Rallye Argentina officially began on Thursday [27 April] with two Superspecial stages in Cordoba's soccer stadium. The stadium was built in 1978 to host the FIFA World Cup. Argentina won the World Cup that year, and it was the first and only time the event has been hosted in the South American country.
The first two stages did little to affect the overall standings, but it did offer a chance for more than 40,000 South American rally fans to come together and watch the most exciting form of motorsport in a historic venue. The final two runnings of the stage, however, decided fifth through eighth on the leaderboard.
The Superspecial was also broadcast live throughout the world on several television networks as well as WRC.com. Two identical 2.20 kilometre side by side stages under giant floodlights saw two World Rally cars compete for every second as thousands looked on from the stands. The highlights of the stage were a bridge in the center of the stadium and a jump in front of the main grandstands.
Three different drivers captured the quickest time through the Superspecial stage; the most surprising of which was Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team's Matthew Wilson. Wilson began the final two stages 3.0 seconds behind team-mate Luis Perez Companc as the duo carried the fight for eighth overall into the stadium from earlier in the day. Companc - an Argentinean - stalled on the start line of the first running and dropped behind Wilson in the overall standings. The resulting ninth overall finish for Companc was his best finish of the 2006 season, despite the stall. The young Briton had never taken a FIA World Rally Championship stage, nor had he scored any drivers' points before Argentina.
Henning Solberg also had a broken clutch on the final running of the Superspecial and was forced to have his OMV-Peugeot Norway World Rally Team Peugeot 307 towed from the stage as a result. Solberg began the day in fourth overall and lost his position to team-mate Manfred Stohl on the first stage of the day. Solberg ended the stage in seventh position.
The drivers put on a show both on the stage and off. Petter Solberg tossed his driving gloves into the crowd and though Henning Solberg failed to finish the final stage, he received a standing ovation from the 40,000 rally fans in attendance. On the first night of action, fireworks were launched, the crowds were louder than the World Rally Cars themselves, and the entire experience was viewed by fans and drivers as a massive success.
"It was an incredible atmosphere inside the stadium," said BP-Ford World Rally Team's Grönholm. "The fans were jumping up and down with excitement but I'm afraid I missed the fireworks - I was too busy looking where I was going! The surface was quite slippery in places but I enjoyed the experience." Gronholm - another crowd favourite - captured the quickest time twice on the Superspecial.
The next rally hosting a Superspecial at a stadium will be the BP Ultimate Acropolis Rally June 2-4 which promises to be another action packed and successful event like last year.
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