Sébastien Loeb takes over on top from Dani Sordo
After beginning the day in first and third positions respectively, Dani Sordo/Marc Marti and Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena traded places on the second morning of the 2009 Rally Argentina. The five-time World Champions were fastest on all four of the first loop’s high-altitude stages to ease ahead as the route climbed to 2,140 metres above sea level.Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena’s run of fastest times enabled them to gradually bridge their overnight deficit and eventually recover the lead which they had relinquished after SS2: "The morning went well for us. We pushed hard all the time, and we’re now back on top. I didn’t make any big mistakes, but we did have a bit of a scary moment on the first stage after I quite simply omitted to note a jump on a particularly fast portion. The car left the ground… but all’s well that ends well! The stages are damp, and even muddy in places, but I was quite happy with the conditions, although I think road-sweeping played less of a role. I intend to keep on pushing because it looks as though Sunday’s stages will be totally dry."
Overnight leaders Dani Sordo and Marc Marti had no split times to go on in their bid to find the ideal pace. They completed the loop in third place, 12.2s behind their team-mates: "The day’s gone well so far. I’ve lost a bit of ground to Sébastien and Mikko, but not that much. I didn’t have any split times to gauge how quickly they were driving. I will try to stay in their immediate wake this afternoon and hopefully we will finish the day in a strong position for the final leg. We’re only at half distance, so there’s no way we can start trying to manage our position."
Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia are still ninth thanks to a consistent performance: "We are trying to base our pace on that of Matthew Wilson. Today’s stages are very impressive. There are spectators everywhere and there were times when we even getting a whiff of their barbecues! These roads are fantastic, and a real challenge. We are having to cope with the ruts which are forming by the time we arrive and it’s difficult to keep to the ideal pace."
The run of Conrad Rautenbach and Daniel Barritt in the N°8 Citroën C4 WRC was halted following front-right suspension damage sustained in an off some 10 kilometres into SS12.
After the 30-minute service halt in Villa Carlos Paz, the crews will return for a repeat attempt at the same four stages.
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