Action delayed in Argentina

Crews contesting Philips Rally Argentina, round five of the FIA World Rally Championship powered by Nokia, are currently experiencing a short delay in Friday’s action getting underway.

A fuel truck carrying essential supplies to the competitors has broken down and Friday’s first test, the 37.51-kilometre Fernet 1882 La Pampa/La Pampa stage, could be up to 60 minutes late starting while a replacement vehicle is deployed.

Friday’s itinerary features 197.96 kilometres of competitive running. Crews were in service in Villa Carlos Paz at 05:45hrs local time and won’t return until 19:51hrs tonight.

The longest stage of today is the Speedagro Ascochinga/Agua de Oro at 51.88 kilometres. The stage will be run twice and Citroen’s Mikko Hirvonen says it will be one of the hardest of the event. Rain, fog and cool temperatures are adding to the challenge facing the competitors.

Following Thursday night’s superspecial on the outskirts of Villa Carlos Paz, Petter Solberg and co-driver Chris Patterson lead the event by a margin of 3.6s over stand-in Ford team-mates Dani Sordo and Carlos del Barrio.

Meanwhile, Solberg’s advantage over defending world champion Sebastien Loeb is 10.2s after the Citroen ace lost ground running hard compound tyres on the rain-hit spectator stage. Solberg said his decision to use the soft compound Michelin rubber had paid dividends.

“I decided not to use soft tyres in qualifying for a reason,” he said. “I used them for this stage and as the roads were very slippery, they made a big difference. It was a tricky stage but I had a good run. It’s important to think ahead to the rest of the weekend. It was a good start and hopefully I can continue like this.”

Rally Argentina already has its first retirement after Production Car World Rally Championship runner Ramona Karlsson was forced out. The Swede damaged the underside of her Mitsubishi Lancer on Thursday’s superspecial and the resulting oil leak means she won’t be able to continue.