The car chosen for safety duties on the rally, which included traversing Argentina's arduous tracks, by the local police force was the Idea Adventure; and it was prepared especially for police use, including fitting blue flashing lights and powerful spotlights on the roof. The Fiat Idea Adventures were involved at the rally start in Paseo del Buen Pastor, in Córdoba, as well as along key points of the route.

The pumped-up Fiat Idea Adventure has just played a key role on the Rally Argentina, the fourth round of the 2008 FIA World Rally Championship. On 27 to 30 March Fiat Auto Argentina and the police force in the province of Córdoba teamed up to provide safety and security as well as assistance for the more than one million rally fans who turned up for the international event.

The model chosen for these demanding safety and security duties, traversing Argentina's arduous rally tracks, by the local police force was the Idea Adventure; and it was prepared especially for police use, including fitting blue flashing lights and powerful spotlights on the roof. And as part of the official division for rally security they were present on all the stages of the rally: Valle de Punilla, Valle de Calamuchita, Valle de las Sierras Chicas and Valle de Translasierra.

The Idea Adventures were involved at the rally start in Paseo del Buen Pastor, in Córdoba, as well as along key points of the route. Besides the terrestrial safety aspect the police also had aerial support in the form of helicopters, which linked up to the fleet of Idea Adventures. Fiat Auto Argentina also made available a further ten vehicles which were used to transport the rally authorities and to assist in the supervision of the race.

Rally Argentina 2008

Frenchman Sébastien Loeb won this year’s Rally Argentina, round four of the FIA World Rally Championship and set a new record by obtaining his fourth consecutive victory in one of the most traditional rallies of the calendar. He now leads the drivers’ title by five points now over Mikko Hirvonen.

The roads in the land of the Gauchos, presented difficulties for the drivers and their machines, just like previous editions. Rain, fog and mud characterized the event and even that could not stop the fans from going to the stages.

The rally started in spectacular fashion on Friday (28/03) when Mikko Hirvonen led on the first stage with his Ford Focus RS, despite the big amount of fog. He took 48.1 seconds out of his BP Ford Abu Dhabi team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala. The Finn was looking good for the victory but things changed abruptly during SS5 when he hit a rock and damaged his suspension. He had to retire, although he managed to pick up some points by finishing fifth in the overall standings. Loeb took the lead after that and never lost it. Latvala, drastically dropped down the order when he rolled on SS2, La Cumbre-Agua de Oro, but he was able to return to competition the next day. However, he struggled with the ignition system on day two and was left out of the chance to win some points.

Petter Solberg and Chris Atkinson proved both Subarus still have a great potential and kept up with high level during the whole weekend. Solberg clinched five stage victories and was second overall going into day three until he hit problems with the ignition system in the classic stage Mina Clavero – Giulio Cesare, losing the chance of catching good points for Subaru in the manufacturers’ standings. With Solberg out of the rally, Atkinson inherited second place, and is now third in the drivers’ championship.

Citroen Total WRT Spanish driver completed a faultless drive and scored his first podium of the season after retiring in Monte Carlo and Mexico. Another big surprise was young driver Conrad Rautembach, with a Citroen C4, who had an outstanding performance finishing 4th, his best WRC result so far. Argentine driver Federico Villagra from Munchi´s Ford Rally Team did not disappoint the large crowds cheering along the stages by finishing sixth overall. Not everything was good for the team, though, as Luis Pérez Companc had to retire from the rally on the first day and was not able to restart. Gigi Galli had the best performance of Stobart Ford boys, finishing seventh overall, while Henning Solberg and Mathew Wilson had to retire. On the other hand, both Suzuki SX4s struggle with the road conditions in their first rally in Argentina. Per–Gunnar Andersson finished 24th, while Toni Gardemeister had to retire on the last day.

2008 Rally Argentina, Results: 1. Sébastien LOEB 4:05:48.6 2. Chris ATKINSON +2:33.2 3. Daniel SORDO +4:04.7 4. Conrad RAUTENBACH +20:03.5 5. Mikko HIRVONEN +25:15.3 6. Federico VILLAGRA +27:42.0 7. Gigi GALLI +27:51.8 8. Andreas AIGNER +28:59.3

FIA Driver's Championship (points after 4 rounds): 1st Loeb, 30 pts. 2nd Hirvonen, 25 pts. 3rd Atkinson, 22 pts. 4th Latvala, 16 pts. 5th Galli, 11 pts, 6th P. Solberg, D. Sordo, 9 pts, 8th Duval, 5 pts. Next round: Rally Joran, April 24-27