"I was hoping for a podium finish and now we've got one! It was a bit of a shock on Friday morning when we started after the rain as the car's set-up wasn't right for the slow corners so we made changes over the first few days," he explained.
"We were more confident on Saturday but then today was totally different again. But now we are leading the P-WRC which is great and we will have the new car for the next rallies so hopefully we can get some good testing in it before them."
Next up was Fumio Nutahara and he was pleased with the result, even if he had been in third at one point, until dropping back on day two: "This was my first PWRC round of the year, so to come away with some good points is what I needed," he said. "The event didn't go to plan all of the time. We had some problems, but in these conditions, getting fourth place is good. I am happy."
Further down the order Martin Rauam was fifth and despite suspension problems on days 1 and 2 and an overheating engine on the final day, was clearly happy with the result, his best in the WRC, describing it as 'magical'.
Amjad Farrah and Martin Prokop came in sixth and seventh, while Bernardo Sousa took the final point in eighth, despite incurring 30 minutes of penalties on day 2 for not completing six stages after sustaining gearbox damage in a water-splash.
"We didn't really have luck on our side this time but still had some great moments. At the end of the day we managed to meet the demands of the team by finishing and getting another point," he noted.
In total 15 PWRC runners were classified at the finish, with nine more joining Al-Attiyah on the 'exit' list, including reigning champion, Toshi Arai, Mirco Baldacci, Patrik Sandell, Travis Pastrana and Marcos Ligato.
The Production Car World Rally Championship now continues at the end of May when competitors head to Greece for the Acropolis Rally, which runs from May 30 to June 1.
![Andreas Aigner (AUT) / Klaus Wicha (GER), Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX [Production Car WRC]. Rally Argentina, March 27-30th 2008.](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/423614.jpg)
