The Munchi's Ford World Rally Team has not yet registered to compete in the 2009 FIA World Rally Championship, despite reports to the contrary.

However as the team has until February to put in its entry and to confirm the eight events it will participate in, there is still plenty of time for it to do so.

"A Munchi's Team has not yet been entered for next year," a spokesperson for the squad told Crash.net. "That's not to say it won't happen but at the minute there's been no team put in."

Munchi's regular Federico Villagra meanwhile, who is expected to head the squad again in '09 if it continues, had much to celebrate recently when he clinched the title in his native country for the seventh time.

Going into the final event, the Rally Unquillo y Villa Allende, he only had to score 4 points to secure the Argentine crown and he duly did that by finishing second on the first day of competition. However day two didn't go quite so well and suspension problems dropped him down to sixth at the finish.

"We knew that it was going to be a difficult rally where we needed four points to obtain the title, and for that reason we didn't want to risk it," Villagra reflected. "We obtained the result we wanted, finishing second in the first leg and now we can celebrate after a year of hard work."

Villagra ends 2008 having scored 112 points in the Argentine Rally Championship, while his closest rival, Alejandro Cancio, who won the final event, scored 103. Marcos Ligato took third spot in the standings with 70 points on the board.