..::: Campeonato Argentino de Rally 2011 :::..

[CABAIO E'LONA]

Is it the Pirelli Pzero that was used on the Codasur until 2010?

Yes, The PZero.

[Co-driven]

What happened to Sebastian Beltran? I haven't seen any news from him for the last 2-3 years...

[CABAIO E'LONA]

What happened to Sebastian Beltran? I haven't seen any news from him for the last 2-3 years...

Sebastian "Batata" Beltrán had trouble with the organization of the Rally Argentina, in the Rally de Catamarca of 2008, this time, he voluntary retires before taking the start ... after that, he was in the Rally "Gran Premio" in Unquillo-Rio Ceballos that year as a participant-organizer.
That was his last rally in Argentina.

[CABAIO E'LONA]

The first round of the Argentine Rally Championship was far to be the great showdown forecast prior to the last weekend.

The presentation of the brand new Maxi Rally cars was in the spotlight of everyone in the Service Area, and the Shakedown held on Friday really boost the enthusiasm of thousands of fans eager to see how the action would develop during the weekend. However, all the expectations fell down when the rain took the leading role.

The Rally de Areco could hardly be run last weekend due to a deluge that struck heavily in all the area affected to the race flooded most of the roads. The result was five stages and less than a hundred of kilometres available to be tackled.

On Saturday Luciano Bernardi (Tango Mitsubishi) took an early lead after setting three consecutive fastest times. Behind, Alejandro Levy (VRS Mitsubishi) and Juan Marchetto (VRS Mitsubishi) settled in podium position taking advantage of the boost given by the turbocharges on the classic N4 cars over the normal aspirated Maxi Rally cars. However, the remaining stage was won by Miguel Baldoni in a VW Gol followed some tenths adrift by team-mate Gabriel Pozzo. The 2010 runner-up finished the day in an expectable fourth position with Baldoni watching his back.

For the second day the weather got worst and forced the stewards to cancelled four special stages with only one in good condition to be run. It was in that decisive stage where Marchetto stunned his opponents as the same time he capitalized a broken engine in Bernardi's Mitsubishi and an off of road from Levy.

Virtually leader of the race, Marchetto push harder than ever to secure his first victory in his career leaving Pozzo and Baldoni behing by more than 30 seconds. Eventually, after the final scrutineering the history turned out to be a bit different since it was known that Marchetto built his incredible advantage after missing a of the chicane put in the stage. Juan received a penalty of 30 second to claim the win for just 1,9s. over Pozzo.

For reigning champion Federico Villagra his debut at the wheel of the Ford Fiesta was as chaotic as the race. After completing the first stage on Saturday, a pipe of the fuel supplying system broke down leaving "Coyote" run out of gasoline in the liaison section. Sunday was any better for him and this time the Fiesta was hit by gearbox troubles.

Final classification

1º) Juan Marchetto-José Díaz (Mitsubishi)
2º) Gabriel Pozzo-Daniel Stillo (Volkswagen)
3º) Miguel Baldoni-Gustavo Franchello (Volkswagen)
4º) Raúl Martínez-Fernando Mussano (Volkswagen)
=) Diego Domínguez-Edgardo Galindo (Kia)
6º) Gerónimo Padilla-Richard Kember (Mitsubishi)
7º) José Cantón-Rodolfo Amelio Ortiz (Mitsubishi)
8º) Claudio Menzi-Diego Cagnotti (Fiat)

[CABAIO E'LONA]

The first round of the Argentine Rally Championship was far to be the great showdown forecast prior to the last weekend.

The presentation of the brand new Maxi Rally cars was in the spotlight of everyone in the Service Area, and the Shakedown held on Friday really boost the enthusiasm of thousands of fans eager to see how the action would develop during the weekend. However, all the expectations fell down when the rain took the leading role.

The Rally de Areco could hardly be run last weekend due to a deluge that struck heavily in all the area affected to the race flooded most of the roads. The result was five stages and less than a hundred of kilometres available to be tackled.

