World Rallypics
BP-Ford World Rally Team increased its lead at the top of the FIA World Rally Championship after claiming a double podium finish on Rally Argentina. Marcus Grönholm and Timo Rautiainen finished second on this sixth round of the 16-event series in a Ford Focus RS World Rally Car while team-mates Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen were third in a similar car.
The results enabled reigning manufacturers’ champion BP-Ford to widen its advantage in the 2007 title race to nine points. Grönholm and Hirvonen remain second and third in the drivers’ championship respectively.
Most of the opening leg was cancelled when several drivers became stranded in Buenos Aires, 700km south of the rally base in Carlos Paz, after the opening speed test there on Thursday night. Organisers added an additional special stage to the final leg to ensure the event completed the required two-thirds distance to award full points. Drivers tackled 246.36km of competition in total, much of it across the wide open plains for which Argentina is renowned.
