Munchi's Ford WRT's
Federico Villagra achieved his best ever finish in a World Rally Championship event on Sunday, when he took sixth spot on the Rally Argentina.
Villagra ran in the points from the off and while he slipped down to ninth briefly on Saturday afternoon, when an exhaust problem caused by the rough terrain sent smoke into his cockpit losing him vital seconds, he still managed to get his Focus RS WRC car to the end and score three points.
'Coyote', who won the Argentine Rally Championship in 2006 and 2007, conceded though that conditions were like nothing he has ever seen before in his home country.
"It is a great feeling to achieve my best ever WRC finish and on my home event in Argentina. I live in Córdoba and the reception I have received this weekend from all the people has been incredible and has really made me drive better," he reflected.
"For a long time I have been rallying in Argentina but I have never seen conditions quite like we have seen this weekend. The biggest challenge for this event was getting to the finish and I am glad we have done this.
"Things have gone really good for us this rally and despite the problems we had yesterday the team did a great job to fix everything and get us back out today. Now I am looking forward to Jordan, it is a new event for everyone so I think this will help us a lot."
Luis-Perez Companc meanwhile, who was taking in his first of three events this year in the sister Munchi's car, wasn't quite so fortunate and he went out on the penultimate stage on day 1.
Although his car only suffered minor damage, he was unable to re-start as severe weather and a massive blockage of spectator vehicles, left him and the recovery team stranded and unable to bet back to Parc Ferme in time.
"I am disappointed to retire on my home event in front of all the Argentine fans but sometimes in rallying these things happen," said Luis-Perez. "On stage 8 we slid off the road in a very muddy section and did some damage to the front of the Focus.
