37. YPF Rally Argentina 2017
27. 4. – 30. 4. 2017, Villa Carlos Paz • gravel 357.59 km • total distance including road sections - 1382.32 km • Other years
Info
SS18
"I feel gutted to lose by such a fine margin. It's hard to take at the minute but I know we can come back stronger. I did a slight mistake here, I hit a bridge halfway through, that was probably the difference. After such a big lead on Friday - I need to learn from this."
"I gave it everything. I didn't have the best tyres left because I was pushing on the two before. Even if we don't win we have done our best."
"Watching that was the worst time in my life," says Neuville. "He was quicker than me at the first split, but I got it back in the second."
"So far this has been the most tricky rally of my career. I've never managed to finish it without problems. This year I changed my approach and I'm happy with the result."
"We changed our pace notes here and they gave me more confidence. I think the rough conditions suit our car well. I just drove over the rocks - this car is like a tank."
"I'm very happy with this rally. 25 points is good for the championship and good experience for me too. It was first time here and we had no problems - I have many people to thank."
"Not so easy for us. We knew before it would be rough but we learned quite a lot."
"We lost power-steering right at the start - the worst stage to lose it on. You couldn't have written a better story about a career high to a career low in just 12 months! I can't believe my luck."
"I don't have any luck. I have good speed in the stage, but got a puncture at the beginning. Just unbelievable. My worst for this rally."
"The beginning of the rally was very good and I'm very proud and happy to see our pace. We were a bit unlucky yesterday and today the car is not performing. I'm sure when we get on top of a few things we can fight for the full length of a rally."
front right puncture
SS17
"More problems in here again, I've got to go,"
"A very good stage for us. I tried to push hard, my notes were perfect, good traction, I felt fully confident. I'm happy but we have no idea what will happen on the Power Stage."
"The steering is very heavy and on these roads I'm knackered early in the stages. It's really difficult."
"That's the only target we have. I'm not sure though. It's not been my weekend."
"I haven't done this stage properly for a long time so I could check and l optimise my notes. I'm happy with that."
"I don't know what's going on - we have some issue, rear wheel drive only."
"It was okay but we have an oil temperature warning so I have to go. I saw Bertelli - he is okay"
"Very loose in here, the road will clean a lot. We stalled the engine in one corner, we arrived a little too quickly and that cost six or seven seconds. Otherwise I enjoyed a lot."
SS16
"A great atmosphere in there - spectators from beginning to the end. I was very careful, for us this is just about survival now."
"It's not easy to get straight back to competition after missing so much of the rally. It's a learning experience."
"I went a little wide in a corner and hit a small rock just at the wrong angle. It completely damaged the rear suspension. Okay, my mistake, just bad luck to ruin the suspension. Now we just try to save our tyres ready for the Power Stage."
"We had no brake pedal for half the stage, it went to the floor. It came back halfway through, a miracle.."
"I think it's fine if we keep this rhythm. Conditions are quite slippery and I think Elfyn's tyres will work well in this. Not a big, big push from me but a good stage with no problems."
"I have no chance. I haven't done this stage properly since 2013 any my notes were not perfect."
"No. The car is not working like last year on this road. It's worlds apart. I can't drive it straight or keep it in the middle of the road. I just don't have the confidence."
"I try to enjoy it but it's not easy, I tried to get back into my rhythm."
"I don't think I will be able to keep Dani behind. He knows the stages. We'll try though."
"There was some cleaning but this stage is so amazing. We've been pushing a lot - the car feels good."
SS15
"The next rally is Portugal and I'm expecting a great competition there. If we can collect 25 points here it will be good. I'm enjoying my driving here and collecting good experience."
"We did good times today but it has been difficult as first car on the road."
Can you keep Neuville behind to win tomorrow? "Of course I can. I didn't come here and do all this for second. If he wants it, he's going to have to bloody fight me for it."
"It's nothing major, a few niggling things that have knocked my confidence. There's something strange at the rear and we're getting a lot of oversteer. I had a spin in the last one at slow speed on the power - I'm just not comfortable. A frustrating afternoon."
"The fight tomorrow is going to be hard but it seems like in these tough conditions our car is working well and we hope to benefit. I think we have a good rhythm. How mush will I risk? We will see."
"A bad day for sure but that's life sometimes. We had a lot of small issues, now I'm happy to finish and get back to service. Tomorrow we have some very tough stages, and a lot of things can happen, but more than ever I hope to find a good feeling because today nothing was working for us."
