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After this morning’s chaos out on the 51.99km Agua de Oro – Ascochinga stage, where we lost championship leader Sebastien Ogier from the competition, we wouldn’t blame the crews for being a little cautious going into SS4, this afternoon’s re-run of the stage.
 We begin the afternoon with news that Paddon didn’t make it out of service – with damage to the exhaust manifold, requiring the engine to be removed, he won’t be competing this afternoon. Mikkelsen did make it out of service but unfortunately not to the start of SS4 due to a mechanical problem – he too will restart tomorrow. As previously mentioned, we’ve already seen how vicious this stage can be – Tanak was the first to be bitten this time around, tearing a front wheel off his Ford Fiesta RS just 2km into the stage. Neuville was first to cross the line, setting the pace with a time of 38:39.5, enough to score him sixth fastest time. ‘Worse than this morning. Terrible.’ he explained. ‘The car was jumping around. We had an intercom problem too.’ A stage win for Meeke by some 13.4 seconds sees his rally lead extended to 28.7 seconds. The Irishman is showing blistering pace in Argentina. ‘It wasn’t the intention.’ promised Kris. ‘I just wanted to be clean. The car is good and strong. The road was hellish rough but I was in a good rhythm and the car just danced through. I’m driving my own rally,’ the elated Irishman said. Jari-Matti Latvala piloted his VW Polo R into second place – he took the stage easy this morning, but has clearly upped his pace for this afternoon. ‘A big challenge. A lot of bedrock and loose rocks about but I managed to avoid the worst of them. The brakes are getting very hot – especially at the end I was losing the friction.’ he commented. Ostberg piloted his Citroen to third fastest, 27 seconds down on team mate Meeke, commenting on how rough the stage is. Sordo is back on the pace, with his power steering having been repaired, and he completed the stage fourth fastest, half a second down on Ostberg. He’s one of only two runners using the softer Michelins, and the fronts are almost completely worn out. Will it be a decision he’ll regret? Evans and the aforementioned Neuville round out the top six, with Prokop and Al Qassimi now the only other WRC runners for the remainder of the day. The crews now head to the re-run of the 19.71km Tanti stage, which begins at 15.47 local time. Top fifteen after SS 4
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K. MEEKE
P. NAGLE
J. LATVALA
M. OSTBERG
J. ANDERSSON
D. SORDO
M. PROKOP
T. NEUVILLE
K. AL QASSIMI
A. AL-KUWARI
Y. PROTASOV
S. LEFEBVRE
D. DOMINGUEZ S
E. GALINDO