GUY completed preparations for Rally Argentina, round three of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, with a successful test in the Škoda UK Motorsport Fabia S2000.

 

Guy and Phil used a 1.5-mile (2.4km) section of gravel road north of Villa Carlos Paz to work on various pre-arranged technical set-ups.

Using the test road in both directions, they completed 24 miles (38kms) of very detailed technical analysis to finetune the Fabia S2000 for the specific characteristics of the region's gravel roads.

It was an intense two hours, especially for the team mechanics who worked extremely hard to ensure everything was completed before the sun set behind the Sierras Chicas mountain range.

"It was a very good test - just about as perfect as it could have been," said Guy.

"The mechanics did a fantastic job to work through the schedule and make sure we were able to test everything we wanted to and finish before dark.

"The test road was exactly what we expect the special stages to be like, and we know exactly what settings we're going to use on the rally."

Having hit 39°C yesterday afternoon, a massive thunderstorm overnight has cleared the air in Villa Carlos Paz today, as crews complete the pre-event recce.

Rally Argentina starts on Friday with a 2.5 mile (4km) special stage on the streets of Villa Carlos Paz, followed by two days of competition in the Calamuchita and Punilla Valley regions.

The rally ends on Sunday with a second run on the Villa Carlos Paz stage.
 

Good luck boys!

RALLY Argentina is famed for its demanding gravel stages, spectacular river crossings and fanatical fans. It also has special memories for Guy and Phil.

They have tasted success here before, winning the FIA Junior WRC category in 2006.

Now they have targeted a repeat victory to strengthen their challenge for the 2010 IrC title.
 
Guy told guywilks.com: "I can remember the stages quite well but the conditions might have changed a lot.

"So we’re going to go to an old stage that’s not being used this year to check our pacenotes and see exactly what the situation is.

"In any case, the Škoda Fabia S2000 is an awful lot quicker than the J-WRC car we drove  in 2006. The speeds will be higher, the jumps higher and the watersplashes more hazardous, so in preparing for the event we have to take all of this into consideration.

“We have to try and win Rally Argentina. It’s never easy to win a rally, and that will be the case in Argentina because there will be a lot more high-quality opposition.

"All our main IRC rivals are there and the local star drivers will be fast, but it’s certainly our aim to win.

“We had a two-rally game plan coming to South America, and part of it was to stay here between events to train in the heat.

"It’s a lot of work and a long time away from home, but to return to Britain with a first and a second place finish would be absolutely fantastic.

“We set ourselves very high standard and there is a lot Škoda UK Motorsport wants to achieve this year.

"Second in Brazil was a good result, but we really want to win one of these South American rounds, and doing that in Argentina would be very special.”

Based in the town of Villa Carlos Paz – a popular holiday destination for Argentineans, on the shores of San Roque Lake in the province of Córdoba - Rally Argentina is celebrating its 30th anniversary.

The rally will start on Friday 19 March at 17:00 with a spectacular 2.5 mile (4km) super-special stage on the streets of Villa Carlos Paz.

Leg 1 continues the following day, with six stages in the Calamuchita Valley region. Three stages in the morning are repeated in the afternoon, separated by service in Villa Carlos Paz, with the day’s competition totaling 85.45 miles (137.52kms).

Leg 2 takes place in the Punilla Valley on Sunday (21 March), with four stages in the morning and a repeat of two in the afternoon totaling 63.4 miles (102kms). The day includes the famous Ascochinga-La Cumbre stage which, at 14 miles (22.4kms), is the longest of the event.

There are 15 stages in total, equaling 150 miles (240kms). The rally will finish on Sunday afternoon with a repeat of the super-special stage in Villa Carlos Paz.

THE Škoda UK Motorsport team has now arrived in Villa Carlos Paz, host town for this weekend’s Rally Argentina - round three of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.
The 12-strong rally squad made the symbolic passage from Brazil to Argentina at the spectacular Iguazu Falls, during a team building week between the South American IRCrounds.

The waterfall system consists of 275 falls along 1.6 miles (2.7kms) of the Iguazu River.

