Sebastien Loeb wins 2012 Rally Argentina

Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena have added to their remarkable record with victory in Rally Argentina on the weekend. It is their seventh consecutive win in the event and their 70th WRC win overall.

The Citroën master pairing finished 15.2 seconds ahead of their teammate Mikko Hirvonen. The one-two result gives the French team a healthy 45 point lead from Ford in the manufacturers’ title race.

Although it is worth noting that half way through Day 2, when the Citroëns held a safe lead back to third place of around 90 seconds it was decided the leading pair should hold station. “I spoke to both the crews and they agreed that it was the best solution,” explained Yves Matton, Citroën Racing Team Principal.

Ford driver Mads Osteberg took the final podium step, over three minutes behind Loeb. Stand-in driver Ford Dani Sordo was on track for fourth place until he stopped and withdrew from the rally on the very last stage.

Loeb’s third win for the year puts him on 91 points in the drivers’ championship, ahead of Petter Solberg (73) and Hirvonen (70).

After the event Loeb summed up his feelings, saying: “It’s great to get back to winning ways after drawing a blank in Portugal. Everything went really well this weekend. Although the first few stages didn’t go quite how we’d have liked, we stayed calm and in the end we were able to take control of the race.”

Meanwhile, Hirvonen had this to say: “This result is perfect for the team and the twenty points I scored this weekend take me back up to third in the overall standings. I have made further progress in my understanding of the DS3 WRC and I can’t wait to compete in the coming rallies!”

The WRC now returns to Europe for the Acropolis Rally at the end of May.

Citroën and Loeb make it seven out of seven

Citroen’s Sébastien Loeb has driven his Citroen DS3 WRC to his and Citroen’s seventh consecutive win in the Rally of Argentina, leading a Citroen one-two in South American round of the World Rally Championship, the longest and toughest event of the year, at the weekend (26-29 April 2012).

En route to his 70th career WRC win, Loeb took the lead on Special Stage four on day one of the three day event and never looked under threat even when he had a major scare on day two, finishing the rally more than three minutes ahead of nearest non-Citroen. The result extends Loeb’s lead in the drivers’ title chase and puts Citroen near 50 points ahead of second placed Ford in the manufacturers’ title chase. Second place moves Loeb’s team mate, Mikko Hirvonen within three points of second place.

With over 200 kilometres of timed stages, the first leg of Rally Argentina looked set to be a particularly difficult test, and that’s exactly what it turned out to be. Gradually improving their times as the first day wore on, Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena grabbed the overall lead three quarters of the way through the first leg. Citroën Total World Rally Team enjoyed an excellent day’s work, as Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen claimed second, just one tenth of second behind their team-mates.

The rally got underway on Thursday evening with a first run on the Villa Carlos Paz super special stage. Hoping to keep their quota of soft tyres for the long tests, the Citroën Total World Rally Team drivers fitted hard Michelin Latitude Cross tyres on their cars. This choice didn’t pay off, however, as Seb and Mikko finished 10 and 13 seconds respectively adrift of the fastest time.

After a short night, the rally resumed with the service period scheduled for 5.45 am. The morning’s action centred on two long stages: La Pampa/La Pampa (37.51km) and Ascochinga/Agua de Oro (51.88km). Anticipating wet conditions, all of the crews chose to fit soft tyres. In the end, there was no rain or fog, but this remained the right option according to the drivers.

Despite spinning, Sébastien Loeb set the fastest time on SS2. On the next stage, the eight-time World Champion lost 26 seconds: “I span the car again; twice, in fact! The second time, I had to manoeuvre the car a few times before I could get away again. Overall, I had to fight with the handling of the car; there was too much oversteer in the tight bends. We are going to go back to the previous set-up.”

Second, 20 seconds behind Solberg, Mikko Hirvonen also felt the handling of the DS3 WRC could be improved: “The car is working well, but we can do better. Personally, it’s the understeer which is bothering me in the twisty sections.”

The service period was clearly beneficial for Sébastien Loeb: on the second loop, still run on soft tyres, he was unbeatable and moved top of the overall standings after adding another two stage wins.

“I was more confident this afternoon,” he said. “I was able to push again, whilst remaining cautious on the hairpins. My job was made easier by Solberg’s error. I didn’t think I would make up the time so quickly.” After briefly holding the lead after SS4, Mikko Hirvonen fell back to second position, this time 1.1s behind his team-mate: “I don’t think we changed the set-up in the right way; I have the impression that I was less comfortable than this morning. The situation is still positive, as the two Citroëns are now at the front.”

This mammoth day ended with a single run on the Cosquin/Villa Allende test. On his favourite Rally Argentina stage, Mikko Hirvonen grabbed his first stage win of the weekend. In finishing one second ahead of Sébastien Loeb, he closed the gap in the overall standings to just 1/10th: “Ending such a long day with the smallest possible gap, it’s totally crazy! I love this stage and this time, I felt totally comfortable in the DS3 WRC.”

“It has been an incredibly long day, but the two remaining legs look set to be just as demanding,” sighed Sébastien Loeb. “We’re not clear of our rivals as yet, because Dani Sordo is only thirty seconds or so off the pace. We’ll have to keep pushing tomorrow!”

With just a tenth of a second between them at the start of day two of Rally Argentina, the Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena and Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen crews continued to battle for the lead throughout the morning. After moving clear at the top of the overall standings, the DS3 WRCs then adopted a pace that would enable Citroën Total World Rally Team to look forward to another one-two finish.

