The fourth round of the FIA World Rally Championship got underway last night with an all-new tarmac super special stage in the city of Cordoba, which was jointly won by Ogier and Dani Sordo. Today, however, the crews headed south to the sandy roads of the Calamuchita Valley for six stages in the mountains and two runs around the super special stage close to Villa Carlos Paz. In total, the route took in two loops of four stages and 150.08 competitive kilometres.

Ogier and Dani Sordo jointly sat at the head of the leaderboard last night, but this morning Latvala took advantage on the stages where he could benefit from his more advantageous road position. Twelfth after last night’s super special, he powered up the leaderboard throughout the day, taking the lead from stage four after a couple of fastest times. Over the second passage of the same stages this afternoon, the Finn claimed another two stage wins to take a slim but significant lead into the longest day of the rally on Saturday. Running at the head of the field, Ogier has had to push to the maximum not to lose too much time and the Frenchman has run without problems and enjoyed his day in the Calamuchita Valley. Paddon has had a great run in the i20 WRC, judging his pace perfectly. He briefly lost second position to Ogier, but regained control in the penultimate stage despite a problem with the rear damper. In the final super special stage, however, he dropped back to third.

Andreas Mikkelsen is fourth but slightly losing his grip on the leading trio. He struggled with traction early this morning but has otherwise driven at a measured pace to avoid problems. Sordo is his nearest challenger in fifth, the Spaniard losing time this morning with a sticking throttle. Mads Østberg, sixth, is having an uneventful rally but enjoying the stages in the lead Fiesta RS WRC. His team-mate Eric Camilli remains under strict instructions to finish the event and gain valuable experience and seat-time, such has been his disastrous start to his first season in a World Rally Car. He is eighth behind WRC returnee Henning Solberg. Argentine Champion Marcos Ligato, driving a DS3 WRC for the first time, has recovered from an off this morning resulting in a damaged radiator and he is up to ninth. Thierry Neuville has had a troubled and frustrating day but a win in the first run through the super special stage will undoubtedly have raised his spirits. He lacked confidence this morning and then had problems with the throttle and fuel pressure, the combination losing him nearly seven minutes this morning alone. While small niggling problems continued, he has certainly fared better this afternoon and rounds off the top 10.

Ott Tanak and Lorenzo Bertelli were the leading WRC retirements of the day. Tanak had a problem with the alternator belt on a road section and Bertelli was forced out with an engine problem.

The battle in the FIA WRC 2 Championship has been interesting. Championship leader Elfyn Evans took the early advantage, despite a puncture in the first stage, but the Welshman then retired with an electrical problem. Peruvian Nicolas Fuchs slotted into the lead but he too dropped time with a lack of power steering, his co-driver having to change gears for him such was the struggle through the rough and twisty stages. In an intense battle, Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari then headed the category in front of Didier Arias. The Qatari maintained his advantage throughout the day and has pulled out a useful 53.3 second lead overnight. Michel Fabre, the sole contender in the FIA WRC 3 Championship category, continues to nurse his DS3 R3T through stages that are super challenging for these smaller two-wheel drive cars.

Rally Argentina – Unofficial Classification after Section 6