The WRC arrives in South America for the celebration of the Rally Argentina 2019 (25-28 April) and Chile (9-12 May). An amazing Elfyn Evans (Ford), together with current leaders Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) and Sébastien Ogier (Citroën) and 2018 winner Ott Tänak (Toyota) are the top favourites in this the 39th edition of the Argentinian race.

These fantastic four will come head to head during the four days and across the 18 stages of the raid, which is set on the mountain ranges of the Cordoba region. Participants will cover a total of 1,300.38 km, 347,50 of which will be timed.

The fifth round of 2019 WRC Calendar is one of the most exciting appointments of the Championship thanks to the magical atmosphere that the Argentinian fans always provide.

Hyundai and Neuville

After his agonizing triumph in Rally Corsica, Thierry Neuville leads the standings by two points over Ogier and five over Ott Tänak. Neuville will start ahead in the first stage at the Calamuchita Valley, a circumstance that his rivals could use to their advantage.

The Belgian champion has always performed well in Argentina. He got the victory in 2017 and was second in 2018, the same year that his teammate Dani Sordo was third. The I30 Coupe WRC has always flown over the pampas.

Andreas Mikkelsen, after surprising everyone with his great performance at Rally Mexico, takes over from Sébastien Loeb at the wheel of the Korean car. The Spaniard Dani Sordo completes the line-up of the Hyundai Shell Mobis Team.

Citroën and Ogier

This will be Sébastien Ogier tenth time racing in the land of Tango, and strangely this, as well as Chile and Turkey, is one of the few rallies that the six-time world champion has not yet conquered. 

He will have the slight advantage of not being the first out, but this is in no way a guarantee of success in such a demanding and unpredictable race. 

The Citroën Total WRC team has undergone four days of training in Arganil, Portugal, before travelling to Rally Argentina 2019; where they have attempted to reproduce the conditions that they will encounter in Argentina.

Their intensive training was aimed at compensating for the lack of pace and understeering issues of their C3 WRC in Corsica. Also crucial this weekend will be the suspension, which has given them many headaches in previous appointments.

Toyota and Tänak

The Estonian driver from Toyota is eager to take back the lead that he lost in Corsica. This would be the perfect opportunity for him as he also tries to revalidate his triumph of 2018 al the Rally Argentina 2019. 

Just as their French rivals, the Japanese team has held three days of training in Portugal, focusing their efforts on improving their traction and grip, key issues on dirt races.

Regarding this, Toyota GAZOO Racing WRT chief Tommi Makkinen explained that the previous configuration of the suspension system generated too much tension on the tires, which has previously caused them to suffer from recurrent punctures and general wearing. 

Ford and Evans

The M-Sport Ford team has also completed two days of training at their headquarters in Cumbria before heading to Rally Argentina 2019. The English forests of Gesystoke have borne witness to the development of the Fiesta WRC.

The Ford drivers have concentrated their efforts on solving the lack of speed on low grip surfaces’ problems, that the English missile has been suffering.

They are trying to avoid a repeat of last year’s situation when they were no match for their rivals. They have also been working on improving stability and traction.

After his podiums of Mexico and Corsica, where only a last-minute puncture robbed him of a well-deserved victory, Elfyn Evans arrives in Rally Argentina 2019 ready to succeed.