Dani Sordo and co-driver Marc Martí were unable to recover from their huge 11-minute deficit on Friday after breaking a steering arm on SS3 (Amboy/Anta Monica) in Rally Argentina. Starting first on the road on Saturday and the opening stages of Sunday meant the Spanish crew could only focus on bringing the car home.
After opening their podium account in Corsica, Sordo and Martí were hoping for better fortunes in the next round. Unfortunately, their chances of a repeat visit to the top-three were hampered already in SS3 when they picked up damage. They had to stop mid-stage to fix a broken steering arm, which lost them over 11 minutes of time, and dropped them down the classification.
“It was really bad luck!”, Dani Sordo said. “There were lots of loose rocks and I knew it would be hard on the cars. We reached a fast right-hand corner in the second Friday morning stage and touched something on the inside. The result was a broken steering arm, which we had to stop and fix. We just lost so much time. It’s hugely disappointing because I really enjoy this rally and the car felt quick.”
After their Friday woes, the Spanish crew set about trying to enjoy the remaining stages of the rally. Starting first on the road meant that they the Spaniards were at a disadvantage but they persevered. With other crews struggling on Saturday, they moved up to ninth overall.
“Being first on the road made it almost impossible to set good times, but these are the rules”, Dani pointed out. “We’ve had very little luck, but I am sure it will be better next time. We simply wanted to go out there and enjoy ourselves. We have benefited from other crews’ misfortune to make up some positions.”
Dani Sordo: “I just want to put this behind us and look ahead to Portugal”
The approach for the last day was the same: trying to bring the car home safely and then look forward to Portugal. Unfortunately a puncture on the Power Stage only compounded Sordo’s frustrations.
“It has been a horrible weekend for us”, was the final assessment. “The rally was over almost as soon as it had begun, really. When you lose so much time early on in the event, as we did, it is impossible to regain that. We just had to concentrate on bringing the car to the end but even that was difficult. The puncture on El Condor came at the beginning of the stage, and it typified our luck this weekend. Incredibly unfortunate and it’s a shame because I feel that we had the car to do better. I just want to put this behind us and look ahead to Portugal.”
Mala suerte en el #RallyArgentina. Buen ritmo hoy en el Power Stage, pero hemos pinchado al inicio. Cuatro puntos y pensando ya en Portugal. pic.twitter.com/FmLPF9sVBj
— Dani Sordo (@DaniSordo) 30 April 2017
