The rough and unforgiving stages of Rally Argentina made their presence felt on the opening day of action for this weekend’s rally, the fifth of the 2017 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), as all of Hyundai Motorsport’s crews experienced trouble.
Kiwi WRC driver Hayden Paddon and his co-driver John Kennard hold seventh place as the first full day of action at Rally Argentina concludes. With a first-equal time with rally leader Elfyn Evans on stage seven and a win on stage eight, Paddon is rueing what might have been if not for the slow roll on the day’s opening test that cost him over three minutes.
“A tough day,” said Paddon. “It’s very much a case of what could have been. Unfortunately got caught out in the first stage, with a very, very soft roll. Still a bit puzzling why it did roll in the middle of the road. Just got caught in a rut and tipped it over, so we lost about three minutes getting it back on its wheels and with the damage. The guys did a great job fixing the car at midday and we went back out, so to win a couple of stages this afternoon is nice to show a bit of speed, but it also shows what could have been. Nevertheless there’s still a long way to go. The conditions here are very rough, very hard. Tomorrow’s a little bit easier, but still, we’re confident we can try and climb up the leader board if some of the guys in front having problems.”
Friday’s itinerary took in a repeated loop of four separate stages over a total distance of 140.56km. The gruelling schedule offered a brand new challenge for crews as WRC embarks on a run of five consecutive gravel events.
Friday fight back
Tour de Corse winners Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul muscled their way back up to third place overall by the end of the day after picking up rear suspension damage on Friday’s second stage (SS3 Amboy/Santa Monica). The Belgians added a stage win to their 2017 tally in the final run of the day, the 6.04km Super Special, to reduce the gap to second-placed Mads Østberg to just five seconds.
Last year’s Rally Argentina winners Hayden Paddon and John Kennard had a torrid start to their 2017 assault with a slow-speed roll on Friday’s opening stage (SS2 San Agustin / Villa General Belgrano).
The Kiwi pair showed encouraging pace in the afternoon loop, setting a joint fastest time with rally leader Elfyn Evans in SS7 (Amboy / Santa Monica) before claiming a second stage win of the season in SS8 (Santa Rosa / San Agustin). They hold seventh overall.
Harsh reality
It was a day to forget for Spaniards Dani Sordo and Marc Martí as they suffered a broken steering arm in SS3, requiring 11 minutes of repair mid-stage and ending their podium charge.
Argentina is renowned for its harsh stages, so today has offered the team the first opportunity to really put its Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC through its paces on such punishing terrain.
It is likely to continue as a rally of attrition for the remaining nine stages, so the fact that all three cars have made it to the conclusion of a challenging Friday itinerary can be considered a solid start.
Overall Classification after Day One
1 E. Evans D. Barritt Ford Fiesta WRC 1:24:55.4
2 M. Østberg O. Floene Ford Fiesta WRC +55.7
3 T. Neuville N. Gilsoul Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC +1:00.7
4 S. Ogier J. Ingrassia Ford Fiesta WRC +1:06.7
5 O. Tanak M. Jarveoja Ford Fiesta WRC +1:11.3
6 J. M. Latvala M. Anttila Toyota Yaris WRC +1:29.9
7 H. Paddon J. Kennard Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC +3:41.8
8 L. Bertelli S. Scattolin Ford Fiesta WRC +4:13.9
9 J. Hänninen K. Lindstrom Toyota Yaris WRC +4:48.6
10 P. Tidemand J. Andersson Škoda Fabia R5 +6:32.3
11 P. Heller P. Olmos Ford Fiesta R5 +11:03.0
12 J. C. Alonso M. Mercadal Škoda Fabia R5 +11:54.6
13 D. Sordo M. Martí Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC +12:08.3
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