Mexican event, are held in the mountainous area of the country, thus drivers climb up to 2100 meters above sea levels.[1] The event, however, is more varied and some competitive kilometers lead through vast Argentinian plains.[4]

Summary

[edit]
Home country's Federico Villagra driving a Ford Focus WRC.

The rally began in rainy and muddy conditions. Mikko Hirvonen was the first on the road as the championship leader and managed to open up a 48-second gap to Jari-Matti Latvala and a 50-second gap to Sébastien Loeb. However, the BP Ford drivers soon dropped out of contention. On the second stage, Latvala spun off and lost about nine minutes,[5] and on the fifth stage, Hirvonen and Stobart VK M-Sport Ford's Henning Solberg damaged their cars while hitting rocks and retired from the rally.[6] Loeb managed to open up a comfortable gap to Subaru's Chris Atkinson and Petter Solberg. Other drivers in the points after day one were Gigi Galli, Dani Sordo, Federico Villagra, Matthew Wilson and Latvala.

Loeb continued to lead throughout day two, and Solberg passed his teammate Atkinson for second place. Galli retired from fourth place to preserve his vehicle when smoke started to pour from his Ford Focus after SS13.[7] Latvala also had problems with his Focus and retired. After day two, due to the high level of attrition, Sordo was now in fourth place, Conrad Rautenbach had climbed to fifth, Hirvonen, who re-joined the event under SupeRally rules, to sixth and Andreas Aigner to seventh. Villagra was in eighth place.

Chris Atkinson driving a Subaru Impreza WRC.

French World Rally Champion held his lead until the very end of the event and won the event with over two and a half minute advantage over the Subaru driver, Atkinson. The young Australian's steady pace paid off and he was able to claim second place after electric in Petter Solberg's car malfunctioned[8] and he had to retire. Petter's brother, Henning, didn't manage to finish either - shock absorber in older Solberg's Focus was blown through the hood again, same way as on Friday, and he ended his rally at the very same spot as his younger sibling.[9]

The last man on the podium was second Citroën driver, Dani Sordo, followed by Conrad Rautenbach in another C4 WRC, who was therefore first Zimbabwean to ever score points in an WRC event.[10] Fifth was Ford's Mikko Hirvonen who managed to score four points in drivers' and five in manufacturers' championship despite massive penalties for using SupeRally.[11] Last three pointing drivers were Munchi's Federico Villagra, Stobart's Gigi Galli, who also restarted under SupeRally format and Andreas Aigner driving a group N Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX. He was also first in PWRC classification, followed by Argentinian Sebastián Beltrán and Finn Jari Ketomaa.

Results

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Pos. Driver Co-driver Car Time Difference Points
WRC
1. France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena Citroën C4 WRC 4:05:48.6 0.0 10
2. Australia Chris Atkinson Belgium Stéphane Prévot Subaru Impreza WRC 07 4:08:21.8 2:33.2 8
3. Spain Dani Sordo Spain Marc Martí Citroën C4 WRC 4:09:53.3 4:04.7 6
4. Zimbabwe Conrad Rautenbach United Kingdom David Senior Citroën C4 WRC 4:25:52.1 20:03.5 5
5. Finland Mikko Hirvonen Finland Jarmo Lehtinen Ford Focus RS WRC 07 4:31:03.9 25:15.3 4
6. Argentina Federico Villagra Argentina Jorge Pérez Companc Ford Focus RS WRC 07 4:33:30.6 27:42.0 3
7. Italy Gigi Galli Italy Giovanni Bernacchini Ford Focus RS WRC 07 4:33:40.4 27:51.8 2
8. Austria Andreas Aigner Germany Klaus Wicha Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 4:34:47.9 28:59.3 1
PCWRC
1. (8.) Austria Andreas Aigner Germany Klaus Wicha Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 4:34:47.9 0.0 10
2. (9.) Argentina Sebastián Beltrán Cuba Ricardo Rojas Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 4:35:53.5 +1:05.6 8
3. (10.) Finland Jari Ketomaa Finland Miika Teiskonen Subaru Impreza N12 4:37:41.2 +2:53.3 6
4. (11.) Japan Fumio Nutahara United Kingdom Daniel Barritt Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 4:38:47.0 +3:59.1 5
5. (12.) Estonia Martin Rauam Estonia Silver Kutt Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 4:44:16.0 +9:28.1 4
6. (13.) Jordan Amjad Farrah Italy Nicola Arena Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 4:53:04.4 +18:16.5 3
7. (14.) Czech Republic Martin Prokop Czech Republic Jan Tománek Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 4:53:07.8 +18:19.9 2
8. (18.) Portugal Bernardo Sousa Portugal Jorge Carvalho Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 5:13:02.4 +38:14.5 1

Special stages

[edit]

All dates and times are ART (UTC-3).

