Mitsubishi dominates PWRC class in Rally Argentina

After leading for 20 of the 21 stages on Rally Argentina, Andreas Aigner (Austria) crossed the finish line in Cordoba this afternoon, more than a minute ahead of his nearest rival to take his first ever Production Car World Rally Championship win.

Having come close on numerous occasions last season, Aigner was delighted to break his duck in such dominant fashion in South America. A string of fastest times on the first morning elevated him to an unassailable position at the head of the standings - and for the next two days, he controlled the pace from the front.
"I have to say a big thanks to Mitsubishi, my team for this," he said. "This car has been incredible. We have hit so many big rocks, but the Lancer Evolution is so tough, it didn’t have any problems. I can’t tell you how pleased I am with this result. It has been such a tough event. The stages this morning, we so difficult. The weather was bad again, with more rain and fog and then I hit a rock really hard and hurt my hand in El Condor. It’s been incredible - an amazing event. But now I’ve won - and that’s all that matters right now. After this I have to go on and build on this result for the rest of the season."

Fellow Mitsubishi driver Sebastian Beltran (Argentina) emerged victorious from an incredible battle for second place with Nasser Al-Attiyah (Qatar). The local hero was fastest on the day’s opener - Mina Clavero - taking 9.2seconds out of Al-Attiyah and closing to six second of the runners-up spot. Beltran redoubled his efforts in the penultimate test, but was able to throttle back mid-way through when his rival’s Subaru suffered an engine problem.

"I really wanted this position," said the overjoyed Beltran at the finish. "It means so much to me and to the Argentinian rally fans to have a home driver so high up. We gave it everything this morning, we were really pushing. Fantastic!"

The final day of Rally Argentina took crews through some of the most dramatic landscapes visited anywhere during the season of the World Rally Championship. After departing the service park alongside the San Roque lake in Villa Carlos Paz at just after seven o’clock this morning, the crews headed high into the Translasierra Mountains for the legendary Mina Clavero and El Condor stages. Running at an altitude of more than 2,000 metres, the cars battled with the soaring Condors and lunar-like landscape for the attention of the rapturous rally fans.

Once again, Mitsubishis were the dominant cars in the Production Car WRC battle, with eight Lancer Evolution IXs in the top 10 places. Fumio Nutahara (Japan) held third place for much of the opening leg, but had to settle for fourth after damaging his Mitsubishi’s rear suspension on SS15. Despite that indiscretion, Nutahara was upbeat about the event.

"This was my first PWRC round of the year, so to come away with some good points is what I needed," he said. "The event didn’t go to plan all of the time. We had some problems, but in these conditions, getting fourth place is good. I am happy."

The Lancer Evolutions of Martin Rauam (Estonia), Amjad Farrah (Jordan), Martin Prokop (Czech Republic) and Bernardo Sousa (Portugal) rounded out the points-paying positions.

At the head of the field, Sebastien Loeb (France) won the event for Citroen, with his team-mate Dani Sordo (Spain) third. Sandwiched between the two Citroens was the Subaru of Australian Chris Atkinson.

The next round of the Production Car World Rally Championship is the Acropolis Rally (May 29-June 2).