Abu Dhabi: With just two stages left to complete before the end of Rally Argentina, the DS3 WRCs of Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle and Mads Ostberg and Jonas Andersson occupy the top two places in the overall standings.
The third car entered by the Citroen Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team, driven by Shaikh Khalid Al Qasimi and Chris Patterson, is in seventh position heading into the final leg.
The organisers altered the itinerary for day two of Rally Argentina just before the start. The very long San Marcos to Characato stage was cut from 56 to 42 kilometres when the roads became impassable after heavy rainfall in the region.
Although the toughest section of the day’s route was thus avoided, the rest of the programme nonetheless provided plenty of challenges for the cars and crews still in the race.
And, within a few kilometres of the start, Meeke experienced the tricky conditions first-hand as he span off the road and had to reverse. The Briton then concentrated on managing his lead.
At the midway point of the day, Ostberg was 32.6 seconds behind, with third-placed Jari-Matti Latvala over a minute off the pace.
In the afternoon, the second run on Capilla del Monte/San Marcos was cancelled before any of the three DS3 WRCs lined up at the start, after Hayden Paddon went off.
The leg therefore ended with the 42.5-kilometre test to Characato. The two DS3 WRCs of Meeke and Ostberg remained in control of the rally as they both produced good times in the final test.
Meeke made it back to service at the end of the day with a 38.6-second lead over his teammate. Latvala was third still more than a minute behind.
Ostberg said: “The morning went well, we had good pace. This afternoon, with only one stage to complete, we backed off a little to make sure of bringing home the car in perfect condition. I remain focused on second place, which is very important for me and for the team. We’re not taking any risks. We have to keep going to the end to secure a good result for the team.”
Meeke added: “There are only 32 kilometres left to go but they are some of the most difficult roads in the world championship, so it’s not over yet by any means. The roads are barely wider than the car on El Condor, and you have a lot of rocks and moon-like landscapes. It’s going to be a long day for us. I still have to finish the job.”