38. YPF Rally Argentina 2018
26. 4. – 29. 4. 2018, Villa Carlos Paz • gravel 358.25 km • total distance including road sections - 1300.65 km • Other years
Info
SS18
"This is a special one, we never knew what was going to happen when I changed teams but it is nice to see how quickly we are improving. The car is near enough to my liking and I'm working very well with the team. We just need to keep going in the same way! We had confidence in the car all weekend and knew exactly what it was doing."
"Yeah I'm happy, a big relief for us after a difficult weekend at Corsica and I'm pleased to be back on the pace and I think the team has delivered a good job this weekend."
"Very important result for me, I think we had a good rally because the times in the stages were really close. I'm happy with the podium and I'm happy for the team because we're second and third at the moment."
"I think this was the maximum we could have got out the car this weekend, I could have done better in the fog yesterday but it would still have been a challenge to cope with Dani."
"When the stage is uphill I think everyone is roughly on the same pace, if you try and push harder you lose the line so it's better to be clean and efficient."
"No explanation why I was a bit slower than the others, it's just not been the weekend we've wanted but we do take some points away."
"We'll see how much the stage cleans for the other cars, if I lose any points by half a second I'll blame the dog - I had to avoid a dog during that!"
Yeah I stalled, there was a huge rock inside and steering wheel came out of my hands and the engine stalled immediately."
stalled
"I would give myself a 6 out of 10, there were a lot of difficult things, the roads were narrow and slow so I need to practice on these for next time."
"It's not Citroën's weekend, we've had more downs than ups but we have to learn from it and improve for the next one."
"It's been demanding, there's been hot conditions and when there's fast drivers you have to raise your game."
SS17
"Very clean, no risk at all. Quite nice steady rhythm so I'm happy with that. We had some issues before on El Condor, hopefully we can do the Power Stage OK."
"I tried to have a very smooth run, the car was working well and I made some changes before the stage, on El Condor the car was very harsh so I changed some things."
"We will continue like this on the Power Stage, drive in the middle of the road and not make mistakes. I don't think I'll be able to catch Thierry so I will aim just to finish."
"He did a good time, we'll have to push in the Power Stage."
"So much cleaning on this stage, the grip will increase so it will be harder to fight with Seb."
"It was fine, just trying to stay on the road. I don't think I'll be able to push for power stage points."
"We have to keep trying on every stage, this was good in places but there are so many things happening so fast with low grip levels."
"It's more thinking about Portugal, the set-up still feels really nice and the car is working well. Okay a lot of road cleaning but the feeling is good with the car and we move forward to the next rally."
"It was really difficult, I have never been on this slippery, dry gravel."
"I would not like to do it again! Cleaning the road it feels like you don't know how to drive, it is very loose and very narrow."
SS16
"We will try, he pushed yesterday morning when he's supposed not to push so now we're trying the claim it back. It's a fair fight though, we'll see what happens."
"I have to say the atmosphere is amazing, I've never seen anything like that."
"I think it is very complicated to get any points this afternoon, everything is possible but who knows."
"I didn't need to push in this one, just wanted to check the pacenotes and keep it clean."
"I didn't take any risks, there are many stones in the middle in the road and I didn't want to break anything. It was a clear one for me."
"It's nice to do it in reverse, it's not too rough. Okay there are a few loose rocks but not too bad. Dani's only 50sec ahead of course I'll catch him!"
"Had a puncture on the third corner, same as Friday. Staying on the road, didn't hit anything."
"There's a lot of cleaning going on, the stage will go faster and faster so that is a bit of a worry."
"The feeling wasn't quite as good last year, I didn't have brakes last year! It wasn't perfect but it's okay."
right-rear puncture
"I loved it, I really enjoyed it. I tried something new on the set-up for Portugal and it seems to have worked. Just trying to gather information really for the next round."
"It was a clean, safe drive. The stage was really slippery and I had a lot of wheelspin but it was a good experience and really technical for me."
SS15
"We are going quite well, but we have to really push because Pontus is doing well. I just played it safe, I didn't want to get a puncture. It's going to be interesting tomorrow."
