RALLY: McRae and Ford bid for treble on Argentinian soil
15 May 1999
The whirlwind pace of the 1999 FIA World Rally Championship barely allows teams to pause for breath. It continues unabated with the Rally Argentina (22 - 25 May), round seven of the 14-event series, starting from Cordoba less than two weeks after the finish of the Tour of Corsica.After two consecutive rallies on asphalt, the long trip to South America marks a return to gravel. The new Ford Focus World Rally Car is the car in form on this surface, the Ford Martini team having won the last two gravel events in Kenya and Portugal. Colin McRae and Nicky Grist, third in the drivers standings, are joined in the southern hemisphere by Thomas Rdstrm and Fred Gallagher, the Swedish driver making his return to competition after breaking a leg before Kenyas Safari Rally in February.
The Rally Argentina is a firm favourite with all associated with the championship. A warm welcome from the locals, spectacular scenery and the sheer fanaticism of the South American people for the sport combine to erase the memories of the tiring trip across the Atlantic.
"Yes, its a good event on which to drive," said McRae. "The whole atmosphere surrounding the rally is special. The stages are quite good, you can really attack them and from a personal point of view I enjoy driving on gravel more than asphalt. Rally cars are more balanced on the looser surface and after Catalunya and Corsica Im looking forward to getting back to gravel.
"The rally has a reputation for being quite rough but I dont find the roads too bad. The surface is quite soft and sandy but there are quite a few rocks and boulders which can be damaging. After our wins in Kenya and Portugal were obviously confident going into this rally but Im sure our rivals have been working hard to close the gap," added the 30-year-old Scot.
Rdstrm is now fully recovered from his injury and eager to resume his Ford Martini career. "Its been hard just sitting and looking and listening but Ive been concentrating on my fitness to gain the strength back in my leg. My fitness routine consists of one hour of swimming and one hour in the gym every day.
"Im looking forward to driving competitively again, it feels such a long time since I last drove the Focus. Over the past weeks Ive been counting the days down to the rally, just like a child counting down the school days before the summer holidays. Ive been driving my road car but thats nothing like the experience of driving in such a strenuous rally as Argentina.
"Ive spoken to Colin a great deal about the development of the Ford Focus and the progress thats been made since my last drive in Sweden. My main aim is to go out and try to score points for Ford and to support Colin as much as I can," added 33-year-old Rdstrm.
Technical Talk
Two factors create additional challenges for the Ford Martini World Rally Team engineers to overcome - altitude and rough roads. Both involve vital pre-event planning and technology to ensure the Ford Focus provides maximum performance and maintains the high level of reliability required to be successful in the world championship arena.
The opening leg of the Rally Argentina takes competitors into the first folds of the Andes, where the roads over the mountain passes are pockmarked with large boulders. The altitude itself presents its own problems, in the worst case draining the engine of around 10 percent of its power.
The Ford Focus 2.0-litre Zetec engine has a software programme incorporated into it which measures the atmospheric pressure and helps compensate for the inevitable power loss. It is impossible to maintain the same performance as at low altitude, but the team which can keep this loss to a minimum will gain a huge advantage.
The boulders can inflict their own problems. A high-speed impact with a rock dragged onto the driving line by a previous competitor can instantly shatter a cars suspension or cause such damage to the underbody that repairs cannot be made. Therefore additional protection is fitted to exposed parts and the Ford Martini mechanics will take the precaution of fitting new suspension at each service park to combat the arduous terrain.
Geography
The rallys three legs vary widely in location and terrain. The opening leg, west of Cordoba, contains the roughest stages of the event in El Condor and Giulio Cesare, taking competitors to an altitude of 2,150m, unmatched on any event other than Kenyas Safari Rally. Leg 2, north of the city, traverses vast, open plains at a much lower level with the final day, south of Cordoba, taking competitors through the regions Lake District, over the fastest and most flowing stages of the event.
The Rally
The Rally Argentina takes the idea of a two-car superspecial stage a step further. Three cars at a time will race each other around a purpose-built stage on the edge of Cordoba, roared on by enthusiastic crowds. The three legs of the rally are very similar in length, drivers facing a total of 386km of competition over 22 stages in a total route of 1,535km. One of the highlights of the rally is the finish ceremony in Cordobas soccer stadium, host to the 1978 World Cup, where thousands of fans provide one of the best postcard photographs of the season.
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