"We broke a front roll bar on the first stage after service. I tried to fix it for the second stage - we had nothing for the third. Not the afternoon we wanted."
"Not so good for Elfyn on that stage - the conditions were rough and tricky." And what of your chances for victory? "Let's see tomorrow, we have some very special stages and a lead of 30 sec is nothing. I think it's all open."
stopped at 3.4km, moving again
SS14
"We hit a rock. Broken rear suspension."
rolled, crew OK
Mads is working on the car - in the right-rear wheel
Lost rear diffuser.
WRC TV crews report rear damage to his Fiesta. He is stopped in stage - 4km before the finish.
stopped
SS13
"It felt quite nice in here. The grip is also good now. I'm enjoying my driving."
"Just enjoying the afternoon."
"Nothing happened. It's not so bad. We heard a noise - it sounded like the exhaust had gone."
"I tried to be a more careful through the water to not lose the aero or fill the car with water. I slowed too much. You can't afford to do that when everybody else is going through flat out."
"I tried to do well. I had a broken gearbox earlier and the team fitted a new one in service so I have a new diff in the front and I have to get used to it. I also had a long brake pedal in here."
"A good stage. The car feels better so hopefully we can have some better times in the afternoon." What did his team change in service? "I think the whole rear of the car."
"I hope we have the car working well now. In here it was behaving very nicely. On these nice, smooth roads it's all about driving - I enjoyed that."
"I have a good feeling with the car, and that gave me confidence. My tyre choice of hards on the front and softs at the rear worked out well."
"It would be nice to go faster - the rev limiter comes in a bit early. I enjoyed it. Good fun."
"I don't know. The car is pulling at the rear. I hope it's a puncture. We need to go and have a look."
"Two big moments in the stage - two times I was like... Aye Aye Aye!"
SS12
"A slow puncture in the long stage, then on this one we went wide in a corner near the end - I got a bit lost in the notes - and picked up a rear puncture."
"The handbrake and everything is working now but without the rear diffuser I'm losing time on the faster sections. That cost me time on stage 11. This last one was more twisty so not so bad."
"A good morning. We drove pretty well - quite a push. We are fighting for a podium position. It will be tricky to catch Evans, my focus is on keeping the other guys behind - especially Ogier."
"The car is okay, it was just a piece of plastic [under the car]. We are enjoying the stages."
"We didn't have the pace we wanted this morning. Something is weird, probably something broken at the rear but we're not sure what"
"The long one [SS11] was long and fast. This one was more tight and twisty, we had a spin at the beginning and another later on."
"I softened the rear a bit and it helped us here. We are still missing something with the turning-in of the car. If I can get that sorted we can improve."
puncture
"We have similar power loss like yesterday. We are not sure why but I'm sure the boys can fix it now in service."
"Difficult day for us first on the road. A lot of gravel on the surface. The long stage was really nice, the last one was okay. A lot of spectators."
SS11
WRC TV crew reports that Tidemand hit something on a left-hand corner 1km from start. There is something hanging from the car now.
"The beginning started well but the end wasn't so good. I crashed here last year and didn't see the end of the stage."
SS10
"A good time - I feel it's okay. Yesterday a [wheel] bearing took us out of the rally. It wasn't my fault. I hope for a better day today."
"Steering problem. I don't know if I can carry on."
"We probably hit something but I'm not sure where."
"Something got loose under the car after the water splash. We need to stop and have a look. Hopefully just a piece of loose plastic."
"Mechanically, the car was quite fine, it was mainly cosmetic, but the job the guys did was incredible. Okay, it's hard to get the confidence again after the fright yesterday. We continue and we learn."
Ostberg's car is missing a section of its rear spoiler and and that's not the only problem: "Many things happened in there - we have a hydraulic problem - no centre-diff or handbrake - then in a water-splash the water coated the inside of the windscreen. We had to use the heated screen to try and dry it up."
"Pretty dodgy at the start when I felt the grip was low. After that the speed and commitment improved. Okay but I could have done better in a few places."
Quickest so far, despite a left-rear tyre pushed off the rim. "I was too fast for a corner, I couldn't see the apex because of the sun, missed the braking and hit a bank. We were lucky to get away only with a puncture."
"This wasn't really a good stage for me. I had to brake for a dog in the road, then I almost spun in a water-splash. Just bad luck."
"We stalled the engine on the start line, I don't understand it. Not a nice way to start a stage like this. I gave it a bigger push than normal let's say."
The team cannot fix the oil leak and have retired the Irishman's car for the second day.
