Sixty-nine crews have entered Rally Argentina next week, the highest number to do so on a round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge so far this season.

Based in the town of Carlos Paz, the gravel rally joins the IRC for the first time in 2010 and is set to provide a strong test for the competitors due to the demanding nature of the stages.

Aside from the regular IRC contenders, such as Juho Hanninen, Jan Kopecky, Bruno Magalhaes, Kris Meeke and Guy Wilks, Argentine Federico Villagra will make his series debut in a Ford Fiesta S2000, while Nasser Al-Attiyah will compete in the IRC for the first time a Skoda Fabia S2000 run by the Rene Georges Rally Sport team from Belgium.

Several local drivers will provide stiff opposition to the IRC regulars, including Marcos Ligato and Gabriel Pozzo, who both hail from Argentina.

The event, which covers a total competitive distance of 240.02 kilometres, gets underway with a superspecial stage through the streets of Carlos Paz on the evening of Friday 19 March.

The full provisional entry list can be found at:

http://www.ircseries.com/html/uploadedFiles/PDF/201037191625.3.EntryList.pdf  

Skoda unveils Fabia facelift 

Skoda used the recent Geneva Motor Show to unveil images of its Fabia Super 2000 following a recent facelift.

The Czech firm, which heads the IRC manufacturers' standings following Rally Internacional de Curitiba in Brazil earlier this month, is planning to give the car its competition debut on a European round of the IRC in the middle part of this season.

Despite talk of wholesale changes, a spokesperson for Skoda Motorsport said the only major difference between the revamped Fabia and its predecessor was an increase in width to 1820mm, which has necessitated a small tweak to the design of the front bumper.
 
San Martin clinches Subaru Individual Award 

Juan San Martin's run to 10th overall on Rally Internacional de Curitiba last week has earned the Uruguayan driver the second Subaru Individual Award of the 2010 season.

San Martin was the eighth four-wheel drive finisher home on the Brazilian gravel event at the wheel of his Subaru Impreza WRX.

"I am very pleased to have finished the rally in such a good position because it was not an easy rally due to the rain making some of the stages quite difficult," said San Martin, who was co-driven by Martin Villete in Curitiba.

San Martin joins Swiss Olivier Burri as a Subaru Individual Award recipient. Burri secured the accolade for his performance on Rally Automobile Monte-Carlo in January.

The Subaru Individual Award will be presented on each of the 12 IRC rounds this year to the highest-placed Subaru finisher and demonstrates the support that Subaru will extend to its customer drivers in the IRC in 2010.

Nagle earns freedom of Killarney 

Intercontinental Rally Challenge champion co-driver Paul Nagle has been honoured by the Irish town where he lives for his achievements during the 2009 season.

Nagle partnered Kris Meeke to four IRC victories last year on their way to winning the title in their Peugeot UK-backed 207 Super 2000.

He has been handed the freedom of Killarney by the town's council leaders and a hand-crafted pen made from a special wood.

"It's a big honour to get this award because very few sporting people receive it," said Nagle, who co-drove Meeke to victory on Rally Internacional de Curitiba last week. "It was great to be recognised and good that my family and friends were there to see me receive the award."     

New IRC video download service 

The Intercontinental Rally Challenge has launched a new online platform to distribute video highlights and news features to dedicated sport and motorsport websites.

Provided by Dystribute.tv, the new application is accessible from the Media section of the IRC website ("Video downloads") and allows authorised website partners to download video content of each IRC round in high resolution. Any website interested in this new service should simply register online.