Day Stage Time[A] Name Length Winner Time Avg. spd. Rally leader
1
(28 MAR)
SS1 07:45 La Cumbre - Agua de Oro 1 18.70 km Finland M. Hirvonen 16:29.3 68.0 km/h Finland M. Hirvonen
SS2 08:41 Ascochinga - La Cumbre 1 23.28 km Finland M. Hirvonen 14:59.6 93.2 km/h
SS3 09:44 Capilla del Monte - San Marcos 1 22.95 km Finland J. Latvala 17:39.7 78.0 km/h
SS4 10:16 San Marcos - Charbonier 1 9.61 km Finland M. Hirvonen 6:38.3 86.9 km/h
SS5 14:26 Ascochinga - La Cumbre 2 23.28 km France S. Loeb 14:51.3 94.0 km/h France S. Loeb
SS6 15:29 Capilla del Monte - San Marcos 2 22.95 km Finland J. Latvala 17:23.1 79.2 km/h
SS7 16:01 San Marcos - Charbonier 2 9.61 km Italy G. Galli 6:33.5 87.9 km/h
SS8 17:04 La Cumbre - Agua de Oro 2 18.70 km Finland J. Latvala 17:02.3 65.9 km/h
SS9 18:45 Camping San Martin 1 3.50 km Australia C. Atkinson 1:39.4 126.8 km/h
2
(29 MAR)
SS10 08:05 Santa Monica - Amboy 1 22.17 km Norway P. Solberg 12:02.7 110.4 km/h
SS11 08:57 Villa del Dique - Las Bajadas 1 16.41 km France S. Loeb 9:10.0 107.4 km/h
SS12 09:35 San Augustin - Villa General Belgrano 1 16.31 km France S. Loeb 11:26.5 85.5 km/h
SS13 10:20 Santa Rosa - San Augustin 1 21.41 km Australia C. Atkinson 13:37.3 94.3 km/h
SS14 14:25 Santa Monica - Amboy 2 22.17 km Norway P. Solberg 11:37.2 114.5 km/h
SS15 15:17 Villa del Dique - Las Bajadas 2 16.41 km France S. Loeb 8:57.8 109.8 km/h
SS16 15:55 San Augustin - Villa General Belgrano 2 16.31 km Norway P. Solberg 11:18.8 86.5 km/h
SS17 16:40 Santa Rosa - San Augustin 2 21.41 km Norway P. Solberg 13:23.6 95.9 km/h
SS18 18:45 Camping San Martin 2 3.50 km Norway P. Solberg 1:40.6 125.2 km/h
3
(30 MAR)
SS19 09:13 Mina Clavero - Giulio Cesare 24.70 km Finland J. Latvala 19:57.9 74.2 km/h
SS20 10:05 El Condor - Copina 16.06 km France S. Loeb 15:08.6 63.6 km/h
SS21 11:50 Camping San Martin 3 2.63 km Finland J. Latvala 2:13.3 71.0 km/h

Footnotes:^ all times local

Championship standings after the event

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Drivers' championship

[edit]
Pos Driver MON
Monaco
SWE
Sweden
MEX
Mexico
ARG
Argentina
JOR
Jordan
ITA
Italy
GRC
Greece
TUR
Turkey
FIN
Finland
GER
Germany
NZL
New Zealand
ESP
Spain
FRA
France
JPN
Japan
GBR
United Kingdom
 Pts 
1 France Sébastien Loeb 1 Ret. 1 1 30
2 Finland Mikko Hirvonen 2 2 4 5 25
3 Australia Chris Atkinson 3 21 2 2 22
4 Finland Jari-Matti Latvala 12 1 3 15 16
5 Italy Gigi Galli 6 3 Ret. 7 11
6 Norway Petter Solberg 5 4 12 Ret. 9
Spain Dani Sordo 11 6 17 3 9
8 Belgium François Duval 4 5
Zimbabwe Conrad Rautenbach Ret. 16 16 4 5
Argentina Federico Villagra 7 6 5
11 Norway Henning Solberg 9 13 5 Ret. 4
Norway Andreas Mikkelsen 5 4
13 United Kingdom Matthew Wilson 10 Ret. 6 Ret. 3
14 France Jean-Marie Cuoq 7 2
Finland Toni Gardemeister Ret. 7 Ret. Ret. 2
16 Sweden Per-Gunnar Andersson 8 Ret. Ret. 24 1
Finland Juho Hänninen 8 1
France Sébastien Ogier 8 1
Austria Andreas Aigner 31 8 1
Pos Driver MON
Monaco
SWE
Sweden
MEX
Mexico
ARG
Argentina
JOR
Jordan
ITA
Italy
GRC
Greece
TUR
Turkey
FIN
Finland
GER
Germany
NZL
New Zealand
ESP
Spain
FRA
France
JPN
Japan
GBR
United Kingdom
Pts
Key
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Did not finish (Ret)
Black Excluded (EX)
Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Cancelled (C)
Blank Withdrew entry from
the event (WD)