"For sure we are in a bit of competition now. I tried to push here - but it was difficult with the sun in my eyes."
"We're going to be patient. There's nothing we can do to catch the guys ahead. We're checking the notes, trying a few set-up changes for Portugal, then maybe we'll have more of a push this afternoon."
The Rally 2 restarter is late to leave service. Technicians are trying to cure a fluid leak.
"I was cautious here. The sun is so bright I was completely blinded in sixth gear flat-out a nice stage. Otherwise okay."
"Difficult. The beginning was very narrow with a lot of crests and a lot of gravel. The end was faster. We can't do much today. We just try to keep pushing and get to the end."
"A really nice stage but tricky to see in places with the position of the sun."
SS8
"I struggled a bit in here with the brakes. The pedal went really long. In a couple of places I almost couldn't stop the car. That's not so nice for your concentration and I made a couple of stupid mistakes."
"It's feeling much better this afternoon. The stages are starting to feel more normal. I'm feeling a bit more at home and I enjoy tomorrow's stages. Okay, there's a long way to go, and anything can happen. It's not over til the fat lady sings."
"We caught a lot of dust from the car ahead and we stalled in a corner."
"I got it 10km before the end. The Michelins are good - 10km on a flat tyre and it never came off the rim. I was able to drive okay - I must say we were quite lucky."
"I had to take it smooth to protect the rear tyres."
"It happened 6km in. I was avoiding a rock and went wide and put the tyre off the rim. We lost 30sec so it was better to carry on than stop and change."
"I hit a big rock just after a crest, I couldn't avoid it. I had bent steering to finish the stage. I pushed like hell. I couldn't do any more - the road is so loose."
SS7
"Quite okay. A few places could have been better but it's a tricky stage."
"I'm starting to enjoy it a bit now. I can see so many places where I could be faster. The car is working really well now."
"Not so much cleaning now, I think the road conditions are pretty even for this pass. It gave me more confidence."
"I got some dust in my eyes and struggled a bit but I tried not to slow down and keep the rhythm."
"I enjoyed a lot the stage but I had a problem here before so it was like I was going through for the 1st time."
"The stage looks smoother and not so bad as before. In some places we tried harder, in others we were calm. It's better for me when the stages are like this."
"It's difficult. To be honest I can't do more, I do as much as I can. I'm on the limit"
"The problem we had in SS6 is solved. We had a normal stage. Everything ok"
SS6
"Fantastic. A good stage. After such a long time out of the car we picked a good strategy before the rally - it's so nice when you pick a plan and it works. What was it? I will not say. It's a secret plan."
"It's okay. I took it really safely in here - it is so rough."
"It's going pretty well but it's rough out there and difficult to know if you are doing enough. Everything is okay. The tyres feel good, and the car seems to be working well."
"The guys have done a good job, fixed it up. We're just going to pick a comfortable pace, keep it neat and see what happens."
"A bit more difficult than the morning. I didn't want to take risks to go faster. We have already broken things."
"You need to take risks if you want to go fast on this one. I had a clean run. A smart drive."
"We had a very good stage but I was overheating in a couple of places - I had to manage the temperature a bit. Otherwise a good feeling."
"We have an engine temperature problem and I was in safe mode for a lot of the stage. A bit the same as Mexico. I'm not happy."
"Not more rough than this morning but it's much more dry and loose. Hard for us to make a good time I guess."
SS5
retired in SS4
retired in SS4
retired - gearbox after SS4
retired after SS4
SS4
"Fourth position now? That's good for us. We need to understand more about this car but we are very happy so far."
"We had problems today driving in dust from the car ahead. In this stage there were many stones - the road is destroyed I think."
"How was it? Rough, rough and rough. We are learning all the time."
stopped
stopped
stopped
"Just keeping the focus and trying not to take risks. We are still here. A good start to the rally so far."
"No problems and no issues. I'm happy because our times are much improved over last year."
"Still trying to find my rhythm."
"I got completely caught by surprise. A bump in the road just launched the car. It's difficult to drive but let's see if we can get it back."
"Things are working quite well. We pushed on the stage before but I wasn't entirely comfortable here so I brought it back a bit. There's little margin for error so we wanted to drive carefully."
"We still have an issue with the power."
"We were stuck in fifth gear after a massive compression."
"Kris is off the road and then we came across Craig [Breen] pushing his car in the middle of the road!"
stopped - moving again
"Last year I broke the car on this stage so this time I was a bit more careful. The feeling is not great at the moment but we are here safely."
