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Rally Argentina
Production Car World Rally Championship Rd.3
8 to 11 May 2003 |
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Production Car World Rally Championship (PCWRC) Rd. 3, Information
Toshihiro Arai and Impreza makes consecutive win from New Zealand!
--- A Tribute to Possum Bourne --- 
Leg3Event News
11 May 2003 The final day of Rally Argentina, Leg3 was held on Sunday, May 12. Due to the cancellation of stages the day before, the cars started the Parc Ferme in Carlos Paz 2 hours earlier than the original schedule. Toshihiro Arai cleared total of 5 stages soundly and returned to final service reigning on top of PCWRC, with more than 2 minutes gap to the 2nd place. This is Arai’s second win, consecutive to New Zealand and he was boosted to the top of Championship points ranking at the same time. In the four day event, Arai had absolutely no problem, no mistake and no penalty which led him to a perfect win since he took the top position in SS5 of Leg1. He was also 9th in the overall ranking, and he strongly impressed the strength of Impreza. 
According to the revised schedule, the first Special Stage this day was SS21, which is a re-run of SS20. The course is rough, but Arai cleared this on top. The second SS22 is where he damaged the suspension last year when he made mistake on landing, so Arai took extra care and finished 3rd fastest to follow Niall McShea and Daniel.Returned to the Service Park, Arai said “I am bit unhappy about the suspension, but I think we will be alright if we return it to yesterday. One time at landing after the jump, I felt a shock on front, so I was scared I burst my tyres. 2 minute lead could be gone so easily in one burst. Burst tyres are what I am most scared of now. McShea and Sola is after me flat out. I can’t be safe yet.” SS23 was a short stage, butSS24 with approximately 22km and the final SS25 with approximately 29km was the two long stages. With these three stages, McShea finally gave out after his long pursuit Arai was now way ahead of others. Arai, making his second victory after New Zealand has gained another 10 points for his Championship title. He is now ranked top with total of 20. To follow him, Karamjit Singh (Proton)who finished 3rd this week has 17 points ranked 2nd in the series. 
Quote from Toshihiro Arai after podium ceremony:"I'm very happy to win consecutively. Because this rally was on a very rough road, I insisted that I don't damage the car. I was able to hold back where it was dangerous, and speed when I can, so I think I controlled the car well. Next we have Cyprus, and I am confident because it's not so high-speed like here. This week, I had Possum’s sticker in my pocket. I want to dedicate this win to Possum in heaven." Arai continued to comment on Possum. "I couldn't believe in the fact that Possum is not here anymore. But when I arrived and saw the newspaper clippings from New Zealand, and I finally realized it. I saw the picture of the funeral with many people. Possum was looking forward to Argentina, so I thought I had to win for him. I am sure he was watching me." | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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