Can Latvala keep Ogier on the ropes?

It wasn't a disaster. It wasn't a disaster. Keep telling yourself that, Sebastien Ogier. Because Rally Argentina was a disaster. You know it, I know it and Jari-Matti Latvala knows it.

Ogier went through the motions, paid lip service to his Volkswagen team-mate Latvala's big, big win, but, deep down, last week hurt the World Rally champion.

It had to. It's how he's made.

More than any other driver in recent history, Ogier is uncompromising in his desire to win. He's that rarest of beast, the one that struggles to accept he can be beaten. He's Ayrton Senna, Mike Tyson, Curtly Ambrose with line and length. He's 15 All Blacks in one. Defeat is not an option, winning an obsession.

Not winning in Sweden earlier this year was just about acceptable; he made a mistake, Latvala's success could be explained. But, to be beaten in a straight fight? That would make no sense.

And I love that. I love that core-rooted self-confidence. There's not enough of it in rallying. Rewind a few years, to the height of Sebastien Loeb's power, and there was only ever one man who would ask me why I was asking if Loeb was beatable. The man himself.

Stupid question. Of course he was beatable, he would reply.

Among his rivals, eyes would fall to the floor amid acceptance that a Loeb problem was probably the only fix for a win.

Mads Ostberg and Ott Tanak were among those in trouble early on © McKlein

Last week in Villa Carlos Paz we saw our new champion's belief seriously undermined for the first time. Not since Ogier succeeded Loeb as king of the WRC has anybody come genuinely close to doing what Latvala did. And it was fascinating to watch.

But you had to know where to look. It was about spotting the little things.

Ahead of the event, Ogier was his usual upbeat self. Why wouldn't he be? What with title number two bang on track only four rounds in.

At the end of the Santa Catalina stage, first thing Friday morning, Ogier arrived. Fastest. Behind him was chaos as two of his main rivals went off the road. Informed of the drama, his response was classic.

"... I didn't know."

That was it. Of course he didn't know. He was first on the road. Point is, he didn't question the drama, didn't seek more detail on what fate might have befallen his competitors. He'd done his job. Moved on. They would, presumably, be trailing in his wake.

On Friday, Ogier elected to take just one spare wheel, while Latvala dropped two Michelins in the boot to give his Polo better rubber at the front for the longest stage of the rally. Across the spread of the loop, it was genuinely hard to say which was the better option and, after predictably deep thought, Latvala admitted as much.

Same question to Ogier: "Was your strategy for tyres right?"

Ogier isn't used to being beaten by his team-mate © LAT

Without a moment's hesitation.

"Yes."

By the end of leg one, Latvala had pulled 17 seconds clear.

"I'm not afraid of 17 seconds," was the day's finest line from the Frenchman.

Fast-forward 24 hours and Ogier pulled the hood up on his coat to protect him from the rain.

Asked if he was impressed with Latvala's performance to win every one of the day's long stages, easing his lead past the half-minute mark, Ogier smiled thinly.

He agreed Latvala had driven well, but... "I'm not sure 'impressed' is the right word."

And, with that, he went back to looking like the Grim Reaper.

Now, if rumours are to be believed, Ogier was pretty cool towards Latvala through Sunday's final day. That said, weather-wise, it was quite the most miserable day of the season and getting out of the car for a chat wasn't uppermost on anybody's mind.

Almost certainly it was the most miserable day of Ogier's season. And Mina Clavero bore the brunt of his frustration.

The achingly twisty road way out west of the service park is not a place to go chasing half a minute. Especially in the fog. And rain.

"I hate this stage," spat Ogier. "It's a lottery."

A tyre delamination didn't help Ogier's mood © McKlein

Ogier wouldn't be interested in the lottery. He's about managing out the doubt and backing dead-certs.

Latvala's second win of the season will have rocked Ogier. His team-mate landed a punch - and a solid one - last week. The big question is, can he follow it up?

It would be easy to reach for the obvious Ogier fightback story in Sardinia next month and undoubtedly the Frenchman will arrive on the Italian island with blazing guns. But look more deeply.

There are real similarities between Argentina and Sardinia, not least their soft gravel surfaces. And Ogier likes his gravel granite-like.

On roads like the ones that wound their way into the Andes last week and will circumnavigate the Mediterranean island in three weeks, a more forceful driving style is needed. If the car gets bogged down, getting through the corner is less about finesse, more about brute force and blind faith.

It's the same if the ruts come, the car will run loose and belief must be placed in planting the front wheels in the two tracks and trusting the rear to follow.

Finns are good at that. Latvala's great at it.

And, let's be honest, so is Ogier. But it doesn't sit quite so comfortably with his pin-point perfection set-up.

Sardinia's one of Latvala's favourites. He's won there before. And, first on the road, Ogier will be cleaning the line for his team-mate.

And after Sardinia comes Poland, another soft gravel rally and another event where Latvala ran well (right up until his disastrous, Ford one-two ruining, shunt at the Superspecial) last time. And then it's Finland.

Next up is Sardinia, where Latvala won for Ford in 2009 © XPB

This is Latvala's moment. If he's ever going to take the fight to Ogier across the spread of the season, he's got to dive head first into the purple patch that awaits him right now.

History dictates otherwise, however. A good rally for Latvala is usually followed by one less likely to be written home about. He needs consistency, he needs another win. And then another. If he could manage that and manage that in a similar fashion to Argentina, then we might see power shifting in the Volkswagen team.

One thing is sure: the win for Latvala and co-driver Miikka Anttila was hugely well received by the Volkswagen team. Jost Capito makes much of the spirit within the Hannover squad and he's right. I've been there and seen it.

But while the drivers and co-drivers are all good muckers, there's a gentle underlying feeling that Ogier's the cool head boy, the one whose prep gets done in a jiffy, has his own seat in the common room and captains the sports team with ease.

Latvala's the hard-working prefect. And, if last week's pre-event press conference is anything to go by, a serious student of physics. Questioned about the route, Latvala offered deep analysis centred on the ramifications of going from Giulio Cesare to Mina Clavero instead of the other way around on the final day. The most significant aspect of the change being that last year's long uphill section at the start became a rapid descent to the finish last week.

"Mass," said Latvala. "It's all about the mass in the car and slowing that mass down."

He held the assembled media in the palm of his hand. All that was missing was a picture. Indeed, a listening-in Kris Meeke asked for a written explanation.

Latvala's personality and intellect are beginning to shine through more © McKlein

Latvala is shedding his natural shyness and what's coming to the fore is the engaging, charismatic fella those of us fortunate enough to have worked with him for a while have always known.

But there was a bigger, more noteworthy change in Latvala last week; he was cooler, calmer and more considered after stages and before service. He was doing his own thing. And nothing was going to shake that.

Emotion, his coach Christoph Treier insists, must be kept in check. And Latvala managed that last week. It had the look of a seminal moment.

Latvala is very different to Ogier and you get the feeling he spent much of last year almost trying to emulate the ultimately impressive Frenchman. Last week Jari-Matti found his own way could work just as well.

It's imperative that Latvala focuses on the positives from Rally Argentina. He did it last week, he did what he's always dreamed of doing. He beat the best of the best. He was faster than fast. In Anttila's view, last week was the biggest win of their lives and it's hard to argue.

What they mustn't get drawn into thinking about is the Rally Argentina Powerstage: Ogier's pay-off. It was a last stand of defiance, a two-fingered salute, a last battle won before the war was conceded. And what a way to do it... 10 seconds faster than anybody on a stage he hates.

The last word from Ogier?

"I backed off a little bit near the finish..."

Brilliant.

Sardinia can't come soon enough.