Villagra keen to mark "Golden WRC" anniversary in style

Federico Villagra will reach a half century of FIA World Rally Championship starts in next week’s Rally Italia Sardegna, and wants to deliver the perfect anniversary gift for the Munchi’s Ford World Rally Team.

Over the years the nine-time Argentine Rally Champion has racked up a series of memorable results for Munchi’s Ford, with the highlight being 2009 when Villagra was close to the podium on two occasions after finishing fourth overall in both Greece and Argentina.

Now the experienced Argentine driver believes he can use the momentum he has built up so far in 2011 to secure a big result at the Mediterranean event against a highly competitive field of 20 other WRC cars, including 10 Ford Fiesta WRC crews.

It will be Villagra’s fourth outing at Rally Italia Sardegna, an event where he has never claimed a top ten spot after some genuine misfortune in previous years. At the most recent edition he was forced to retire when co-driver Jorge Perez Companc fell ill, but the Argentine is eager to use the valuable seat-time he has spent in Ford’s new Fiesta WRC to move further up the standings in Italy.

After a polished performance at Jordan Rally where they finished seventh overall, Villagra and Companc currently lie only two points behind the Petter Solberg World Rally Team in the overall Manufacturers’ Championship Standings and are only one strong result away from catching former Formula One world champion Kimi Raikkonen’s Ice 1 Racing outfit in fourth place.

There are two main changes at this year’s Rally Italia Sardegna including a ceremonial start at Olbia’s waterfront on Thursday evening and a new set of stages in Oristano province in the west on Friday. There will also be a remote service at Siamanna on Friday afternoon and a new location for the Service Park at Isola Bianca.

Last weekend, Villagra took part in the second round of the Argentine Rally Championship, Rally de Villa Dolores, in a specially-developed Ford Fiesta - but was denied the chance to add to his outstanding record of wins in the series when he was forced to retire with engine problems.

Federico Villagra: “Our aim for the first half of the season was to find a good feeling with the new Ford Fiesta RS WRC as soon as possible and we hoped the results would follow. In both Portugal and Jordan, we found it difficult finding the right rhythm on the opening day but after some small adjustments, the car has been excellent and we’ve been pleased with our times. I can’t believe that it’s also my 50th WRC event next week – it’s gone so quickly and I’ve had some fantastic memories since my first world rally in 2000. We’ve not finished inside the top ten in Italy before but I’ve been gaining momentum in the WRC this year so hopefully we can maintain this pattern and finish with a good result next week - that would be the perfect anniversary gift.”