Ogier and Meeke tied in Argentina shakedown

Sébastien Ogier and Kris Meeke were tied at the top of the timesheets following Wednesday evening’s shakedown at Xion Rally Argentina.

The duo set matching times in their first two passes through the 4.59km stage from Villa Garcia to Cabalango. Ogier went faster on his third and final run in his Volkswagen Polo R, only for Meeke to equal it on his fourth attempt in Citroën’s DS 3.

“I enjoyed the break but six weeks was very long so I’m happy to be back in the Polo,” said Ogier. “We had only one test day on gravel during the six weeks, so it was important to have shakedown to get back in the rhythm again.”

Meeke admitted the six-week break since the previous round in Mexico had helped him.

“The start of the season hasn’t been perfect. The speed has been OK but I haven’t been able to be consistent and made a few mistakes. It was nice to have time to clear the head and come back reset. Like Seb, I’ve had just one day on gravel between the two rallies so shakedown was good to get the feeling back,” he said.

Andreas Mikkelsen was 1.2sec behind in third in his Polo R, just a tenth of a second ahead of Mads Østberg’s DS 3 in fourth. Jari-Matti Latvala’s Polo R and Thierry Neuville’s Hyundai i20 completed the top six.

Hayden Paddon went off the road and hit a fence during his third run after a bolt broke in his i20’s front left steering arm. He repaired the car in the stage before returning to the Villa Carlos Paz service park.

Top 10 times :

=1. Sébastien Ogier Volkswagen Polo R 2min 30.9sec
=1. Kris Meeke DS 3 2min 30.9sec
3. Andreas Mikkelsen Volkswagen Polo R 2min 32.1sec
4. Mads Østberg DS 3 2min 32.2sec
5. Jari-Matti Latvala Volkswagen Polo R 2min 32.6sec
6. Thierry Neuville Hyundai i20 2min 32.9sec
7. Dani Sordo Hyundai i20 2min 34.4sec
8. Ott Tänak Ford Fiesta RS 2min 34.9sec
9. Elfyn Evans Ford Fiesta RS 2min 35.3sec
10. Hayden Paddon Hyundai i20 2min 36.9sec