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Hirvonen relishes the challenges in Argentina

1 May 2007

The sixth leg of the Word Rally Championship will be held in Argentina. The Ford team prepared for the competition by driving a five-day test series in Sardinia.
During the test, adjustments to the chassis were fine tuned for the WRC rallies in Argentina and Italy, and the team’s replacement car was also tested, which will be used in the WRC series in the Neste Rally at the start of August.

“We made a good start. A few small things were found that we changed to make the car more suited to the conditions in Argentina,” says Hirvonen, who tested the car for two days in Sardinia. In the Argentinean rally the challenges for both the vehicle and driver are tricky. The roads vary dramatically from one stage to the next. Although most of the routes are fairly fast sand roads, there are also some harsh stony sections along the way, as well as narrow sections and incredibly fast roads. Several river crossings add spice to the routes. 

“I like the fact that the roads vary a lot. It's challenging and you have to know how to deal with it. You have to be on your toes when crossing rivers so that you don't damage the car,” says Hirvonen.

Hirvonen’s best position to date in the Argentinean rally is fourth place.

“My basic aim is to get into the top three, as with all this season’s rallies. On Friday we get going and, as with previous competitions, I’ll do my best. Let’s see after the first day where things are and what the tactics from then on will be,” says Hirvonen.

Hirvonen is currently in third place in the World Championship series, only eight points behind Sebastien Loeb who leads the series, and seven points behind Marcus Grönholm in second place.

“My goal is to stay as close as possible to the top two, and preferably make up some of the difference in points,” says Hirvonen.

Loeb has won the previous two rallies in Argentina. Grönholm won the rally in 2003.

As an exception, the Argentina rally will start on Thursday (3 May) with a special stage for the public that will take place in a stadium in Buenos Aires. After that the drivers return to the Cordoba area, 400 km away, where the actual rally is driven.

“It’ll be interesting to visit Buenos Aires. I’m sure the atmosphere in the stadium will be great. In this competition, there are lots of spectators at the other stages and the atmosphere is really fantastic,” says Hirvonen.

The Argentinean rally ends on Sunday 6 May.