April 28 (Reuters) – Citroen have told Finland’s Mikko
Hirvonen not to challenge team mate and race leader Sebastien
Loeb for victory in Rally Argentina to ensure they finish the
event first and second on Sunday.
The drivers were running one-two halfway through Saturday’s
second leg and, in a move that made the outcome effectively a
foregone conclusion, the team decided they should take no risks.
Citroen principal Yves Matton said he had spoken to both men
to ensure eight-times world champion Loeb of France takes his
70th race win.
“Sebastien almost went off (on stage nine) and we can’t
afford to throw away a possible one-two which would be a great
result for both championships,” Matton told the world rally
(www.wrc.com) website.
“It’s a bit hard on Mikko after what happened in Portugal
but I hope he’ll be able to stand on the top step of the podium
again with us very soon.”
Hirvonen was stripped of his win in Portugal, which would
have seen him take Loeb’s championship lead, after stewards
found Citroen had fitted his car with a clutch that did not
conform to the rules.
With two stages of the second day remaining in Argentina,
Loeb was 7.7 seconds ahead of Hirvonen. They had been separated
earlier in the day by just 2.1 seconds after ending the first
leg just 1/10th apart.
Spain’s Dani Sordo, driving a works team Ford as a stand-in
for the injured Jari-Matti Latvala, was third and a massive one
minute 29.8 seconds adrift of Hirvonen.
Latvala was forced to miss the fifth round of the season
after breaking his left collarbone in a cross-country skiing
accident while training in his native Finland. He is expected
back for Greece next month.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin; editing by Tony Jimenez)