"We just follow the team strategy, we just want to get to the finish without problems. His pace is surprising but you can't tell real pace for everyone because people can be looking after the cars on these rough stages."
"Not so good on this one, it was quite hard, it looks the front-right damper oil has gone. We've also lost power steering for sections of that stage as well."
"Had to stop and change a puncture, there was a stone in the middle of the road and I couldn't avoid it, went over it and got a puncture straight away."
changed a wheel
"I was managing the tyres too much as I didn't want to get a puncture."
"I had a little bit of a scare with the tyres so I tried my best to be clean and not make any mistakes. I enjoyed the stage."
"I didn't really lose any time on this one, I don't care about the splits to Sordo - he's already one minute ahead!"
"I struggled a lot on the last two tests but here I tried to give it everything I got on that one."
"We're lucky there's no real damage, 20km in we went into one of those narrow corners and went over the rocks."
SS14
"I don't feel like I'm pushing, I'm just going with my flow and I'm just out to enjoy it."
"Just can't keep up, bit more tyre wear than expected on the first stage and this one was quite slippy."
"I tried to take care of the tyres so I tried to take it smooth and have a clean run."
"Just really struggled laterally, seemed to have no grip at all and it's really making the feeling difficult. Struggling a lot in there."
"This stage was quite clean, no problems. There was a lot of bedrock though so I just had to be careful."
"It is much better when you don't have fog, the rhythm is better. We've made a few set-up tweaks but there is still more to do."
SS11
"I am quite surprised at that, this stage was really foggy and tricky - perhaps I was also burning the brakes in the fog as well."
"We tried to push on a bit, after a jump I got crossed up, I had to steer to avoid a ditch but it spat me out. The roll cage looks fine, I obviously didn't try hard enough."
"Very difficult with the fog, I had one moment and I was very lucky - but that is part of the game. I pushed hard."
"It looks good with the times, it was really hard at the beginning. I tried to understand the pacenotes at the start but I think I lost a bit of time."
"I just took it easy because of Caution."
"The fog is coming and going, it is down to pure luck as to who is quick and who is not."
"We went heavily off, wrong pace note. Like we saw in Corsica it can happen for co-drivers [Like Paul Nagle]. We have damage to right-rear tyre I think as well."
Yeah I had a pretty committed run to be honest, didn't always feel efficient but I'm trying."
stopped, continue
SS10
"For sure it wasn't the easiest stage, it was foggy but not that bad. It was careful and okay for us."
"At the end it was a bit tricky, this next stage looks like it is going to be tough one."
"I lost a lot of time at the end, I'm not very happy. I lost time in the fog, at the end I drove not so good."
"I guess in the foggy conditions I was a bit faster, I slowed down a bit 750m from the finish because of a note mix-up but it's all good."
"These conditions are very difficult, I don't think anyone will like driving in these conditions!"
"The fog wasn't bad, it was just a negative feeling with everything in the car. I'm playing with all the settings but I can't get it right."
"I just followed the trip and suddenly the corner was there!"
"Yeah the first one was okay, I wasn't confident enough really. It is so difficult to be perfect on the first pass, it's all about learning."
"Not nice to drive through this fog, we had one really big moment but it's okay - just missed the apex as we reached the fog."
"It was a difficult stage, it is my first time here and the fog makes it tough - especially when we are in fifth or sixth gear."
"Very difficult in the fog, we can have long stretches with corners and it is difficult all the time - braking all the time."
SS9
puncture
SS8
"I lost time at the end of the stage but I think from the first time I did this stage I lost time at the same place as well. Still in the fight here."
"It's been a tough day, the morning was really good and then we had two punctures, it seems the tyres are coming off the rim - there's no damage to the actual tyre."
"Yeah first stage this afternoon we had a puncture so we had to bear that in mind - one more puncture and we could be out."
"A good day, apart from the first stage, but that's how it is. For the moment I think we are performing quite well and the car is starting to suit me, I hope we can do some big things."
"I am on the limit I can't do more."
