News in Brief: Testing/ Ogier / Evans / Matton

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

Testing choices: Teams have been busy preparing in a variety of locations to overcome the ban on testing outside Europe.

Citroen and Volkswagen went to Sardinia following Rally de Portugal, where conditions were cooler than expected.

“Temperatures were only about 17°C which was ideal for Argentina preparations,” Jari-Matti Latvala told wrc.com. “The roads were soft and conditions were more suited to Argentina, even though we were preparing for Rally Italia Sardegna.”

Hyundai tested in northern Portugal in March on soft roads similar to those expected in Argentina, while Elfyn Evans covered 1200km of development work close to M-Sport’s headquarters in northern England.

Ogier’s lucky number: The omens for a Sébastien Ogier victory in South America look good. The Frenchman will drive the same Volkswagen Polo R, chassis number 17, in which he clinched the 2013 world title at Rallye de France Alsace.

Ogier has also piloted the car, registration number WOB-VW 369, to victory at Rallye Monte-Carlo and Rally Mexico this season.

Racesuit running: Elfyn Evans has stepped up his fitness training in preparation for the physical demands of Argentina’s long special stages. The programme developed by M-Sport trainer Barry Johnson, a European champion triathlete, included Evans running in a full race suit.

“It’s all good practice to make sure that I am in peak condition for the challenges to come,” said Evans.

Matton absent: Citroen team boss Yves Matton will not be present in Villa Carlos Paz this weekend. Matton will be in Slovakia to oversee the French manufacturer’s WTCC challenge and his role will be taken on by Marek Nawarecki.