Rally Argentina, the sixth round of the FIA World Rally Championship, got underway late this afternoon from the lakeside tourist resort of Villa Carlos Paz, 35 kilometres from the bustling city of Cordoba. Seventy-eight crews crossed the start ramp for this, the 20th anniversary of the event, and immediately headed to a new purpose-built rally sprint circuit for two sensational opening super special stages.

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart Tommi Makinen concentrating

Fanatical local supporters flocked to the stage in their thousands, keen to witness high-speed action by the world’s most successful and impressive rally drivers. Each crew completed two separate runs, head-to-head, over the 3.44 kilometre stage, providing an unrivalled evening of entertainment for an estimated crowd of 30,000.

At the conclusion of these two tricky stages, the Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart crew of Tommi Makinen/Risto Mannisenmaki hold tenth position, eight seconds behind overnight leader and Subaru driver Richard Burns. The stage was by no means a formality and rallies can only be lost on these fast and spectacular super special stages. Makinen, who has won this rally on three of his last four attempts, is now looking forward to tomorrow’s route that takes the crews across the Punilla Valley and the Sierras Chacas to the north of Cordoba.

"We had no problems, but it is a new stage that we have only practiced twice in the daylight. Running it in the dark was not so easy and it is not necessary to take chances on these stages", said Tommi. "The tough competition starts tomorrow and this is one of my favourite rallies that has always been kind to me, so I have a good feeling".

Team-mates Freddy Loix and Sven Smeets overnight just behind the Finns in 11th position in their Mitsubishi Carisma GT. "Being in the outside lane we were just a little bit behind Francois (Delecour) and on a couple of corners we got showered with the dust and stones being thrown up by his car", commented Freddy. "But everything else was fine; the car and tyres worked well and I’m looking forward to the real Argentinean stages tomorrow".

Francois Delecour and Mitsubishi Carisma GT driver Freddy Loix