After a month off, the WRC is back in action. This weekend it makes the only trip to South America on the championship calendar. Rally Argentina achieves some of the highest altitudes in the series and has had several dramatic finishes.
Argentina has been included in the WRC Drivers Championship 25 times, dating back to 1980. No event was held in 1982 due to the Falklands War. The rally was rotated to 2-Litre Championship in 1995. Rally Argentina has had three names:
Rally Codasur (1980-1981)
Marlboro Rally Argentina (1983-1988)
Rally Argentina (1989 to present)
Debut WRC wins in Portugal:
Guy Fréquelin (FRA) - 1981 in Talbot Sunbeam Lotus
Massimo Biasion (ITA) - 1986 in Lancia Delta S4
Jorgé Recalde (ARG) - 1988 in Lancia Delta Integrale
Mikael Ericsson (SWE) - 1989 in Lancia Delta Integrale
Notable WRC debuts in Portugal
Marcos Ligato (ARG) - 1998 (finished 14th) in Subaru Impreza WRX
Luís Pérez Companc (ARG) - 2001 (finished 13th) in Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI
Gabriel Pozzo (ARG) - 1998 (retired) in Subaru Impreza WRX
Juan Pablo Raies (ARG) - 1992 (retired) in Renault 18 GTX
For complete list of Winners and Historical Stats click here.
History in the Making
With a win, Sébastien Loeb can tie Tommi Mäkinen's Argentine record with 3 consecutive victories.
Did You Know?
Of the 16 drivers to win in Argentina, all but three of them have also won world championships. The last winner who has not achieved a WRC crown was in 1989, the late Mikael Ericsson. This bodes well for Loeb, Grönholm and Solberg, but we could see a FUTURE WRC champ, like Hirvonen or Sordo as well........
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