Mikko Hirvonen continues to attack Loeb leaders position as win stage 8 and 9.
Petter Solberg pushing hard to back into the points positions but still is at 11th position in over 14 minutes delay by Loeb. Four stages remain to the end of day 3.
Results after SS 9:
1. S. Loeb 3:06:42.3
2. M. Hirvonen +2.1
3. D. Sordo +1:30.7
4. M. Ostberg +2:26.6
5. N. Al-Attiyah +7:58.1
6. M. Prokop +8:07.5

The Citroen drivers take the rally leaders positions with a 0.1 seconds difference between the first Sebastien Loeb and his teammate Mikko Hirvonen.
Results after SS 6:
1. S. Loeb 2:20:30.6
2. M. Hirvonen +0.1
3. D. Sordo +33.1
4. M. Ostberg +1:18.4
5. N. Al-Attiyah +5:16.9
6. M. Prokop +6:24.2
Petter Solberg is 11th overall, as he will back on Saturday in the rally.
Comments after SS 6:
Hirvonen: “The start of the stage was not good at all but the rest was okay so we will see what happens. I hope we will have a bit of a fight because Dani is not so far away.”
“We changed a bit the set-up and I was much more confident in the afternoon. I pushed really hard and there were no mistakes. It is very close with Mikko and there is a long way to go.”
Loeb: “The visibility was coming down and I lost a bit of confidence because it was very slippery in some places, not easy.”
 

The Norwegian star lost the podium chances after broken front-right steering arm in SS 4 Fernet 1882 La Pampa/La Pampa II (37.51 km).
Citroen occupy the top two positions with 1.1 seconds difference between the leader Sebastien Loeb and the second Mikko Hirvonen.
Results after SS 5:
1. S. Loeb 2:06:52.9
2. M. Hirvonen +1.1
3. D. Sordo +13.1
4. M. Ostberg +56.3
5. N. Al-Attiyah +4:55.6
6. T. Neuville +5:14.2
Petter Solberg moved to 13th position at +9:25.2.
Comments after SS 4:
S. Loeb: “I was pushing very hard, it’s the only thing I can do in my situation. I’ve changed a bit the set-up of the car and I was more confident than in the morning.”
M. Hirvonen: “There’s still a long way to go but hopefully I can keep my pace and fight for the win, I’m really enjoying myself.”
There is one stage to the end of the day this is SS 6 Cosquin / Villa Allende 19.18 km.
 

The Norwegian takes the lead after Ascochinga / Agua De Oro 1 (51.88km).
Petter was the fastest man on SS 3 with a time of 37:50.7 and 3.5 seconds faster than Mikko Hirvonen.
The first stage for the day SS 2 La Pampa / La Pampa 1 (37.51km) Sebastien Loeb was the fastest followed by Petter Solberg with 1.9 seconds.
Evgeny Novikov finished the rally after SS 2. Novikov completed stage two with a damaged right-rear wheel.
Results after SS 3:
1. P. Solberg 1:06:00.0
2. M. Hirvonen +20.1
3. D. Sordo +24.6
4. S. Loeb +34.8
5. T. Neuville +38.0
6. M. Ostberg +51.1
 

The Ford World Rally Team takes the first two places after the first stage of Philips Rally Argentina 2012. The short 6.04 km stage push Petter Solberg 3.6 seconds faster than Daniel Sordo who is in the second Ford replacing the injury Jarri-Matti Latvala.
The tire choice was decidable for good positions as Petter selected the soft compound tyre while Loeb selected the hard compound tyre.
NasserAl-Attiyah spin during the first stage as moves down to 13th position with 23.3 seconds delay by the leader.

Results After SS 1:
1. P. Solberg 4:54.9
2. D. Sordo +3.6
3. M. Ostberg +4.8
4. O. Tanak +5.2
5. E. Novikov +5.2
6. T. Neuville +5.6
Comments after SS 1:
P. Solberg: “It feels good. Tricky stages to start off with so maybe we were too careful.”
S. Loeb: “It was a really bad tyre choice; it felt very slippery.”
 

Location: Villa Carlos Paz (Close to Cordoba) (730 km north-west by the capital Buenos Aires).
Rally starts on April 26th with the evening stage Super Especial 1 6.04 km.
The rally will offer two long stages one of which is the longest ever stage in WRC.
In the last day is SS 14 Matadero / Ambul 65.74 km, the longest ever stage. In the first day after the night stage SS 3 and 5 is Ascochinga / Agua De Oro 1, 2 51.88 km.
These long stages are too hard especially for the tires and avoid punctures in the sandy stages.
Total SS distance: 502.73 km
Total distance: 1770.92 km
Last rally winner Rally Argentina 2011: Sebastien Loeb

Jari-Matti Latvala miss the rally after his incident in cross-country skiing as Daniel Sordo replace Jari for Rally Argentina.

The Spanish Daniel Sordo is the man to replace Jari-Matti Latvala in Ford World Rally Team in Philips Rally Argentina 2012. Latvala broke his collarbone in the left shoulder after cross-country skiing during his training program. Sordo who is 28 currently come by Prodrive WRC Team (Mini WRC) after agreement between Ford World Rally Team and Prodrive WRC Team.
Latvala will back in WRC in Acropolis Rally on 25-27 May 2012.