SS7
"I got a slow puncture on the front-left a few kilometres from the end, it was good before then though."
"Not really where want to be, need to learn from this and be stronger."
"I wouldn't say it was better this afternoon, the time still isn't there. Not sure if I've made the right tyre choice, maybe a mix of hards and softs would have been better."
"I really pushed hard on that stage, time is a little bit slower than others but I really enjoyed that stage."
"I've learnt nothing, the tyres won't last on the rims - thats the biggest concern. I can only control it by driving slowly like this."
"No answer to Ott, he should nearly be 40 seconds ahead if it wasn't for his spin. We want to stay in contention and if there is fog tomorrow that blows the whole thing wide open again."
"Yeah it was okay, we were trying to stay away from punctures - if we get another we're...in trouble!"
"Good stage but really rough, we struggled a bit to keep the wheels on the ground but generally the grip is there."
"I do my best, with the tyre choices it is not easy to say which is best - I was sliding quite a but I've been fast."
"I think Ott is flying at the moment - I don't think we have a chance! This stage is not too bad in terms of cleaning compared to the last one, let's hope we get a better start position for tomorrow."
SS6
"The afternoon has started well, we'll see what the others do but it is okay."
"Yeah I picked a puncture up, I went a bit wide and hit a bank."
"I need to say big congrats to the team, the car is solid like hell! I hit a few big rocks and the car is fine."
"I didn't hit anything, don't know where it happened."
puncture
"Front-right puncture, it was very rough. I was just driving the line like normal."
puncture
stalled
"It was a bit of a tyre gamble for us this afternoon, we are on full hards so we'll have to see how that compares to the rest of the field."
"It wasn't that rough, I expected it worse but it is very loose and very slippery."
SS4
“Problem with my steering. Something is loose, I don’t know but it’s really hard to control the car”.
"The feeling's not that bad to be honest but the speed isn't there. Let's wait and see what happens this afternoon."
"I have a bad feeling with the car, everything has been fine in shakedown but there's something a little bit wrong now."
"The car is working and it is nice to drive, this stage is definitely more difficult compared to the others - it is a lot slippier."
"The car is working and it is nice to drive, this stage is definitely more difficult compared to the others - it is a lot slippier."
"The rear was sliding a lot on this stage but I'm trying to do my best."
"I am still in touch, but I am expecting to lose time on this one. It was very dry and I wad cleaning a lot."
SS3
rolled
"No real issues, just not fast enough."
"Driving was not so good, I was late with the throttle and could have pushed more."
"This stage is much better, there's no dust. The first stage I was really disappointed because you couldn't push too hard with the dust."
"It's a long stage, a lot of loose rocks the boys are putting on the road. Some of them I avoided but some of them I couldn't because the road is so narrow."
"There were so many rocks being pulled out, I tried to keep clear of them but that compromised my line."
"What can we do? It was a stupid mistake on SS2, I hit a rock and broke something in the steering which caused problems in this stage. We managed to get it a bit better but it definitely isn't fixed."
"I don't know if this was better [than SS2], I have no times. The car felt okay but I don't know about the rhythm."
"There are some very fast sections, it's a beautiful stage."
Stopped at 26.6km, suspension damage
SS2
"There was a lot of stones and horrible dust, it cuts the visibility right down."
"The dust was really, really bad. It was dodgy in places as well."
"The dust is getting in my eyes, and I've not done this stage before - I've been stupidly slow at points."
rear left puncture
spun
SS1
broken alternator belt
"Tomorrow is going to be a tough day for me starting first on the gravel stages."
"I think this could be a winning car this weekend! We came through shakedown with a good feeling in the car, we just need a good rest tonight because I know it is going to be a tough weekend."
"This is going to be tough, I said to Paul crossing the finish line I thought I would be last! I made a few mistakes in that stage - missed braking at the first corner and messed up a roundabout."
"This stage is nothing to do with the rally! The gravel was slippery, really slippery, there was no grip!"
"The Super Special was very nice, on the asphalt it was fine but in the gravel I wasn't too happy."
"Stage is really slippery, the rally really starts tomorrow."