Today’s route covered two identical loops of three stages split by service back in Carlos Paz and Paddon was on the pace from the outset. Fastest in the first two stages, he moved into second and to within 6.7 seconds of Latvala. The Finn clawed back some time in the final stage of the loop and won the first of the afternoon’s repeated stages, however in the penultimate test the suspension broke over a fast section of bedrock and he then rolled, gifting a lead of nearly 30 seconds to Paddon. Both Latvala and co-driver Miikka Anttila were unhurt. Ogier struggled with the road cleaning during the first passage of the stages, but conditions have been slightly easier this afternoon and, while frustrated by his position, the Frenchman has pushed to the limit as always and been happy with his performance. Following Latvala’s retirement, Mikkelsen moved up to third and has been running at a comfortable pace to avoid problems. With the weather set to change tomorrow, and the event’s toughest stages still to come, the time gaps between any of the top drivers guarantees nothing.

Dani Sordo has run without problems throughout the day and is fourth overnight, the Spaniard 17.7 seconds behind Mikkelsen and again, ready to capitalise should any of the leading trio trip up. Mads Østberg had issues with the gearshift and is in a lonely fifth position with over four minutes in hand to Marcos Ligato in the DS3 WRC. The Argentina champion is however under massive pressure from Henning Solberg and Thierry Neuville, both just 4.8 seconds behind. Solberg struggled this morning, running the entire first loop with no power steering, and Neuville is now using the event to gain experience and test set-ups, having lost so much time yesterday. Eric Camilli has dropped back to ninth with his cautious approach, and Jari-Matti Latvala appears in the top 10 as he collects time penalties following his retirement.

In the FIA WRC 2 Championship, Peru’s Nicolas Fuchs now leads. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari held the advantage after the opening loop, but the Qatari rolled out of contention in the first of the repeated stages this afternoon. Fuchs has over three minutes in hand to Poland’s Hubert Ptasek with Al-Kuwari now third in the category. Michel Fabre continues his lonely run in the WRC 3 Championship as the only contender in this two-wheel drive series.

Rally Argentina – Unofficial Classification after Section 8