Sebastien Loeb has claimed his third stage win of day two by going fastest on Saturday morning’s fourth test.
The Citroen driver is on a charge following his one-minute time penalty on Friday and was 7.7s quicker than leader Jari-Matti Latvala through the stage. As a result he’s 26.2s behind fourth-placed Mikko Hirvonen with four stages of day two left to run.
“That’s a great stage,” said Loeb. “I will continue to push, which is the only thing I can do.”
Petter Solberg, in third overall, was hampered by a build up of dust in his Citroen DS3 WRC on his way to the fourth fastest time: “The door was not shut and I struggled in many places to see because the dust was so bad.”
But with second-placed Sebastien Ogier reaching the end of the stage with a damaged front-right tyre, Solberg’s gap to Ogier is down to three seconds.
Crews are now heading to Villa Carlos Paz for a regroup and a 30-minute service. Ford driver Latvala’s lead stands at 17.8s.
Standings after SS11:
| Pos. | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | J. LATVALA / M. ANTTILA | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | 2h34m45.1s |
| 02 | S. OGIER / J. INGRASSIA | Citroën DS3 WRC | +17.8s |
| 03 | P. SOLBERG / C. PATTERSSON | Citroën DS3 WRC | +20.8s |
| 04 | M. HIRVONEN / J. LEHTINEN | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +40.5s |
| 05 | S. LOEB / D. ELENA | Citroën DS3 WRC | +1m06.7s |
| 06 | M. ØSTBERG / J. ANDERSSON | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +3m54.2s |
| 07 | F. VILLAGRA / J. PÉREZ COMPANC | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +4m42.0s |
| 08 | M. WILSON / S. MARTIN | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +5m31.8s |
| 09 | H. PADDON / J. KENNARD | Subaru Impreza | +16m55.5s |
| 10 | K. BLOCK / A. GELSOMINO | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +17m48.1s |
| 11 | P. FLODIN / M. ANDERSSON | Subaru Impreza | +25m27.3s |
| 12 | M. KOSCIUSZKO / M. SZCZEPANIAK | Mitsubishi Evo X | +25m44.6s |
| 13 | D. TAGIROV / A. ZAVERSHINSKAYA | Subaru Impreza | +26m16.6s |
| 14 | A. KREMER / K. WICHA | Mitsubishi Evo X | +30m12.5s |
| 15 | N. FUCHS / F. MUSSANO | Mitsubishi Evo X | +30m54.0s |