Eighth round of the season will be a mix-surfaced event
The Argentine Rally Championship will be heading to the west of Argentina to San Luis this weekend where it will take place the eighth round of the season. This new showdown will represent a completely new challenge for the drivers since they will be tackling a mix-surfaced event for the first time this year.
Rally de San Luis features two different legs with day one to be run on gravel whereas on Sunday the action will take place on asphalt. There are highly expectations to know how the new Maxi Rally cars will react to the surface changes considering that both days must be tackle in gravel set-up.
Some drivers had a first approach on tarmac early in the season when they disputed the ACA Cup within the Rally Argentina WRC round; however, this new challenge will mean 53 kilometres of tough roads.
In this scenario many drivers come with the aim of capitalize the absence of Federico Villagra, who decided to dismiss this round according to the regulations stated this year after he claimed the victory in the last five rallies.
Nevertheless "Coyote" will be in San Luis and will delight all the fans with an exhibition run on board a Subaru Impreza WRC alongside his navigator in the World Rally Championship Jorge Pérez Companc.
Therefore, the battle for the victory is more open than ever and there will be many drivers fighting for the lead in the overall classification. Villagra's team-mate Juan Marchetto (Ford) faces a crucial round to remain behind "Coyote" as his main contender in the Championship.
As for Gabriel Pozzo (Mitsubishi), Juan Gil De Marchi (Chevrolet) and Claudio Menzi (Fiat) only a win will enable them to have minimum chance to pursue the title. Pozzo surprisingly decided to enter the event with a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX since the Team Baratec couldn't finish the works on his VW Gol Trend Maxi Rally
On the other hand there is a bunch of drivers with no chances in the Championship's race which come with the single aim of fighting for the victory. Local hero Migue l Baldoni (VW) is one of them, as well as Raúl Martínez (VW), Marcos Ligato (Chevrolet) Alejandro Cancio (Peugeot) and Nicolás Madero (Ford), who returns to the action after a year off.
Rally de San Luis kicks off this Friday night with a 2.40km Super Special stage in downtown whereas the two legs have eight stages scheduled each which totalized 150.80km.
Championship Standings
1º) Federico Villagra 234
2º) Juan Marchetto 147
3º) Gabriel Pozzo 95.5
4º) Juan Gil De Marchi 94.5
5º) Claudio Menzi 71.5
6º) José Cantón 64
7º) Ivo Martin 63
8º) Diego Domínguez 63
9º) Raúl Martínez 60.5
10º) Miguel Baldoni 56
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