WILKS A STRONG 2ND
March 23, 2010 by ProMotor
Guy Wilks holds a strong 2nd position on Rally Argentina in his Škoda UK Motorsport Fabia S2000, as he battles for victory on Round 3 of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge with rally leader Juho Hänninen in a sensational Škoda 1-2.
Co-driven by Phil Pugh, Guy set one fastest, four second quickest and three third fastest stage times in a superb display of speed and consistency over the challenging Argentine gravel roads. Guy was the only driver to beat Hänninen today, as the Finn established a 32.2 second overnight lead.
A sell-out 12,000 crowd enjoyed the opening 2.5 mile (4km) super-special stage in downtown Villa Carlos Paz on Friday night. Crews used gravel tyres and on a slippery wet asphalt road, as Guy set the 3rd fastest time.
Guy ran third on the road during Saturday’s seven gravel stage, which took place in the hills near San Agustin, 62 miles (100kms) south of the service park in Villa Carlos Paz. This was a good running position, as the soft sandy surface cut up as the 69 cars passed, making the repeat runs in the afternoon very difficult.
Guy was soon part of a three car battle for the lead, as he, Hänninen and Kris Meeke pulled away from the reset of the field. In the inconsistent road conditions, Guy took a little time to get into a rhythm, but after a trio of third quickest times he set his first fastest time of the season on the famous Santa Rosa – San Agustin stage (SS4).
Just 13.7 seconds separate the top three drivers when crews returned to Villa Carlos Paz for mid-day service. Such was their pace that 4th placed Jan Kopecký was a further 43.3 seconds behind.
Anticipating a rougher passage through the repeat stages, Škoda UK Motorsport raised the ride height on its Fabia S2000 for the afternoon’s loop. This helped Guy to maintain a good pace, as he moved up to 2nd with a good run through SS6.
Mindful that running first on the road tomorrow might be a disadvantage, Hänninen pushed hard to increase his lead to 32.2 seconds at the end of Leg 1, while Guy strengthened the Škoda UK Motorsport team’s position in 2nd by increasing his advantage on Meeke to 18.8 seconds.
Guy Wilks: “The pace has been incredibly quick today, but we haven’t taken any risks. The surface this morning was inconsistent and it was easy to make a mistake, so we kept the Fabia in the middle of the road.
“The opening stage this morning didn’t flow as well as we’d have liked and Juho took some time off everyone in there. We then found a pace which we were quite happy with and things went well.
“The repeat stages in the afternoon were a lot rougher, but we got through them without a problem and moved into second position. We’re thirty-two seconds behind Juho, but tomorrow is a very difficult day. The stages are quite rough and high and the weather conditions could play a big part, particularly on the two early morning stages.
“We plan to keep the pressure on tomorrow and see what happens.”
Crews leave Villa Carlos Paz tomorrow morning at the beginning of Leg 2 at 07.00 local time and head north to the mountain roads above the town of Cosquin. The final day’s opening two stages, La Cumbre – Agua De Oro (9.3 miles / 15kms) and Ascochinga-La Cumbre (14 miles / 22.4kms), rise to 1471 metres above sea level, bringing the possibility of dense low early morning cloud.
There are a total of six gravel stages – four in the morning, two repeated in the afternoon – totaling 63.4 miles (102kms), before the rally ends with another run over the Villa Carlos Paz super-special at 16.23.
Rally Argentina – end of Leg 1 positions (after SS8)
1. Juho Hänninen/ Mikko Markkula (Škoda Fabia S2000)…1:16.55.0
2. Guy Wilks/Phil Pugh (Škoda Fabia S2000)…+32.2
3. Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle (Peugeot 207 S2000)…+51.0
4. Jan Kopecký/Petr Starý (Škoda Fabia S2000)…+1.26.2
5. Federico Villagra/Jorge Companc (Ford Fiesta S2000)…+2.57.7
6. Gabriel Pozzo/Luis Stillo (Subaru Impreza)…+23.11.1
Fans will also be able to follow Guy’s progress on Twitter (http://twitter.com/GuyWilks), Facebook and www.guywilks.com.
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