Despite his experience though, he knows it won’t be easy, especially given the form of the works’ teams,
Citroen, Ford and
Subaru. Thus far this season Manfred has scored 5 points and having missed out on drivers’ points in Portugal, he will want to make sure he at least makes it into the top eight, ideally he would like to emulate his Rally Argentina fourth place finish from 2006.
“The rallies are getting ever shorter which means that experience doesn’t play such a large part anymore,” said Stohl. “You have to go full speed and hope that the car carries on.
“We proved last year that we can deal with Argentina all right. It is obviously getting harder all the time to compete with the works cars but we will do our all for a top result. It makes me confident too that the Citroen Xsara WRC has always been at the top of the podium during the last three years.”
The event will also have a little extra significance, as his co-driver, Ilka Minor will celebrate her birthday in the build-up to the round, when she turns 32-years-old on Monday, April 30.
“It is rather funny that there always seems to be something to celebrate in Argentina. Last year it was Manfred’s 100th WRC-run and this year it is my birthday,” she added. “But there won’t be a big party. My favourite present would be if Manfred would drive me to the podium on Sunday.”
For the record, Stohl will be the only car in action for the OMV Kronos Citroen World Rally Team, as this is not one of Daniel Carlsson’s nominated events – he will be back for the next round in Sardinia.
Subaru WRT:
[
Petter Solberg, car #7 and
Chris Atkinson, car #8.]
Subaru’s Petter Solberg will have an extra reason to push on the Rally Argentina, as the event will mark his 100th WRC appearance with the Banbury-based outfit.
It is an important milestone for the Norwegian - and his co-driver, Phil Mills. The fact they will celebrate it in Argentina is particularly apt, as it has been the scene of some good results and while they have yet to win on the Villa Carlos Paz-based event, they have finished in the points six times in the last seven years and were second in 2002 and 2006.
