Munchi's Ford World Rally Team star Federico Villagra's hectic schedule of rallies will continue in his native Argentina this week.
The multiple national champion, fresh from scoring his best result so far in this season’s world championship with seventh on the Jordan Rally last week, will contest Rally de Villa Delores in the Cordoba region. He will drive a Super 2000-based Ford Fiesta in the Argentine championship’s new Maxi Rally class.
“We finished with good points for the [world] championship [in Jordan] so I am happy,” said the Ford Fiesta RS WRC driver following his outing on the Jordan Rally. “I’ve gradually been improving my results in the championship so far and I hope that I can do even better in Sardinia next month but first I must concentrate on my next rally at home [this] weekend.”
Despite his strong result in Jordan, Villagra reported to initially being far from happy with the set-up of his car on the first day of competition: “I felt like I couldn’t control the rear of the car and it was very slippery over the crests,” he said.
However, changes at midday service allowed Villagra to up his pace as the rally progressed and he was able to complete day one of the Middle East event in ninth overall.
With Team Abu Dhabi driver Khalid Al Qassimi just 4.5 seconds ahead at the start of day two, Villagra set his sights firmly on climbing up the leaderboard, a feat he duly achieved. But Villagra’s rally didn’t go entirely to plan when an impact on stage 14 triggered an oil pressure problem, which required the fitting of a replacement engine sump at Saturday’s midday service.
Thankfully there was no lasting damage and Villagra was able to reach the finish at the Dead Sea resort with a comfortable margin over Al Qassimi.
Jorge Perez Companc returned to co-drive Villagra in Jordan after missing the last round in Portugal due to work commitments.
Credit: World Rally Championship (www.wrc.com)
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