Juho Hanninen wins the 2010 Rally Argentina

Juho Hanninen stayed top of the IRC standings after a dominant victory of Rally Argentina in Carlos Paz.

The Finn, who drives for the factory Skoda Motorsport team, extends his overall title lead to five points after claiming his first win and third podium in three races this season.

The 28-year-old won 11 of the 15 special stages on the challenging gravel event, despite running first on the road on the final day of the rally.

Hanninen’s win marked Skoda’s maiden victory of the 2010 IRC to give the Czech firm a 22-point lead in the manufacturers’ standings after three rounds.

“I’m very happy but a little bit surprised how good everything has been for me on this rally”, Hanninen said afterwards. “There was a lot of fog on the first stage but I knew I didn’t need to push.

“I took it easy to avoid the rocks but I also had to keep my rhythm to avoid making any mistakes. It’s been safe and fast you could say and I have had a very good feeling. I would like to have the same feeling on every rally.”

Briton Guy Wilks finished runner-up after a strong drive, which helped him to cement his second place in the drivers’ table.

Wilks started Sunday’s final leg intent on closing on overnight leader Hanninen but a minor brake problem on his Fabia S2000 cost him valuable time and meant he had to settle for second.

“We’ve had a fantastic two rallies in South America with two second places and Skoda UK Motorsport has done a magnificent job,” Wilks said.

“Juho drove very well and we maintained a fast and safe pace. I’m looking forward to fine tuning the set-up and challenging for victory on our next event.”

Kris Meeke, in a Peugeot 207, was also hamstrung by mechanical problems, an electronic issue contributing to an intermittent throttle glitch, which led to a fraught midday service while his mechanics worked to rectify the problem.

He looked set to hold on to third place until disaster struck on the penultimate stage of the event when a steering bolt broke and forced him to retire.

Meeke’s misfortune let in Jan Kopecky for third place to complete a podium sweep for Skoda.

Gabriel Pozzo finished the top Argentine driver, fourth overall after edging ahead of countryman Federico Villagra on Sunday’s fourth stage to secure the first manufacturer championship points for Subaru.

Pozzo’s performance meant he also secured his second win in a row in the Argentine championship, which ran alongside the main IRC event.

Nasser Al-Attiyah’s IRC debut ended in retirement when his Skoda Fabia ingested too much water going over a river crossing and triggered a misfire.

Daniel Oliveira retired his Peugeot 207 with suspension damage after going off on stage 11.
___________________________________
SOURCE:
“Hanninen romps to Argentina win”
Eurosport
Sun, 21 Mar – 2010
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/21032010/58/hanninen-romps-argentina-win.html