On Saturday Luciano Bernardi (Tango Mitsubishi) took an early lead after setting three consecutive fastest times. Behind, Alejandro Levy (VRS Mitsubishi) and Juan Marchetto (VRS Mitsubishi) settled in podium position taking advantage of the boost given by the turbocharges on the classic N4 cars over the normal aspirated Maxi Rally cars. However, the remaining stage was won by Miguel Baldoni in a VW Gol followed some tenths adrift by team-mate Gabriel Pozzo. The 2010 runner-up finished the day in an expectable fourth position with Baldoni watching his back.

For the second day the weather got worst and forced the stewards to cancelled four special stages with only one in good condition to be run. It was in that decisive stage where Marchetto stunned his opponents as the same time he capitalized a broken engine in Bernardi's Mitsubishi and an off of road from Levy.

Virtually leader of the race, Marchetto push harder than ever to secure his first victory in his career leaving Pozzo and Baldoni behing by more than 30 seconds. Eventually, after the final scrutineering the history turned out to be a bit different since it was known that Marchetto built his incredible advantage after missing a of the chicane put in the stage. Juan received a penalty of 30 second to claim the win for just 1,9s. over Pozzo.

For reigning champion Federico Villagra his debut at the wheel of the Ford Fiesta was as chaotic as the race. After completing the first stage on Saturday, a pipe of the fuel supplying system broke down leaving "Coyote" run out of gasoline in the liaison section. Sunday was any better for him and this time the Fiesta was hit by gearbox troubles.

Final classification

1º) Juan Marchetto-José Díaz (Mitsubishi)
2º) Gabriel Pozzo-Daniel Stillo (Volkswagen)
3º) Miguel Baldoni-Gustavo Franchello (Volkswagen)
4º) Raúl Martínez-Fernando Mussano (Volkswagen)
=) Diego Domínguez-Edgardo Galindo (Kia)
6º) Gerónimo Padilla-Richard Kember (Mitsubishi)
7º) José Cantón-Rodolfo Amelio Ortiz (Mitsubishi)
8º) Claudio Menzi-Diego Cagnotti (Fiat)

[CABAIO E'LONA]

Menzi gives Fiat and the Maxi Rally their first victory


Claudio Menzi cruised to seal the first win for a Maxi Rally car in the Rally de Villa Dolores, second round of the Argentine Rally Championship held in the province of Córdoba.

At the wheel of a Fiat Punto MR, the former PWRC starter shined to come up with an outstanding victory that enabled the official Scuderia Fiat to come back to the spotlight after 15 years outside of the rally competitions.

Menzi secured the win early on Sunday, after Gabriel Pozzo (Volkswagen), the only one who could match the Fiat's pace, crashed on the PE 9 while being in second position and only 14,6s. adrift the lead.

Pozzo incredible bounced back on Saturday after receiving a one-minute penalty for some irregularities during the recce. The 2010 runner-up won six of the seven stages run on the first day of action. Regrettably he couldn't finish his heroic job.

Marcos Ligato (Chevrolet) inherited the second position, however, he suffered of engine troubles as well as Miguel Baldoni (Volkswagen), who also couldn't made his way through the final day giving up his chances of finishing behind Menzi with just one stage remaining.

Finally José Cantón (Mitsubishi) came in second position with a faultless run whereas Juan Gil De Marchi (Mitsubishi) completed the podium.

The highly demanded roads of the Traslasierra Valley meant a difficult task to sort out for both the driver and the machines and many candidates dropped out the race with different mechanical issues.

Once again Federico Villagra (Ford) was forced to abandon early in the competition with an engine failure. For sure this was not the best start for "Coyote" on his way to defence his ninth title.

