Event information
· Surface: gravel

· Host town: Villa Carlos Paz

· Practical information: Rally HQ and the Media Centre are based in the Hotel Portal del Lago in Villa Carlos Paz. The service park is located on Avenida Pte. Arturo U. Illia y Gobernador Alvarez. There is a five-hour time difference between Argentina (GMT-3) and Continental Europe (GMT+2). When it is midday in Argentina, it is 5pm in France. Sunrise on Day 1 of the rally (Friday April 24) is 7.42am. Sunset is 6.47pm. The local currency is the Argentine Peso (€1 = 4.5 Pesos).

· Technical matters: The Citroën C4 WRCs will have the engines which were used in Portugal and which will go on to contest the Italian round. One spare gearbox, one spare set of differentials and one spare turbo are permitted for Portugal and Argentina. Steering racks and subframes were sealed before the start of the Rally de Portugal.

· Tyres: each crew will have 36 Pirelli Scorpion tyres for the event. Competitors may carry two spares, but the ’re-cutting’ of tread patterns is not authorised.

· Recce: Tuesday April 21 (7.30am to 7.00pm) and Wednesday April 22 (7.30am to 7.00pm). The maximum authorised speed on the stages is 90kph (or lower, depending on local restrictions).

· Shakedown: Thursday April 23 (8.00am to 12 noon) near Carlos Paz-Cabalango. The 6.23km stage is 11.08km from the service park.

· Press conference: Thursday April 23 (1.30pm), Media Centre.

· Start ceremony: Thursday April 23 (from 7.05pm), at the start of SS1 at Cordoba Stadium.

· Route length: 1,533.65km, including 331.80km divided into 23 stages (13 different).

· Day 1 (Thursday April 23 and Friday April 24): 668.38km, including 142.16km divided into 9 stages (5 different). Thursday April 23: SS1 (Estadio Cordoba 1, 2.40km). Parc Ferme (19.05). Friday April 24: Service A (06.07, 15 minutes). SS2 (La Cumbre-Agua de Oro 1, 14.94km), SS3 (Ascochinga-La Cumbre 1, 22.38km), SS4 (Capilla del Monte-San Marcos 1, 22.95km) and SS5 (San Marcos-Charbonier 1, 9.61km). Regroup (12.02, 15 minutes). Service B (12.17, 30 minutes). SS6 (Ascochinga-La Cumbre 2, 22.38km), SS7 (Capilla del Monte-San Marcos 2, 22.95km), SS8 (San Marcos-Charbonier 2, 9.61km) and SS9 (La Cumbre-Agua de Oro 2, 14.94km). Service C (19.04, 45 minutes). Last car due into parc ferme at midnight.

Day 2 (Saturday April 25): 656.37km, including 141.64km divided into 9 stages (5 different). Service D (07.00, 15 minutes). SS10 (El Mirador-San Lorenzo 1, 20.81km), SS11 (Mina Clavero-Giulio Cesare 1, 22.79km), SS12 (En Condor-Copina 1, 16.29km) and SS13 (Icho Cruz-Carloz Paz 1, 9.73km). Regroup (12.15, 15 minutes). Service E (12.30, 30 minutes). SS14 (El Mirador-San Lorenzo 2, 20.81km), SS15 (Mina Clavero-Giulio Cesare 2, 22.79km), SS16 (El Condor-Copina 2, 16.29km), SS17 (Icho Cruz-Carlos Paz 2, 9.73km) and SS18 (Estadio Cordoba 2, 2.40km). Service F (19.45, 45 minutes). Last car due into parc ferme at midnight.

Day 3 (Sunday April 26): 208.90km, including 48.00km divided into 5 stages (all different). Service G (07.30, 15 minutes). SS19 (Villa Giardino-La Falda, 15.78km), SS20 (Valle Hermoso-Casa Grande, 10.95km), SS21 (Cosquin-Tanti, 11.27km), SS22 (Tanti Nuevo-Villa Garcia, 7.60km) and SS23 (Estadio Cordoba 2, 2.40km). Service H (13.03, 10 minutes). Rally ends at 13.30.

· Podium: Sunday April 26 (from 1.00pm), Avenida Presidente Arturo U. Illia.

· Post-rally press conference: Sunday April 26 (1.30pm), Media Centre.

· New: Icho Cruz-Carlos Paz (SS13/17) is a new stage. Tanti Nuevo-Villa Garcia (SS11/15) uses the shakedown and a non-timed portion of the 2008 event. The Estadio Cordoba super-special uses a new layout. The stages of Day 3 are identical to those used in 2007.

· The crews’ WRC statistics before this rally:

Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena: WRC debut: Catalunya 1999 (Saxo Kit-Car, retired). WRC starts: 117. First WRC win: Germany 2002 (Xsara WRC). WRC wins: 51. WRC titles: 5 (2004 to 2008).

Dani Sordo: WRC debut: Catalunya 2003 (18th). WRC starts: 63. Junior title: 2005 (C2 S1600).

Marc Martí: WRC debut: Catalunya 1992 (21st). WRC starts: 129. Junior title: 2005 (C2 S1600).

· The crews’ Rally Argentina statistics before this rally:
Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena: seventh participation: 2003 (Xsara, retired), 2004 (Xsara, 2nd), 2005 (Xsara, 1st), 2006 (Xsara, 1st), 2007 (C4, 1st) and 2008 (C4, 1st).

Dani Sordo: fifth participation: 2004 (Mitsubishi, retired), 2006 (Xsara, 5th), 2007 (C4, 6th) and 2008 (C4, 3rd).

Marc Martí: eighth participation: 1997 (Seat, 9th), 1998 (Seat, 10th), 2003 (Xsara, 2nd), 2004 (Xsara, 1st), 2006 (Xsara, 5th), 2007 (C4, 6th) and 2008 (C4, 3rd).

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