Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally team:
[Gigi Galli, car #7 and Henning Solberg, car #8 and Matthew Wilson, car #16]
Henning nominated again.
Henning Solberg will be back running under the
Stobart Ford banner in Argentina, following his 'guest' outing in Mexico with the Munchi's squad.
Henning opened his account for the season in Leon when he finished in fifth and now wants to try and add to his tally.
Based on his showing earlier this month that should be more than possible and he is also hoping his road position on day one will give him a bit of an advantage, as he will run seventh in the order and should benefit from a cleaner and quicker line, providing it doesn't rain.
To date the Norwegian has competed in Argentina just twice, but on both occasions he has got points - finishing fifth last year and seventh in 2006, when a clutch failure cost him two positions in the final stage. Argentina was also the scene of his first ever stage victory as a driver in '06 - and so the omens are good.
"I have only done this event twice before but both times I have finished in the points so it is an event I will try to do very well on. We had a good result in Mexico even though we had some problems so hopefully we can continue our form into Rally Argentina which is a similar surface," he noted.
"We changed a few things around with the car in Mexico and it feels good on gravel so my plan will be to go flat out and see what we can do.
"This can be a tough rally especially if it rains like last year because the surface can be very slippery. I am starting with a good road position on Friday and if it stays dry this will help a lot. I will try my best here and see if I can get some more drivers' points."
M-Sport boss Malcolm Wilson meanwhile is happy to have Henning back running for manufacturers' points for the
Stobart squad.
He believes all three
Stobart drivers - namely Henning, Gigi Galli and
Matthew Wilson can do well: "All three drivers in the
Stobart team have strong links with this event and all have a fantastic opportunity to even better their previous best," he confirmed.
"The event is running warmer this year and will be more demanding on crews especially with high altitude stages like Mexico. Henning returns to score manufacturer points in Argentina which will strengthen the team and Gigi has shown in the past what he can do here and his pace in Mexico was very promising before his retirement. Matthew [my son] has shown a good improvement this year and hopefully he will continue on with his form from Mexico and have another points finish here."
Munchi's Ford WRT:
[Federico Villagra, car #9 and Luis-Perez Companc, car #10]
Companc returns to fold.
Luis-Perez Companc will re-join the Munchi's line-up in Argentina, an event which will be especially significant as it is his and the team's home event in the
World Rally Championship.