RALLY ARGENTINO - VILLA DOLORES
FINAL CLASSIFICATION

1 MENZI, Claudio FIAT 1.37.29,1
2 CANTON, Jose MITSUBISHI 1.39.54,8 2.25,7
3 GIL DE MARCHI, Juan MITSUBISHI 1.40.01,1 2.32,0
4 MARCHETTO, Juan M. MITSUBISHI 1.40.46,4 3.17,3
5 MARTIN, Ivo SUBARU 1.41.42,7 4.13,6
6 ALONSO, Juan SUBARU 1.44.05,1 6.36,0
7 DIAZ, Nicolas MITSUBISHI 1.45.40,3 8.11,2
8 ROSSI, Agustin MITSUBISHI 1.46.22,3 8.53,2
9 MONARCA, Gonzalo MITSUBISHI 1.46.26,9 8.57,8
10 BENETTI, Sergio MITSUBISHI 1.49.45,8 12.16,7

[CABAIO E'LONA]

The action moves down to the South



The Argentine Rally Championship will dispute this weekend the third round of its 2011 season to be held in the Patagonian region of Cutral-Có and Plaza Huincual, main cities of a well-known oil producer shire.

First held in 2001, the Rally of the Petroleum and Dinosaurs has nothing to do with the conditions faced in the previous events. After the plain terrain of Buenos Aires and the hilly stages of Córdoba, this event features a great variety of surfaces with the desert as common scenery.

After given the new Maxi Rally cars their maiden victory in the last Rally de Villa Dolores, Claudio Menzi will try to hold his leading position in the Championship with the official backed Fiat Punto.

The driver of Córdoba arrives this weekend with just 6,5 points over Juan Matchetto, who will give his old Mitsubishi Evo IX a final run before jumping to a brand new Ford Fiesta like the one his VRS team-mate Federico Villagra drives.

Despite enduring a troubled start of season "Coyote" remains confident to tip the scales in his favour. In the last edition of this race Villagra got the victory to bounce back and start an impressive bout of wins which led him to his ninth title.

On the other side the Team Baratec drivers Gabriel Pozzo and Miguel Baldoni, both at the command of a VW Gol Trend, are pointed out as candidates for claiming the victory, The 2010 runner-up is setting the pace on the road claiming the more stage winnings so far. As for Baldoni, the youngster heads to Neuquen in high-spirits after this second position in Sardinia last week within the WRC Academy.

Marcos Ligato is another driver in the spotlight. The Tango RT owner comes with a faster and more competitive Chevrolet Agile which claimed the second position overall before dropping out of the last race due to electrical issues.

Finally, Peugeot driver Alejandro Cancio arises as the other alternative to dispute the victory. The local hero is eager to matching the leader's pace after showing a great reliability but a lack of speed.

The race kicks off tonight with the ceremonial ramp, whereas the first of the twelve stages scheduled for this weekend will be tackle on Saturday at 10:23hs. In total the driver must run 140,60 kilometres.

[CABAIO E'LONA]

[jonas_mcrae]

what a great championship you guys have in Argentina, big enty lists, competitive drivers and loads of manufacturers, even more than WRC! also I´ve seen some videos and the maxi rally cars look great and sound better, and speed wise, they are almost perfect to compete with Evos and Imprezas. Could someone give me more technical details of the MR cars? I heard the engine, differential and the gearbox are the same in all cars is this true?

[Solberg]

what a great championship you guys have in Argentina, big enty lists, competitive drivers and loads of manufacturers, even more than WRC! also I´ve seen some videos and the maxi rally cars look great and sound better, and speed wise, they are almost perfect to compete with Evos and Imprezas. Could someone give me more technical details of the MR cars? I heard the engine, differential and the gearbox are the same in all cars is this true?

Yes, our championship is getting better =)
it seems that nicolas madero (second overall in 2009) will return and a few more drivers with MR...
the things that you know about MR are correct, they have the same egine, Honda 2,4 290 hp prepared by Berta, 4WD from Subaru, and an italian sequential gearbox with 6 gears
all of these are the same for all of the MR, the rest is free
I hope this information is useful, sory for my english :P