Pirelli On Top Form In Argentina

Villa Carlos Paz (RA), 17 July 2005 - There are three Pirelli-equipped drivers in the top five at the end of the all-gravel Rally Argentina, round nine of the World Championship. The Peugeot-Pirelli of Marcus Gronholm has finished second, ahead of the Subaru-Pirelli of Petter Solberg. Harri Rovanpera is fifth in his Pirelli-equipped Mitsubishi. Gronholm was on superlative form throughout the event to string together a mesmerizing series of fastest stage times during leg two to take second place overall from Solberg. Both Gronholm and Solberg led the event, but victory eventually went to Sebastien Loeb - whose talent allowed him to take a record-breaking sixth consecutive win. While Europe basks in summer Argentina is in the middle of winter, meaning that conditions on the stages were generally cold and wet, with mud making the roads extremely slippery. These are ideal conditions for Pirelli's famous KP tyre, designed exactly for this type of terrain. Argentina was the second of four events this year where the teams were allowed to use only one tyre pattern, in order to reduce costs. All the Pirelli teams (Subaru, Peugeot and Mitsubishi) used a combination of the harder KP4 tyre and the softer KP6 tyre for colder conditions. The soft KP6 tyre proved particularly effective, allowing Gronholm to pursue Loeb all the way to the finish. Argentina was also the fifth round of the Production Car World Rally Championship, which was won by the Pirelli-equipped Group N Subaru of Nasser al-Attiyah. The Subaru of Mark Higgins finished second, ahead of the Mitsubishi of Federico Villagra - all running on Pirelli tyres. Pirelli's Rally Manager Fiorenzo Brivio commented: " Our tyres had winning pace here, with Marcus Gronholm leading after the opening superspecial and setting several fastest stage times. Petter Solberg was in front for half of leg one, but unfortunately mechanical problems prevented him from fighting back on day two. Mitsubishi also had an excellent event on our tyres, with fantastic speed from Harri Rovanpera and Gigi Galli. Unfortunately nobody had an answer for Sebastien Loeb and Citroen, who seem to be on untouchable form at the moment, but with three cars in the top four and the majority of stage wins we have to be happy with our performance here." Argentina Rally (9/16) - Final classification

Drivers Championship: 1 Loeb 75; 2 Solberg 48; 3 Gronholm 45; 4 Martin & Gardemeister 42; 6 Rovanpera 22; 7 Stohl 12; 8 Sainz 11; 9 Kresta 10; 10 H Solberg 9; 11 Panizzi & Duval 7; 12 Galli 6 Manufacturers: 1 Citroen 96; 2 Peugeot 90; 3 Ford 62; 4 Subaru 54; 5 Mitsubishi 41; 6 Skoda 8 Next round: Rally Finland, 5-7 August