The Misiones Rally came to an end last Sunday, and Gastón Pasten (Skoda) took the victory on the fourth round of the season for Rally Argentino Pirelli. With this result, the San Juan native of the KS Rally Competition achieves his second victory of the year, after General Madariaga. The podium was completed by Federico Villagra (Citroën) and Nicolás Díaz, who thanks to his third place became champion of the Scorpion Pirelli Cup.
RC2 – A decisive afternoon loop saw Pasten show off a consistent and exceptional pace, this time, already with lines available to maximize the conditions of the roads he opened this afternoon. The man from San Juan won PE10, Stage 2 and set the second best time of the Power Stage. Thus, the KS Rally Competition driver extended his lead to 24.4 seconds, to achieve his second victory of the season, after the Pagos del Tuyú Rally, and his first victory, with Miguel Recalt in Rally Argentino.
But the celebration was not exclusive to Martín Villalba’s team, but also to Alejandro Cancio’s structure, PS Sport, since the championship leaders, Nicolás Díaz / Luis Allende (Skoda), finished third and not only remained in the top of the competition, but also won the Scorpion Pirelli Cup title.
The trophy that awards the best pairing in each category after the first four dates thus crowned Díaz / Allende, who won the Power Stage, before complementing this result with second place in Stage 2 and third place in the final general classification. Thus, the PS Sport duo was able to maintain a crucial eight-point lead to beat Federico Villagra (Citroën) to the trophy.
The solid and effective performance that the multiple champion maintained with Virginia Klus until noon was slightly tarnished this afternoon, as a result of a possible steering problem, which caused them to lose just over 20 seconds. Although this decline did not prevent the Tango Rally Team duo from finishing in a brilliant second place overall, it did limit their potential to fight for the victory and the trophy title.
Without changes, Alejandro Menéndez / Gonzalo Díaz (Skoda) secured fourth place, repeating their best result in the category, previously achieved in General Madariaga. While the ST Competition duo also placed in the top 5 of Stage 2, the fifth place overall in Misiones presented last minute changes, due to the abandonment of Luis Arceluz / Ezequiel Queralt (Citroën).
The GP Motorsport duo maintained a positive fifth place until midday, but had to retire with assistance problems, so the last step of the top 5 was finally in the hands of Esteban Domínguez / Fernando Mussano (Citroën).
In parallel, the Baratec duo celebrated their first victory in the RC2 Cup, a category that provisionally consecrates Federico Cadamuro / Juan Pablo Carrera (Skoda) as champions of the Scorpion Pirelli Cup. Although the PS Sport man from Cordoba had to retire this Saturday, the results of Diego Miceli / Sergio Daparte (Citroën) were not enough for the Tango Rally Team duo to deny Cadamuro’s celebration.
The second half of the overall top 10 in RC2 was led by the Uruguayans, Rodrigo Zeballos / Sebastián González (Citroën), who despite a puncture, took advantage of the loss of their teammates, Arceluz / Queralt, to advance to sixth place. Behind the pair from the neighboring country arrived Antonio Prevedello (Skoda), Miceli and Juan Galduroz (Skoda), who won the Power Stage and Stage 2 in the RC2 Cup.
With the fourth date of the season in Misiones concluded, the 2024 calendar of the Pirelli Argentine Rally will enter its winter break, before resuming its activities with the fifth date, which will take place from August 2 to 4, at a venue soon to be communicated to brevity.
RC-MR – Sunday afternoon with double celebration for the championship leaders, Nicolás and Juan De la Vega (Citroën), who achieved their second consecutive victory of the season, this time by 5m13s6 ahead. Furthermore, with the second place that the Riojans obtained in the Power Stage and Stage 2, the KS Rally Competition duo provisionally secured the title of champion in the Scorpion Pirelli Cup.
Nadia Cutro / Luciano Bombaci (Toyota) finished as runners-up, to reach their second podium of the season. Behind the CEO Rally Team duo, Claudio Menzi / Jean Maggi (Renault) concluded, who in addition to completing the top 3, also took the victory of the Power Stage and Stage 2, to seal a great result for the GP Motorsport duo .
The Maxi Rally category saw the final top 5 completed with the Riojan, César Folledo (Volkswagen), followed later by Carlos Bello (Volkswagen).
RC4 – For the fourth consecutive time, Pablo Peláez / Nicolás Capurro (Peugeot) took another resounding victory, which not only reaffirms the advantage of the duo at the top of the championship, but also ratifies the work that led them to consecrate themselves with the early title of the Scorpion Pirelli Cup from the third date of Villa Dolores. This time, the man from Santiago won in Misiones by a margin of 19m03s7 of advantage.
Despite having suffered mechanical problems and punctures for much of the weekend, Carlos Cataldo / Emanuel Fernández (Peugeot) managed to reach the finish line, to take second place overall. Subsequently, the podium was completed by the Uruguayans, Nahuel Barba / Santiago Cabrera (Peugeot), who rejoined this Sunday to place their 208 Rally4 on the last step of the podium.
RC3 – Surprise and definition in the Junior category, where Ricardo Daparte / Emanuel Rozados (Volkswagen) had to retire during SS11, which opened the doors for Germán Galfrascoli / Nicolás Sloog (Volkswagen) to take an unexpected victory. The Cordoban from Villa María thus managed to recover from slight physical ailments to return to victory for the first time since Reconquista 2023, a result that he complemented with second place in the Power Stage and Stage 2.
The podium was completed by Mario Rasso (Peugeot) and Martín Bonnin (Volkswagen), followed later by Fernando Daparte (Ford), who complemented his fourth place with victory in the Power Stage and Stage 2.
Despite not being able to complete the rally, Nicolás González / Gerónimo Bordignon provisionally secured the Scorpion Pirelli Cup title, as their only rivals for the crown, Juan Bernasconi / Ignacio Uez (Ford) also defected. Another casualty in the category came from the local, Maximiliano Isanbizaga (Ford), who could not reach the end of the stage.
RC5 – Another pairing that celebrated multiple joys was that of Guillermo Ambrosio / Franco Amaya (Ford). The pair achieved their second consecutive victory, to become the new leaders of the championship, a success that they complemented with the title that consecrates them as champions of the Scorpion Pirelli Cup, given that neither Pablo Alessandrini (Ford), nor Gastón Pedrido (Ford) They were able to complete the rally.
Ambrosio won in Misiones by 3m53s3 ahead of Ramón Garro (Ford), while Sergio Zarza (Ford) completed the podium of a category, whose Sunday was dominated by Gabriel Abarca (Ford), winner of the Power Stage and Stage 2.
The locals, David Trump (Ford) and Lisandro Vidal Rodríguez (Ford) completed the top 5, while their countryman, Luis Da Luz (Ford) had to retire due to a broken kneecap, as did the Catamarca native, Tomás Aibar (Ford). ), who deserted due to mechanical problems. Gerardo Ontivero (Peugeot) also failed to reach the finish line.
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