"In Mexico, Petter took profit from his starting order and proved afterwards that he was still in the pace on gravel. Marcus after a rather long road cleaning session was 4 seconds ahead of us. He also has always been very competitive in Argentina. So, the strategy is very simple: opening the road, we will have to drive flat out from the very first metre and clean the road on more than 110 kilometres," said the Frenchman. "Marcus will start just behind me and Petter will only have four cars in front of him. I hope that Friday night the victory could still be possible. In the opposite case, we will see. With three consecutive wins and a small cushion in the championship leader-board it gives us a bit of breathing space."
Loeb will be partnered by Xavier Pons, while
Daniel Sordo will be out in the third Kronos ran Xsara, as has been the norm in every event thus far this year. Indeed Sordo's programme with the Xsara has recently been confirmed right up to the WRC's summer break. As such the Spaniard is guaranteed to be in a WRC car for Sardinia and Greece.
"Of course, a good result could help me to continue my apprenticeship. All my partners are carefully looking at me and I need to show I’m worth their trust. The next step in my learning process is Argentina, my second time on gravel with a WRC. I’ve just learned that I will be competing in Sardinia and Greece with the Xsara as well. Of course, this is very good news. It’s great to know that I still have three opportunities to learn," said the reigning Junior champion.
BP Ford:
[Marcus Gronholm, car #3 and
Mikko Hirvonen, car #4.]
BP Ford team leader, Marcus Gronholm believes that the M-Sport ran squad have found the 'right' set-up for the Rally Argentina.
Ford were busy conducting a four-day test in Sardinia the week
before the Rallye de France-Tour de Corse, with Gronholm in action on the first two days, while team-mate, Mikko Hirvonen completed proceedings. Both drivers concentrated on developing a set-up for their cars as well as testing some small improvements.
