News in Brief: Duck / Meeke / Evans / Nalbandian

A selection of stories that are making the news in the WRC ahead of Rally Argentina:

Talisman update: Kris Meeke will carry a new lucky charm aboard his Citroen DS3. After a rough start to the season, the Brit has been inundated with messages of support and good luck gifts including four horseshoes, the smallest of which will ride with Kris in his door pocket.

In other superstition news, WRC 2 front runner Ott Tänak will tackle the rally without the duck finger puppet that has been strapped to his car’s handbrake on every rally since 2008. He left it at home in Estonia. Fingers crossed for them both.

New notes: Despite competing in Argentina in 2010 when the rally was part of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, Meeke made a new set of pace notes during the recce.

“I found it quite difficult to make the notes for Saturday’s stages because the roads are so fast in sections. You come into a blind corner and it’s hard to judge what the speed should be. I expect it to be quite difficult, especially on the first pass,” he said.

Under pressure: Elfyn Evans’ shakedown this morning was hit by water pressure problems in his Ford Fiesta RS. After two runs he returned to service in Villa Carlos Paz where M-Sport mechanics made repairs before the Welshman went out to complete two more passes.

On court: Former world number three tennis player David Nalbandian is competing in the national rally which supports the WRC event. The 32-year-old, who won more than 11 million US dollars during his career, is at the wheel of a Chevrolet Agile.

Also competing are former Mini John Cooper WRC driver Daniel Oliveira, ex-Munchi’s World Rally team pilot Federico Villagra and 2012 PWRC runner-up Marcos Ligato.