Citroen's Sebastien Loeb came through to take the victory on Rally Argentina today, the fifth round in the 2012 World Rally Championship.
Loeb moved into the lead in SS5 on Friday afternoon and then enjoyed a great scrap with team-mate, Mikko Hirvonen on Saturday morning. However following the mid-day service, with a 1.5 minute gap back to third, Citroen instructed both drivers' to hold position, thereby ending the fight. After that the two works Citroen men paced themselves to the finish, Loeb eventually taking the spoils by 12.5 seconds.
Dani Sordo meanwhile ran in third virtually from the off, but heartbreakingly was forced out at the start of the very final stage with a suspected alternator failure – a bitter blow for the Spaniard on his guest outing with the Ford WRT.
Mads Ostberg thus inherited third, ahead of Martin Prokop and Thierry Neuville, who rolled on Friday, but who still managed to take fifth thanks to the Rally 2 regulations.
Petter Solberg recovered to finish sixth after the disappointment in SS4 on Friday, when he went out, while leading by 20 seconds. He also took the Power Stage win, which was some consolation for Ford after seeing Sordo retire so late on.
Sebastien Ogier was seventh in his VW Motorsport Skoda Fabia S2000, while Evgeny Novikov, Nasser Al-Attiyah and Ott Tanak took advantage of the Rally 2 regulations to come home in positions 8 through to 10.
Loeb moved into the lead in SS5 on Friday afternoon and then enjoyed a great scrap with team-mate, Mikko Hirvonen on Saturday morning. However following the mid-day service, with a 1.5 minute gap back to third, Citroen instructed both drivers' to hold position, thereby ending the fight. After that the two works Citroen men paced themselves to the finish, Loeb eventually taking the spoils by 12.5 seconds.
Dani Sordo meanwhile ran in third virtually from the off, but heartbreakingly was forced out at the start of the very final stage with a suspected alternator failure – a bitter blow for the Spaniard on his guest outing with the Ford WRT.
Mads Ostberg thus inherited third, ahead of Martin Prokop and Thierry Neuville, who rolled on Friday, but who still managed to take fifth thanks to the Rally 2 regulations.
Petter Solberg recovered to finish sixth after the disappointment in SS4 on Friday, when he went out, while leading by 20 seconds. He also took the Power Stage win, which was some consolation for Ford after seeing Sordo retire so late on.
Sebastien Ogier was seventh in his VW Motorsport Skoda Fabia S2000, while Evgeny Novikov, Nasser Al-Attiyah and Ott Tanak took advantage of the Rally 2 regulations to come home in positions 8 through to 10.
1. Sebastien Loeb Citroen Total WRT DS3 WRC 5hours 34mins 38.8secs M
2. Mikko Hirvonen Citroen Total WRT DS3 WRC +00mins 15.2secs M
3. Mads Ostberg Adapta WRT Fiesta RS WRC +03mins 10.4secs M
4. Martin Prokop Ford Fiesta RS WRC +09mins 45.3secs
5. Thierry Neuville Citroen Junior WRT DS3 WRC +11mins 17.6secs M
6. Petter Solberg Ford WRT Fiesta RS WRC +12mins 02.2secs M
7. Sebastien Ogier VW Motorsport Skoda Fabia S2000 +12mins 25.3secs
8. Evgeny Novikov M-Sport Ford WRT Fiesta RS WRC +21mins 10.2secs M
9. Nasser Al-Attiyah Qatar WRT Citroen DS3 WRC +28mins 22.6secs M
10. Ott Tanak M-Sport Ford WRT Fiesta RS WRC +37mins 19.5secs M
2. Mikko Hirvonen Citroen Total WRT DS3 WRC +00mins 15.2secs M
3. Mads Ostberg Adapta WRT Fiesta RS WRC +03mins 10.4secs M
4. Martin Prokop Ford Fiesta RS WRC +09mins 45.3secs
5. Thierry Neuville Citroen Junior WRT DS3 WRC +11mins 17.6secs M
6. Petter Solberg Ford WRT Fiesta RS WRC +12mins 02.2secs M
7. Sebastien Ogier VW Motorsport Skoda Fabia S2000 +12mins 25.3secs
8. Evgeny Novikov M-Sport Ford WRT Fiesta RS WRC +21mins 10.2secs M
9. Nasser Al-Attiyah Qatar WRT Citroen DS3 WRC +28mins 22.6secs M
10. Ott Tanak M-Sport Ford WRT Fiesta RS WRC +37mins 19.5secs M