Some of the falls are up to 82 metres (269ft) high, including the aptly-named Devil's Throat, which marks the border between Brazil and Argentina.

After viewing the falls from land, the Škoda UK Motorsport team took to the rapids for some adrenalin-filled white water rafting.

However, in a rowing display that would have stunned Sir Steve Redgrave, the entire team spent the majority of the three-mile downstream paddle IN the Iguacu River.

“Man overboard,” shouted Guy Wilks, as he pushed co-driver Phil Pugh and team manager Pierfrancesco Zanchi off the rubber raft in a two-man tackle that would have graced the Twickenham turf.

Soon nobody was on the boat at all —  not even the guide.

Getting back into the boat unaided was virtually impossible, until Guy came up with one word of encouragement – “Piranhas!”

While the team’s Fabia S2000 made the 1,200 mile journey overland from Curitiba to Villa Carlos Paz, Škoda UK Motorsport personnel did the same journey by air, via Rio de Janeiro, Iguacu and Buenos Aires.

“It’s been a great team-building week, and white water rafting was the pinnacle for strengthening team spirit,” said Guy.

“We’ve used the time between events productively. Phil and I have done a lot of fitness training, Škoda UK Motorsport is much stronger as a team because we’ve got to know each other very well and we’ve enjoyed some great sight-seeing tours.

“We’re all very focused on why we’re here though, so it’s not a holiday. We’ve spent more time than normal analysing our performance in Brazil and preparing for Rally Argentina.

“We’re all looking forward to this weekend’s rally. The recce schedule is very tough and the rally will be hard – but after our week together in South America, we are very well prepared.”

GUY and co-driver Phil Pugh finished second on Rally International de Curitiba today to move up to second place in the IRC championship standings.

On his first event in Brazil, Guy drove brilliantly in the Skoda UK Motorsport Fabia S2000 to hold second position throughout the challenging two-day event.

It was a great event for Škoda, with all three Fabia S2000 finishing in the top four.

Juho Hänninen took third, while Jan Kopecký was fourth. The excellent
result sees Škoda increase its lead in the IRC Manufacturers’ standings, while Hänninen
leads the drivers – just three points ahead of Guy.
 
A violent overnight thunderstorm made Leg 2’s stages very wet – so wet that a swollen river
forced the cancellation of two stages.

A deep river crossing was Guy’s only problem of the day.

On his first attempt (SS10) he took it slowly in first gear, but water still got into the
engine, leaving him running on three cylinders for a mile.

When the stage was repeated in the afternoon (SS13) he took the watersplash much faster, only for the force of the water to tear off part of the rear bumper and jet water into the cockpit.

Guy kept the leader in his sights during the second and final day of the Rally International de
Curitiba, driving fast enough to be able to pounce on any misfortune or mistake ahead, whilst
keeping the following drivers behind.

This Guy did expertly, judging his drive to second place with perfection. 
 
Guy said: “I’m really pleased to finish second and score eight points for Škoda UK on our
first visit to Brazil. The team has done a great job and the Fabia S2000 has performed
faultlessly throughout the event.
 
“Congratulations to Kris Meeke, he’s driven a good event. The only difference was that he’s
rallied here before, and we had to get acclimatised to attacking these stages at rally speed
for the first time. 
 
“I’ve really enjoyed Rally Brazil. The overnight rain made the conditions very tricky and the
stages were the fastest I’ve driven since Rally Finland in 2007. It’s been a tough event, but
we’ve been very strong throughout and finished with a great result.”
 
Škoda UK Motorsport will remain in South America for a week of training and team building
before starting to prepare for the next round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, Rally
Argentina, which begins on 19 March in Villa Carlos Paz.
 
