Federico Villagra has discovered that his lack of outright pace on Rally Argentina was due to his Ford Fiesta S2000’s engine losing cylinder compression.
Villagra had been tipped as one of the favourites to win the Intercontinental Rally Challenge round earlier this month due to his pace and intimate knowledge of the gravel stages.
However, the eight-time Argentine champion bemoaned a lack of engine performance for much of the rally, which also marked his debut in the M-Sport-built machine.
“The handling of the car was fantastic but I knew from the first moment it was a bit slow and this is because we were having trouble with the engine,” said Villagra. “We raced like that the whole weekend so it was not easy.”
After finishing sixth overall, Villagra said he now wants to get the chance to drive the Fiesta in competition again.
“Hopefully we will get a chance to drive the car again because I still don’t know how fast it will go,” said Villagra. “It was frustrating that we lost so much time in Argentina but I am happy we have found out what the problem was.”