After the many twists and turns of Corsica, the vast pampas plains and rugged mountains of Argentina will play host to round five of the 2019 FIA World Rally Championship – and the first stop of a double-header on South American gravel – from April 25-28.
Based in Villa Carlos Paz in the Cordoba province, the event is renowned for its vibrant and colourful atmosphere created by the huge number of passionate fans that line the routes, many of them camping at night with friends and family to occupy an outdoor ringside seat when their WRC heroes fly past.
The rally features a challenging mixture of gravel roads, from fast, soft and sandy roads in the valley to rocky, narrow tracks high up in the mountains, where fog and ice can be found. For the competing crews, it is a tough and contrasted test with constantly changing conditions. There are also many river crossings on the itinerary with iconic watersplahes.
Belgium’s Thierry Neuville travels to South America as the championship leader, following his final-stage victory in Corsica, but the Hyundai driver has only a narrow advantage over his main rivals. France’s Sébastien Ogier is just two points adrift for Citroën, with Toyota’s Ott Tänak from Estonia just five points away from the leader. While Tänak took a dominant win in Argentina twelve months ago and Neuville triumphed in one of the closest fights in WRC history in 2017, six-time FIA World Rally champion Ogier is still in search of his first win on the event.
M-Sport, Citroën and Škoda have all nominated drivers for the FIA WRC 2 Pro Championship in Gus Greensmith (GBR), Mads Østberg (NOR) and Marco Bulacia Wilkinson (BOL) respectively, while six further entries make for another competitive field in the FIA WRC 2 category.