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WRC: Loeb in Command in Argentina
Written by: RACER & autosport.com
RACER Magazine   http://www.racer.com/speedtv
03/28/2008 - 06:32 PM
Buenos Aires, Argentina
 
Loeb left the rest in his wake again after a grueling opening day in Argentina. (LAT photo) ยป More Photos

Sebastien Loeb didn’t start off the Rally Argentina in dominant form, but by the end of the event’s first day, the reigning World Rally Champion reasserted his usual primacy by a whopping one-and-a-half minutes – albeit with a big helping hand from Mirko Hirvonen.

Hirvonen had dominated the opening stages and was 50 seconds clear of Loeb by the mid-day service break. But he hit a rock in the first stage of this afternoon's loop, breaking his suspension and forcing him to retire. He is expected to rejoin under the Superally rules tomorrow along with fellow retirees Henning Solberg (Stobart Ford) and Toni Gardemeister (Suzuki) – both of whom also broke their suspensions on rocks-- but will be classified 23 minutes behind.

With
Hirvonen out of the way, Loeb pulled away steadily as the rain and fog of the morning gave way to drier conditions. Second-placed Chris Atkinson did the best job of matching Loeb's pace, but spun tide during the day's final full-length stage, costing the Subaru driver 40 seconds. Even so, he remains in second place, eight seconds ahead of teammate Petter Solberg, who struggled with damper problems throughout the second loop of stages.

Citroen's Dani Sordo had been closing on the troubled Solberg, but the Spaniard then had his his own delays with a steering problem and fell to fifth behind Stobart Ford's Gigi Galli. Local favorite Federico Villagra gave the crowd one of their own to cheer for by maintaining a strong sixth place with his privateer Ford.
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