"We lost a section of the front bumper in a water splash earlier and I can feel that in the high- speed sections."
"This was always going to be a difficult stage for me. The road conditions are more loose. I expect to lose time."
SS3
"The car stopped near the end. We reset all the switches and got going. We lost 20sec but we are fine and gaining experience with every kilometre."
"No good. I'm overheating the brakes. The same problem I had in Mexico."
"It's been okay. Avoiding the rocks. Here with with no problems."
"We had a big moment in the opening stage. It's taking me time to adjust to the conditions."
"We hit a stone and broke a steering arm. We stopped to change it."
"Still I don't know what the problem is. Some power loss. It's really difficult to say why."
"Okay, I tried to keep it tidy. I'm struggling a little with the balance of the car but the tyres are working well. A positive start."
"We have a small suspension problem and the cooling fans are not working so we need to keep moving."
"A very fast stage. I've only done this stage once before. No cleaning like on the previous stage so I'm pretty happy with my time."
stopped - moving again
"This is a stage that the other guys have done before. Okay, it's not terrible."
"I made a big change to the set-up and the car is completely different. Before there was not so much traction. This is a very good step."
"We have a broken front-right damper. I did the maximum I could."
"We didn't hit anything, we went wide in one place but nothing significant. Quite hard conditions. It was rainy on the recce and now it's so dry it's like rock."
"Really quick. Okay, the car is not perfect after the last stage but the car is very, very unstable. Missing some aero doesn't help but that's not all - we need to work on the suspension."
SS2
A 'slow roll' on SS2 left his Hyundai with panel damage.
"Okay. A difficult stage and I struggled in there - but apparently everybody did. I don't think it's a bad time."
Technical problems for Juho: "I don't know. We lost the power. We have to go and have a look.""I don't know. We lost the power. We have to go and have a look."
"Good, but to be fair there was some cleaning - that was clear to see. An okay run though. We will continue the pace - a good start."
He rolled but has brought the car to the stage finish.
"The only stage in the loop where we'll get some cleaning. A big moment on a big bump near the start - it just launched the car. Otherwise a good stage." Meeke's team-mate Craig Breen reports a similar incident.
"I'm happy with the stage but the road is rough and difficult for the cars - it will be hard on the second pass."
"It was completely wet on the recce but now it is dry - there is no damp. There were many fast compressions - a couple surprised me - they hit the sump guard hard. The road will clean a lot."
stopped - moving again
"A wrong pace note in a tight corner. I went straight on in a corner and into a ditch. I lost 5 or 6 seconds. The car looks okay."
SS1
"Not so bad. I'm happy with my driving. I tried to push. The car feels okay."
"The feeling is good to start the rally. Maybe I could have been quicker in a few places but the performance of the car was good."
"I made a small mistake on the first corner and lost a few seconds. After that maybe I didn't push enough. Still, a good start."
"A nice little stage here, to be honest. A steady run. No dramas."
"We missed a junction here - it's not easy to see them in the dark."
"I can do a little bit better. No mistakes here, but in a few places I wasn't fast enough. Okay, I'm happy at the moment but there is a hard rally ahead."
"It felt pretty diabolical to be honest. I struggled to see where I was going in the dark. But hey, we got around with no mistakes. It all stats tomorrow."
"I was trying to be clean and smooth here. I'm looking forward to the battle ahead. It will be maximum attack. I'm looking forward to getting out of bed in the morning."
"Yeah, a good clean run, no mistakes."
"Nice stage - I took it a bit carefully."
"It was okay. This one is not an easy stage. I was pushing the limit in the cuts but, hey, it's the shortest way."
"Slippery and not a very good stage for me. I had a problem at a junction. Okay, otherwise enjoyable - a cool stage. The real rally starts tomorrow."
"A lot of fun - I like stages like this. Not easy after just one pass on the recce though."
"There is a huge weekend ahead. These stages are so fast and rough - it's a big challenge for the R5 car. I think we are ready!"
"A big mistake. Okay, it causes us no problem but tomorrow I must be better."
"A fantastic event - this was my first rally outside Mexico in 2007. I love the rally. This stage is really nice."
"I'm very excited. My co-driver is a local and there's a lot of support for us here. We pushed in there, touched a few sand bags, but we are very committed!"
"A beautiful crowd in the stages - it's wonderful to have a rally like this in my country! This is my first time in the Skoda and it feels really good."
"It's difficult to judge the grip in the sandy sections. I'm happy to be here though!"