Philips Rally
Argentina: five
things we
learned

1: Hirvonen: as fast as Loeb?

Mikko Hirvonen might only be five events into his career with the factory Citroen squad but he’s already proving that he’s a match for the make’s established star Sebastien Loeb. Hirvonen was dicing for the lead with Loeb until team orders were imposed and the Finn was forced to settle for second place.

2: Fortune still doesn’t favour Ford

There was more bad luck for the factory Ford team in Argentina. Having lost team leader Jari-Matti Latvala to injury before the start, his stand-in Dani Sordo was on course for a podium only for alternator failure to lead to his retirement on the final stage. Petter Solberg was also out of luck in the second works Fiesta, retiring from the lead on the opening day before fighting back to claim sixth overall.

3: Argentina’s fans are fantastic

Every round of the FIA World Rally Championship attracts thousands of fans but in Argentina tens of thousands become hundreds of thousands as fans flocked to the stages in huge number to cheer on their heroes.

4: Flat out isn’t always the best policy

The arduous competitive route of 503 kilometres proved too tough to overcome for a number of crews but not Benito Guerra and co-driver Borja Rozada whose low-risk strategy worked wonders as they claimed their second consecutive victory in the Production Car World Rally Championship following a trouble-free run.

5: Mikkelsen is a future star

While Andreas Mikkelsen’s potential has never been in doubt, by taking the fight to Volkswagen Motorsport team-mate Sebastien Ogier - and going faster than him on occasion - the 22-year-old Norwegian proved he’s a huge talent for the future and a worthy contender for the factory Volkswagen line-up in 2013.