Rally International de Curitiba results (top six)
1. Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle (Peugeot 207 S2000)… 1:42:45.4
2. Guy Wilks/Phil Pugh (Škoda Fabia S2000)…+46.7
3. Juho Hänninen/Mikko Markkula (Škoda Fabia S2000)…+1:20.20
4. Jan Kopecký/Petr Starý (Škoda Fabia S2000)…+1:49.3
5. Bruno Magalhăes/Carlos Magalhăes  (Peugeot 207 S2000)…+2:16.2
6. Eduardo Scheer/Geferson  Pavinatto (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX)…+14:00.4
 
IRC points (Drivers’) after Round 2
1. Juho Hänninen…14pts
2. Guy Wilks…11pts
3. Mikko Hirvonen…10pts
4. Kris Meeke…10pts
5. Jan Kopecký…9pts
6. Nicolas Vouilloz…6pts
 
 
IRC points (Manufacturers’) after Round 2
1. Škoda…28pts
2. Peugeot…21pts
3. M-Sport…10pts
 

GUY set an incredible pace on the opening day of the Rally International de Curitiba to hold second place overnight.

Having only seen the stages at the regulation 60kph recce speed, Guy’s first attempt at SS3 at rally speed saw him record a 134kph average.

Such was the Škoda UK Motorsport increased pace that he was 28.3 seconds faster on his third run over the 11.8 mile (19 km) Campo Magro stage, than he had been the first time in his Fabia S2000.

Co-driven by Phil Pugh, his reward was to complete Leg 1 in second position, just 32.7 seconds behind last year’s event winner Kris Meeke.

Overnight rain had made the gravel stages west of Curitiba were extremely slippery, yet Guy drove faultlessly reach the final service at the Autódromo Internacional de Curitiba having set four second and three third fastest stage times.

The only minor problem came on SS3, when the spare intercom cable came loose after a heavy landing, and Guy had to almost stop to put it back and prevent it distracting him furthe

The forecast of an 80% chance of rain for the afternoon loop was inaccurate, and Guy lost a little time on the softer tyre option, especially on the seventh and final test when tyre wear saw the Fabia S2000 move around a little too much.

It had nevertheless been a fantastic day, as Guy maintained second place throughout.

Three Škoda Fabia S2000 drivers filled the top four places, with Jan Kopecký a further 27.4 seconds behind Guy and Juho Hänninen recovering to fourth after losing time with a puncture on SS1.

Guy said: “I’m quite pleased with the way the day has done, especially as it’s my first time rallying in Brazil. The opening stage was very greasy and Kris Meeke got a little bit of a jump on us, but we haven’t had a moment and still been very much on the pace.

“It’s the fastest rally I’ve done since Rally Finland in 2007, and that took a little getting used to again as we did the recce at 60kph and on some stages were are averaging over 130kph.

“We had to stop on SS3 when the spare intercom cable came loose and it bounced right in my face like Zebedee [from the Magic Roundabout].

"Phil tried to tie it back up whilst reading the notes, but let go when he had to turn the page! We virtually came to a stop on a slow corner so we could hook it back up, so I reckon that cost us almost five seconds.

“We were expecting rain in the afternoon, but we actually had dust in the car. We’d taken the softer tyre option and the car was moving too much, but it wasn’t a major problem.

“I’m happy that we’ve been able to increase our speed throughout the day, maintain a strong second position without a single moment and finish our first day’s rallying in Brazil in a challenging position. It’s all to play for.”

Saturday's final contains five gravel stages (two of which are repeated) to the north east of Curitiba, beginning with the 17.4 mile (28 kms) Baocaiuva test, which is the longest stage of the rally.

The stages are generally a little narrower with varying surface, but still fast and similar in character to Rally Finland.

The climax to the event is the spectacular 2 mile (3.38 km) Super Prime Pinhais stage, which takes place on a purpose-built arena near Curitiba.

End of Leg 1 (top six after SS7)
1. Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle (Peugeot 207 S2000)… 49:17.2
2. Guy Wilks/Phil Pugh (Škoda Fabia S2000)…+32.7
3. Jan Kopecký/Petr Starý (Škoda Fabia S2000)…+1:00.1
4. Juho Hänninen/Mikko Markkula (Škoda Fabia S2000)…+1:42.7
5. Daniel Rolim Oliveira/Denis Giraudet (Peugeot 207 S2000)…+3:37.3
6. Eduardo Peredo/Claudio Bustos (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX)…+7:19.5