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Argentina countdown: 2017 Rewind

We start our build-up to this year's YPF rally argentina (26-29 april) by casting our minds back to 2017 when a thrilling final-day battle between Elfyn Evans and Thierry Neuville on the gravel stages produced one of the closest winning margins in WRC history - just 0.7sec. here's what happened...

Thursday 27 April: Ogier claims early lead

Sébastien Ogier stole an early march on the rest of the field as he claimed victory on the Cordoba special stage by almost a second over fellow Fiesta driver Evans.

Less than three seconds covered the rest of the top 10 as Dani Sordo took third in the same time as Evans.

Friday 28 April: Evans wins six consecutive stages

The Welshman dominated the first full day as he took six consecutive stage wins to lead by 55.7sec.

Starting lower down the running order, Evans took advantage of clearer lines on the gravel tests to easily surpass Ogier's slender overnight margin and set about building a dominant lead.

Mads Østberg also took advantage to grab second from Jari-Matti Latvala who lost time late in the day with an overheating engine and a puncture.

Third went to Neuville who overcame the distraction of dust blowing into his Hyundai's cockpit. He finished 5sec behind Østberg.

Evans' careless collision with a bridge cost him the rally

Saturday 29 April: Evans holds on despite mechanical issues

Despite winning the opening test, Evans' lead reduced when he suffered a slow puncture and it was cut further when a pace note mix up sent him crashing into an earth bank later in the morning.

Despite ripping off his car's rear diffuser after a heavy landing, Neuville closed on Evans and turned up the pressure by winning the last two stages of the day.

Also claiming a pair of stage wins was M-Sport World Rally Team driver Ott Tänak who moved up to third at the expense of Ogier.

Sunday 30 April: Neuville capitalises on Evans mistake

Having applied heavy pressure, Neuville capitalised on an Evans mistake in the famous El Condor stage to claim victory by 0.7sec.

Evans went into the final stage with an 11.5sec lead but brake issues and a careless collision with a bridge near the end tilted the rally in Neuville's favour.

Third went to Tänak as he stayed out of trouble on the rock-strewn El Condor that presented a number of other drivers with problems.

Zdroj: wrc.com