April 26, 2015 – With just two stages left to complete before the end of Rally Argentina, the DS 3 WRCs of Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle and Mads Østberg/Jonas Andersson occupy the top two places in the overall standings. The third Citroën DS3 WRC entered by the Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team, driven by Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi and Chris Patterson, is in seventh position heading into the final leg.
The organisers altered the itinerary for day two of Rally Argentina just before the start of the rally. The very long San Marcos to Characato stage was cut from 56 to 42 kilometres when the roads became impassable after very heavy rainfall in the region.
Although the toughest section of the day’s route was thus avoided, the rest of the programme nonetheless provided plenty of challenges for the cars and crews still in the race.
And within a few kilometres of the start, Kris Meeke experienced the tricky conditions first hand as he span off the road and had to reverse. The Briton then concentrated on managing his lead. At the midway point of the day, Mads Østberg was 32.6 seconds behind, with third-placed Jari-Matti Latvala over a minute off the pace.
In the afternoon, the second run on Capilla del Monte/San Marcos was cancelled before any of the three DS 3 WRCs lined up at the start, after Hayden Paddon went off. The leg therefore ended with the 42.5-kilometre test to Characato. The two DS 3 WRCs of Meeke and Østberg remained in control of the rally as they both produced good times in the final test. Meeke made it back to service at the end of the day with a 38.6-second lead over his team-mate, Mads Østberg. Jari-Matti Latvala is third, over a minute behind.
Rally Argentina is scheduled to conclude in Carlos Paz after two runs on El Condor – Copina, over a total of 32.64 kilometres. The podium ceremony is due to be held at 2pm.
STANDINGS AFTER DAY 3
1. Kris Meeke / Paul Nagle (DS 3 WRC) 3:14:51.7
2. Mads Østberg / Jonas Andersson (DS 3 WRC) +38.6
3. Jari-Matti Latvala / Miikka Anttila (Volkswagen Polo R WRC) +1:03.7
4. Elfyn Evans / Daniel Barritt (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +2:24.6
5. Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 WRC) +4:51.0
6. Martin Prokop / Jan Tomanek (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +5:39.0
7. Khalid Al Qassimi / Chris Patterson (DS 3 WRC) +10:34.3
8. Dani Sordo / Marc Marti (Hyundai i20 WRC) +11:14.9
9. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari / Marshall Clarke (Ford Fiesta RRC) +14:14.6
10. Diego Dominguez / Edgardo Galindo (Ford Fiesta R5) +17:10.0…