Il reste une Superspéciale à disputer sur cette première étape du Rallye d’Argentine 2015 et le Britannique Kris Meeke (Citroën/Michelin) est leader avec près d’une minute d’avance sur Latvala. Mads Ostberg complète le podium provisoire.
C’est dommage que nous n’étions pas avec Eflyn Evans et Daniel Barritt cet après-midi (vendredi) car, en tant que vainqueurs du Wheel Change Challenge 2015, ils auraient pu nous aider à remplacer une roue endommagée la nuit dernière en rentrant de Merlo.
Bref, on a dû se débrouiller seul, à Tanti, arrivée de l’ES5…Le Gallois, lui, était occupé à en terminer avec cette première étape apocalyptique dans les montagnes au nord de Villa Carlos Paz. Quelle Hécatombe !
La boucle matinale avait causé bien des dégâts, éliminé les deux pilotes Volkswagen Sébastien Ogier et Andreas Mikkelsen (abandon sur le routier avant ES4), et Hayden Paddon (Hyundai), et retardé bien d’autres concurrents. La seconde boucle a éliminé Ott Tanak (suspension).
Ce week-end, Kris Meeke avait pour objectif de relancer sa saison avec un top-5 et un pilotage à 95%. Ce soir, le pilote Citroën est leader avec près d’une minute d’avance sur Latvala !
Certes, le Britannique a bénéficié des ennuis des trois Volkswagen Polo R WRC. Après Ogier et Mikkelsen, Jari-Matti Latvala a connu des ennuis de boîte de vitesses dans l’ES5, après des soucis de freins dans l’ES4. Le Finlandais a environ une minute de retard à combler s’il veut conserver ses lauriers ici.
Derrière Mads Ostberg (3e), la bataille s’annonce sympa entre Dani Sordo (Hyundai) et Elfyn Evans (Ford) séparés par 1s4 avant la Superspéciale. L’Espagnol a été retardé par sa direction assistée ce matin, alors que son équipier Neuville a dû changer une roue en spéciale (ES2).
Demain (samedi), Ogier, Mikkelsen, Paddon et Tanak devraient être de retour en Rally2 avec pour objectif de marquer quelques points au championnat.
Après avoir perdu une roue ce matin dans l’ES3 et reçu une pénalité de plus de trois minutes, Yurii Protasov (Ford) n’est pas loin de reprendre la tête en WRC-2, place occupée par Al-Kuwari (Ford).
With this evening’s super-special still to come, Kris Meeke (Citroën/Michelin) has emerged almost a minute safe of Jari-Matti Latvala (+53.1s). Third on the provisional podium is Mads Ostberg (+1m11.7s, DS3 WRC), while Dani Sordo (4th, Hyundai) and Elfyn Evans (5th, Ford) are split by 1.4s in the battle for fourth.
It’s a shame we weren’t travelling with Elfyn Evans and Daniel Barritt in our car this afternoon. As winners of Thursday’s Wheel Change Challenge 2015, they would have been ideal companions when we became another victim of the 2015 Rally Argentina’s punishing conditions. That deep pothole which seriously dented our rim definitely wasn’t indicated in the road book to end of SS5, today’s last real stage!
To be fair, the Welsh youngster and his co-driver probably had other things on their mind as they focused on simply surviving the second attempt at today’s 72km competitive loop through the rocky sierra north of Villa Carlos Paz...
The morning’s visit had caused the premature demises of world champion Sébastien Ogier, his VW team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen (who finally retired on the road section out to SS4) and Hyundai’s Hayden Paddon, and many were expecting a similarly high attrition rate this afternoon.
In the end, however, nearly everybody reached the end of SS5 with surprisingly few misadventures.
Meeke will be delighted to have opened up a gap of almost a minute over second-placed Latvala, especially as the Ulsterman claims to be driving at 95% with a “top-five finish” as a reasonable objective.
The DS3 WRC driver has been assisted by the various misfortunes suffered by Volkswagen Motorsport’s trio today. Indeed, Latvala was the German make’s only representative to complete today’s second loop, but he wasn’t happy: “A gearbox problem,” he growled after SS5. That comes on top of the brakes issue that lost him ground on SS4. He now faces a tough job if he wants to make it two-in-a-row in Argentina…
Ostberg (3rd) didn’t look much happier at the control, despite posting the second best time: “It was a good run. We’re just sticking to our plan…,” he commented.
There’s a nice battle emerging for fourth between Sordo and Evans who are split by just 1.4 seconds after some 145km of competitive action since Thursday’s start. The Spaniard lamented that SS5 was really like a “first pass” through ‘Villa Bustos-Tanti’ for him, since his first visit was marred by a power steering problem.
Of the day’s ‘retirees’, Ogier, Mikkelsen, Paddon and Tanak (who broke a wheel in a water splash on SS4) are all expected to re-join on Saturday morning. They all have huge deficits to make up, of course, but valuable championship points are still up for grabs.
After losing a wheel on this morning’s SS3, Yurii Protasov (Ford) took a penalty of more than three minutes for late arrival at lunchtime service and no longer tops the WRC2 order. In front now is Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (Ford).
Day1’s action will conclude with this evening’s spectator stage (SS6, 6.04km) just four kilometres from service in Villa Carlos Paz.
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