Countdown to Rally Argentina 2009

Rally Argentina
WRC round 5 of 12
Thursday 23 April – Sunday 26 April

The combination of stunning scenery, high-speed stages and more than a million fanatical Latin American spectators make Rally Argentina one of the World Rally Championship’s classic fixtures.

This season Argentina is one of only two rallies outside Europe, and as the only round in the Americas it pulls in an enormous number of fans. As usual the event’s base is Villa Carlos Paz, a holiday town close to Cordoba which is completely swamped by the WRC for the rally week.

Most of the fans, however, can be found camping, eating and partying out in the pampas where most of the stages are based. This rally does a festival atmosphere like no other.

Organisers have made major changes to the 2008 route to produce a more compact event this year. Rather than each day visiting one of Cordoba’s three valleys, the first and final days will be based in the open plains of the Punilla Valley, north of Carlos Paz, with Saturday’s action based to the south-west in the Traslasierra Mountains.

In general the stages are soft and sandy, with many river crossings, and frequently become rutted during the second pass. However, Saturday’s classic tests high in the mountains are narrow and rocky, leaving no margin for error.

Unlike last year’s event, the rally will get underway on Thursday 23 April with a new spectator Super Special stage held in Cordoba Stadium, home to the World Cup in 1978. Friday’s route in the north of the Punilla Valley is virtually identical to 2008. Drivers face a double pass over the rocky El Condor and Giulio Cesare tests on the second day, two of the most famous and toughest of the year, which peak at 2195m.

The final day comprises just four stages south of the Punilla Valley, close to Carlos Paz, over roads last used in 2007. Both the second and third days conclude with a repeat of the stadium test. In total drivers face 23 stages covering 331.80km in a route of 1533.65km.

Tyres

The championship’s control tyre regulations dictate the use of just one pattern for the majority of WRC events, and in Argentina Pirelli’s 205/65R15 soft compound Scorpion gravel tyre is the only one available.

Competitors may carry two spares, but the ‘re-cutting’ of the tread patterns is not permitted.
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SOURCE:
“Countdown to Rally Argentina”
17/4/09
News
World Rally Championship
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