Manufacturers' championship

[edit]
Rank Driver Event Total
points
MON
Monaco
SWE
Sweden
MEX
Mexico
ARG
Argentina
JOR
Jordan
ITA
Italy
GRC
Greece
TUR
Turkey
FIN
Finland
GER
Germany
NZL
New Zealand
ESP
Spain
FRA
France
JPN
Japan
GBR
United Kingdom
1 United States BP Ford World Rally Team 8 18 11 7 - - - - - - - - - - - 44
2 France Citroën Total World Rally Team 11 4 10 16 - - - - - - - - - - - 41
3 Japan Subaru World Rally Team 10 6 9 8 - - - - - - - - - - - 33
4 United Kingdom Stobart M-Sport Ford Rally Team 8 8 3 3 - - - - - - - - - - - 22
5 Argentina Munchi's Ford World Rally Team 0 0 6 4 - - - - - - - - - - - 10
6 Japan Suzuki World Rally Team 2 3 0 1 - - - - - - - - - - - 6

Production championship

[edit]

Points table:[12]

Pos Driver SWE
Sweden
ARG
Argentina
GRC
Greece
TUR
Turkey
FIN
Finland
NZL
New Zealand
JPN
Japan
GBR
United Kingdom
 Pts 
1 Finland Jari Ketomaa 2 3 14
2 Austria Andreas Aigner 11 1 10
2 Finland Juho Hänninen 1 10
4 Argentina Sebastián Beltrán 2 8
5 Czech Republic Martin Prokop 4 7 7
6 Sweden Patrik Sandell 3 6
7 Japan Fumio Nutahara 4 5
8 Estonia Martin Rauam 5 4
8 Germany Uwe Nittel 5 Ret 4
10 Japan Toshihiro Arai 6 Ret 3
10 Jordan Amjad Farrah 6 3
12 Portugal Armindo Araújo 7 2
12 Portugal Bernardo Sousa 8 8 2
Pos Driver SWE
Sweden
ARG
Argentina
GRC
Greece
TUR
Turkey
FIN
Finland
NZL
New Zealand
JPN
Japan
GBR
United Kingdom
Pts

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Preview: Rally Argentina - Pt. 2". "Crash.net". 2008-03-25. Retrieved 2008-05-18.
  2. ^ "Rally Argentina: Suzuki ceremonial start notes". motorsport.com. 2008-03-28. Retrieved 2008-03-30.
  3. ^ "Rally Argentina: Itinerary". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 2008-03-30.
  4. ^ "Preview: Rally Argentina - Pt. 1". "Crash.net". 2008-03-25. Retrieved 2008-05-18.
  5. ^ "NEWS FLASH: Latvala goes off". Crash.net. 2008-03-28. Retrieved 2008-05-18.
  6. ^ "NEWS FLASH: Mikko and Henning out". Crash.net. 2008-03-28. Archived from the original on 5 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-18.
  7. ^ "Galli shocked to still score". Crash.net. 2008-04-03. Archived from the original on 21 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-18.
  8. ^ "NEWS FLASH: Disaster for Petter". Crash.net. 2008-03-30. Archived from the original on 5 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-18.
  9. ^ WRC Argentina Day 3 (TV relation). Eurosport. 2008-03-30. Event occurs at ~16'.
  10. ^ "'Crazy' fourth for Rautenbach". "Crash.net". 2008-04-01. Archived from the original on 9 June 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-18.
  11. ^ "Mikko: I could have won". Crash.net. 2008-04-01. Archived from the original on 20 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-18.
  12. ^ "2008 Production WRC Classification". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Retrieved 2009-02-01.
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