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Over a coffee or beer in cafes across the world, motor sport fans have long debated what makes a classic rally. Factors like a long and illustrious history, the unique character of its stages and the number of spectators it draws all have a bearing, but which of the current 16 WRC rounds are bona fide classics? With spectacular scenery, a rich, long history and hoards of fervent fans, April's Rally Argentina certainly seems to have all the right credentials:
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The World Rally Championship's only visit to the South American continent is always a feast for the senses. Each year without fail thousands of Argentines travel to the region around Cordoba to watch the rally. Imagine the event to be more of a festival than a sporting event as the fans set up base camps for the week of the rally.
Last year 40,000 people crammed in to the Pro-racing complex in Carlos Paz to watch the Superspecial while local police estimated that more than 1,100,000 followed the action from along the rally route. The figures were even larger in 2004, when warmer temperatures proved more attractive than the snow, rain and wind that characterised the 2005 event.
"There are always so many spectators, the whole rally is like a party," said Subaru World Rally Team sporting director Luis Moya. "They go along the rally's route, particularly the El Condor stage, stay there overnight, camp out and have barbecues. The people are so friendly, even if you go on your own they will invite you to eat with them. They are a very open group and I have made many friends in Argentina."
The rally's popularity is due in part to the region's lack of major international sporting events. From 1988, Argentina was the only World Championship rally in the Americas. It was not until Rally Mexico joined the championship in 2004 that North, Central and South Americans had two bites at the cherry. Cordoba is the second largest city in Argentina in terms of population, but sitting 700km and at least 10 hours drive from the capital Buenos Aires, it is remote. Moya adds, "When I first competed in Rally Argentina in 1989 the rally started in Buenos Aires. Crews did a concentration run to Cordoba from Buenos Aires - it was over 700km and took all night to drive.
When we arrived at the final time control we had a long break by modern rally standards - we went to a hotel, slept for two hours and then started the first stage. It was pretty tough."
The rally was first held in 1979 in the province of Tucuman, in the northwest of the country near the Chilean border. Since the first event, the route has undergone several mutations in its long and varied history. After the first year in Tucuman, the rally then moved south to the ski resort of Bariloche in northern Patagonia, before settling in Cordoba in 1984. 57 different stages have been used in total on the 26 Rally Argentinas, with the service park in Villa Carlos Paz, a pretty village set on the side of a lake around 35km from Cordoba.
This year there's yet another change to the route. The service park moves back to Cordoba, just opposite the football stadium built in 1978 for the World Cup. At the end of Thursday and Sunday, crews went into the stadium for two runs through a Superspecial. With a capacity for more than 45,000 people, Moya believed the stage would be a hit. "I think they will fill the stadium, and then I think people will be waiting outdoors too." As he estimated, in fact, the stadium was full with numerous number of spectators.
Cordoba has an illustrious motorsport tradition that hails back to the town-to-town races of the 1940s in which five-times Formula One World Champion Juan Manuel Fangio earned his racing stripes. Hosting the rally in the city has some major advantages - it's close to the edge of the Pampas and the Sierras Chicas hills, lending the rally breath-taking scenery.
High-speed stages, fluctuating conditions and loose gravel stages high in the mountains combine with narrow, twisty sections, flat-out sprints and numerous surface changes as the rally roars through the valleys.
Moya rates the famed El Condor pass on Leg three as one of the best in the championship: "It's a fantastic road, with amazing scenery and a reputation as one of the greatest stages in the world. Like the Col De Turini, it's a classic for drivers and spectators alike. The thing that stays in my mind is the huge number of spectators, from the first to the last corner there are hundreds standing on the massive rocks - they're like natural grandstands in the rock face. The stage crosses seven or eight old metal bridges, which are very beautiful."
Chief engineer for test and development, Pierre Genon, also reckons the combination of stages are among the best in the world, but also toughest, of the championship. "The stages are very varied and each Leg has a different character. This year Leg one is quite slow and twisty, with stages running up or along the side of a mountain. The first day is dominated by various dangers and things to treat with extreme caution. The roads have sand on the surface, there are lots of watersplashes and it will get very tough through the repeat of the stages." He commented before rally start.
Watersplashes: Argentina has 17 of them. In addition to the splashes, there are a further 10 fords to contend with. Some are shallow and can be taken very fast, but others are full-on river crossings that must be approached carefully - Leg one's SS9 has three of them in the first five kilometres. "There are around 25 relatively straightforward ones in the first day, but there are some deeper ones which can give problems," Genon explains. "The main issue with this is that the grill on the front of the car can come loose if the car impacts the bottom of the watersplash. If it comes loose, that's when sand can get into the engine - in fact, one of the biggest hazards in Argentina is the potential for the radiator to get blocked. We'll run with a modified mesh on the front spoiler that will help reduce the intake of sand into the radiator. We may also raise the car to ride higher over the ruts."
With several safe spectator viewing points close to the watersplashes, thousands of fans are almost within showering distance of the cars. Barbecue on the go, campsite ready and waiting. The sure sign of a classic: spectacularly photogenic, challenging stages, with fans ready to appreciate every single last detail.
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