It rained through the night and that meant a dramatic change in the surface of the roads for Leg 2 of Rally ACA Argentina in its Silver Anniversary. The rain, however, did not affect the normal schedule of the race.
The fast special stages of Calamuchita Valley saw the first section of today`s leg. The warmth of spectators melted the cold away and the day went on without changes or delays. There was a second run for some stages in the same valley that were really slippery and muddy. Safety officers were put to the test due to the fact that spectators flocked to the stages in the mountains to see the cars.
Grönholm in the morning, Loeb in the afternoon
Marcus Grönholm in his Peugeot 307 WRC felt really comfortable driving along the stages in Calamuchita. Setting a fast pace, he took the second position from Petter Solberg, and even shortened the gap between him and Loeb.
The stage in Punilla gave the French the chance to strengthen his leadership in order to tackle the last leg with a 26.6 difference ahead of the Finn. Toni Gardemeister, fourth, was able to stop the attack by Harri Rovanperä and his Mitsubishi Lancer WRC.
No changes for the Argentine drivers
Marcos Ligato`s day improved, his pace more balanced along the stages and held the 13th position. Luis Perez Companc performed better in the morning than in the afternoon when he lost some time. Juan Pablo Raies had to retire and decide not to go under the SupeRally system.
Al-Attiyah calmly leads
The Qatar-born driver did not have any inconveniences, and unless something unexpected happens, he will be the sure winner of the Production Group as his gap difference with the second is really big. The Argentinean drivers had no problems today, Pozzo won 6 of the 7 special stages run today while Federico Villagra won the remaining. Sebastián Beltrán joined them with a fast rhythm, but he got too many penalties, which made it impossible for him to go up the overall classification. The Córdoba trio will surely score points for the championship.
Through Recalde`s Land
The last leg will be held through Recalde`s lands of Traslasierra, where fans will always remember the name of their local star. There will be two runs through El Cóndor-Copina and only one through the well known Giulio Césare. Today it snowed in both special stages; however, tomorrow only very little of this will remain. After midday, the final ceremony will be held within the Pro Racing Circuit after the dispute of the Super Special. A huge party is expected for tomorrow due to the closing ceremony of the Silver Anniversary of Rally ACA Argentina.


Tags: argentina, citroen, sebastien-loeb, daniel-elena,