The itinerary for the second leg was based on a loop of three stages, held on roads about a hundred kilometres south of Villa Carlos Paz. The morning saw an engrossing battle between team-mates Sébastien Loeb and Mikko Hirvonen.

After setting the fastest time on the San Agustin/Santa Rosa test, the eight-time World Champion lost a few seconds to his Finnish team-mate on Amboy/Santa Monica. The scrap became even more intense on the Intiyaco/Golpe de Agua test, another stage noted for its radical changes in pace and featuring “flat-out” sections several kilometres long! Sébastien Loeb was on course to win the stage, but he lost a few seconds after almost going off. Mikko ended up with the fastest time, by just three tenths of a second.

“I pushed very hard this morning, but Mikko hit back,” summed up Sébastien Loeb on his return to the service park. “We very nearly went off on SS9: a stone that I hadn’t noticed in reconnaissance lifted the car off the ground as we headed into a corner. There was a large rock on the outer part of the road which kept us from going off. We were lucky.”

“I really enjoyed this morning,” commented Mikko. “I was really looking forward to the Intiyaco/Golpe de Agua stage, which in my opinion is the best stage on Rally Argentina and perhaps the best in the World Championship. If only it was like that all the time! I felt very good in the DS3 WRC and was able to push with no holds barred.”

With its two drivers lying first and second, and their closest rival trailing by a minute and a half, the Citroën Total World Rally Team was already perfectly placed to secure a one-two finish. Yves Matton, Citroën Racing Team Principal, therefore opted to tell his drivers to hold their positions: “I spoke to both the crews and they agreed that it was the best solution. Sébastien Loeb almost went off this morning and we can’t afford to throw away a possible one-two, which would obviously be a great result for both World Championships. It’s a bit hard on Mikko after what happened at Rally
Portugal, but I hope he’ll be able to stand on the top step of the podium again with us very soon.”

The Citroën DS3 WRCs continued in the afternoon at a less hectic pace. Sébastien Loeb increased his lead by a few seconds: “We had a good day. This afternoon, we took as few risks as possible, especially in the twisty sections. I drove the car my way, Mikko drove his car his way and we ended up with more or less the same times.”

“We ended the day at a good pace and where we want to be,” added Mikko Hirvonen. “In situations like these, you can’t ease off too much, otherwise you run the risk of having an undriveable car. The team is in the best possible position, especially as the third-placed driver is now nearly two minutes behind. We’ll have to keep it up tomorrow!”

After two long days of racing, the schedule for the final leg of Rally Argentina looked just as packed. Starting at 8 o’clock, the competitors headed off on the Matadero/Ambul test, the longest WRC stage for years. Covered in just under 40 minutes, the 65.74km-long stage didn’t present any major
problems for the Citroën Total World Rally Team drivers, who had set off with soft Michelin Latitude Cross tyres.

The loop continued with two classics of the South American rally: Mina Clavero/Giulio Cesare and El Condor/Copina. Slightly quicker than Sébastien Loeb, Mikko Hirvonen reduced the gap to 0.2s after SS15.

“It doesn’t change anything,” said the Finn on his return to the Villa Carlos Paz service park. “I wasn’t particularly trying to go faster, but we didn’t go for the same tyre choice which explains why the gap was reduced. I am now focussed on the Power Stage: I am going to look after my tyres so I can try to pick up points on the last four kilometres.”

“Everything went well for us,” confirmed Sébastien Loeb. “We didn’t make the right decision in opting to fit soft tyres, but it didn’t matter in the end. The long stage was… really long. I thought it would go quickly, but I had trouble trying to stay focussed right to the end. The situation is under control, we are going to keep going just the same to the finish.”

As planned, Mikko conceded several seconds on both stages before the Power Stage, which was run on the final few kilometres of the legendary El Condor stage. This time, the Finn pushed hard and managed to grab the second fastest time, securing two bonus points for the Drivers’ World Championship. “This result is perfect for the team and the twenty points I scored this weekend take me back up to third in the overall standings,” commented Mikko. “I’m also pleased with the pace I managed to maintain until Saturday lunchtime. I have made further progress in my understanding of the DS3 WRC and I can’t wait to compete in the coming rallies!”

After claiming the 70th win of his career, Sébastien Loeb could also savour his seventh victory in Argentina: “It’s great to get back to winning ways after drawing a blank in Portugal. Everything went really well this weekend. Although the first few stages didn’t go quite how we’d have liked, we stayed calm and in the end we were able to take control of the race. I like Rally Argentina because I have had a lot of success here and because the itinerary is always superb. It is always immensely satisfying to win here.”

“With over 500km of timed stages, this rally was above all a challenge for the cars. Our DS3 WRCs completed 5hrs 34mins of stages without the slightest mechanical problem. That is a performance which is down to the men and women at Citroën Racing,” emphasized Yves Matton, Team Principal. “After drawing a blank in Portugal, we have achieved a clean sweep here, which is clearly a great result for both World Championships. I would like to congratulate our two crews, who were able to go quickly when necessary and control their pace when we asked them to do so. It’s been a perfect weekend, which has also seen various promotional events and activities organised by Citroën Argentina. The way in which the subsidiary takes advantage every year of the Brand’s involvement in WRC is quite remarkable.”