The WRC travels to Argentina this week for an event that generates a special ambience unmatched anywhere else during the season. Rally Argentina is South America's only round in the 16-event series and while the passionate Latin American fans generate a party mood along the route, drivers face probably the most varied roads of the year.
It is surrounded by colour and the atmosphere crackles as an estimated 1.4 million spectators launch a weekend-long fiesta out in the pampas. The scenery is stunning, too, ranging from vast expanses of open plains north of the host town of Villa Carlos Paz to the mountains west of the town where rocky ribbons of road wind through a dramatic moon-like landscape. Add in an opening speed test at Buenos Aires' iconic River Plate soccer stadium and the recipe is there for a South American sizzler.
In total, the rally covers 1383.14 kilometres, which includes 346.55km of competitive stages and 1036.59km of liaison.
Special notes:
The rally is based close to sprawling city of Cordoba, which nestles in the foothills of the Sierra Chicas mountain range, about 700km north-west of Buenos Aires.
It is one of the hardest events to prepare for: the 22 special stages feature some dramatic changes in altitude and include some narrow, loose gravel tests high in the mountains combined with flat-out harder-packed sprints in the valleys.
Conditions can vary dramatically from stage to stage. It is autumn in South America, and that could mean the drivers have to contend with rain, wind and fog as they charge through the mountain passes. As with Rally Mexico in March, the high altitude of some tests means the air is thinner, and that can starve the rally car engines of power.
Many of the special stages will be familiar to the crews, because they have been included in the event in previous years. The tests run through Cordoba’s three valleys: Punilla, Calamuchita and Traslasierra.
