The sixth round of the 2007 World Rally Championship, which has taken teams to Argentina, kicked off this morning with the shakedown test session, organised for once on the Wednesday of rally week. This was dictated by logistical necessities following the decision to stage Thursday evening's super-special in the River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires.

Citroën C4 WRC crews Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena and Dani Sordo/Marc Martí completed several runs of the 4.5km sample test located approximately 15km north-west of the service park which is based in Villa Carlos Paz. "Today's shakedown was reasonably representative of what we can expect to find this weekend," commented Sébastien after his first two runs. "It's nice to be back competing here in Argentina after a few weeks' break. I like coming here and the event itself is one of the most varied of the championship. You really feel you're in another country and the locals are both very welcoming and big motor sport fans. Our previous outings with the C4 indicate that we should be competitive, but it promises to be a close fight for victory." Meanwhile, Dani Sordo, who turned 24 today, was also pleased with the way his morning went. "Everything went well. The test stage included a water-splash which we took cautiously because we have yet to see how the C4 copes with these river-crossings. During recce, I found the fords were deeper in fact than in previous years and also that the stages were rougher. It's still a great event though, and very varied." While Dani was cutting his birthday cake, Marc Martí was looking forward to celebrating his 100th WRC start.

The sixth round of the season starts at 18.35 local time tomorrow evening (Thursday) with a gravel super-special at the River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires. The first leg then continues on Friday morning from 10.45.