Reigning British national champion Elfyn Evans in his D-MACK backed Ford Fiesta still leads Rally Argentina at the end of day two, though his lead was dramatically reduced following a spate of issues.
After enjoying a comfortable lead of more than a minute earlier in the day, a combination of two punctures and then handling problems due to an issue with the rear of the Fiesta had seen his lead over Hyundai's Thierry Neuville cut to just 11.5s at the overnight halt.
The ‘issue’ turned out to be the loss of the M-Sport built Fiesta’s diffuser which led to Evans losing 15 seconds to both Neuville and Ott Tänak, who shared the fastest time on the second run over the long Los Gigantes stage.
Evans’ struggles escalated on the second run through Boca del Arroyo, the final stage of the day. Even though his first split time was good, the Welshman then dropped more time after a spin. Despite trying hard, Evans was at a loss as to what the car’s issues were as he lost a further 18.9s to the stage winner and now second-placed Hyundai i20 WRC driver Neuville.
Tänak was unable to match Neuville's pace on the last stage and will start Sunday’s last three stages 15.3s behind Neuville and 26.8s behind Evans.
The shock of the afternoon was the subdued performance of reigning champion Sébastien Ogier, who did not challenge for the lead at all and now sits in a lonely fourth place, nearly 50s off the lead, although he is 35s ahead of fifth placed Jari-Matti Latvala in the Toyota Yaris WRC.
Losers on day two included Mads Østberg, who had been in third place at the midday service, but after first losing time on the Tanti stage, he then hit a rock, breaking his suspension. He currently lies in 11th place, some 31s off a points place.
Last year’s winner Hayden Paddon ended the day in an isolated sixth, a full three minutes behind Latvala but more than five minutes ahead of Latvala’s Toyota team-mate Juho Hänninen.
Finally, Kris Meeke’s luck deserted him once more as he rolled for a second time in as many days on Los Gigantes, despite having set two fastest times earlier in the day.
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