When I sat down at the laptop prior to the start of the final day of Rally Argentina, there were several things that occupied my thoughts. Each blog that I write has, to a greater or lesser degree, some theme or idea that appeals to me as a summary of that round. In the case of Rally Argentina, that simply doesn't apply.
It was a shambles, replete with driver errors, team errors, spectator errors, organizer errors and terrible roads, leaving me wondering how to make sense of it all. Despite several attempts at writing a coherent review over the following days and weeks, sadly the only impression I had left of that round is that it was a waste of WRC Championship space.
My personal wish is that the round be replaced by Rally New Zealand, a feeling exacerbated by the recent announcement that Australia will continue to host a WRC fixture in 2016, effectively shutting out any chance of the New Zealand round re-entering the championship in the foreseeable future.
My beef isn't with Australia - their event seems to be well attended, well promoted and professionally executed. It's just that New Zealand does it better and the drivers are unanimous about the superb roads and organisation. In a perfect world, NZ would follow the Aussie event by a couple of weeks to both maximise the interest in the WRC down under, and to minimise the cost of competing for the teams in this very-long-haul region.
Well, a man can dream...
To return to the Argentinian round - there were a few rays of sunlight shining through, the brightest being the maiden win of Citroen's Kris Meeke. Although the Northern Irishman made a few errors of his own, he managed to keep his focus until event's end and his top podium spot was impossible to begrudge. His self-belief has taken a huge leap forward.
It's been a while in the making, but it's a just reward for a bloke who has been setting very fast times in what seems to be, at least up to the point this is written, an off-the-pace DS3 WRC. With the evo car about to debut in Portugal, one cannot but suspect that the likely improvements will allow Meeke to be competitive without having to resort to the eleven tenths over-driving that resulted in costly errors in the past.
Ostberg's second place finish was also noteworthy, given his day one mechanical issues, and in spite of a couple of potentially disastrous errors, he improved his consistency, speed and focus as the event progressed. He too was a worthy podium placegetter. Not quite on winning pace, he showed that he was a threat in the conditions. An excellent drive that put a big grin on the face of the usually recalcitrant team boss, Yves Matton.
And while perhaps not quite as bright as the light illuminating the winner and runner-up, M-Sport's young prodigy, Elfyn Evans, took advantage of the pecadilloes of his competitors and drove a clever rally, keeping his nose clean and applying pressure when he felt confident, and bagging his first podium at this top level.
One shouldn't underestimate the confidence-building effect that this result will have on his progress. He's struggled to break out from his battles with fellow young guns Ott Tanak and Hayden Paddon, all three whom have traded times in every stage they completed without incident this season, but the bronze podium position will certainly give the Welshman a boost going forward.
Argentina was in most respects a round to forget. With the exception of those highlights above, I didn't consider staying up through the night watching and listening over the competition weekend a particularly rewarding use of my time. Thankfully, with the start of Rally Portugal just hours away, my enthusiasm for the sport has returned.
I wish all the competitors good fortune and I predict Neuville will win this one.
We'll see...
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