Gronholm hopeful of closing gap

Loeb has only dropped four points from a possible 50 in a superb start to his defence of the drivers' crown, and has opened up an 11-point gap back to Ford driver Gronholm.

However the Finn is confident of fighting back this weekend, citing his pace on the similarly surfaced Rally Mexico last month as the main reason to be optimistic.

"This is a rally that I know well," Gronholm said. "We have three gravel rallies in succession now and it is important that we do well in all of them. I need to close the gap on Sebastien Loeb in the drivers' championship and I'm looking at the gravel events to do that.

"The Focus RS showed in Mexico that it is fast on the loose and I'm sure we will be quick in Argentina also.

"It's not a particularly difficult rally. The stages are not so technical and quite straight forward but each leg is different. The roads down near Santa Rosa de Calamuchita, which we drive on the second day, are the fastest and my favourites - they seem to suit me."

However Gronholm, who won the event in 2003, is apprehensive about certain aspects of the event.

"One thing that I am unsure about is the river crossings," he added. "I don't know how fast I can go into them in a Focus so I will have to be cautious initially. Much of the under bonnet cooling package is located at the front so it will be important not to enter the water too fast and damage that.

"It seems silly to talk about water damaging a car but when you cross a river at speed, the force of the water really can cause problems and we must avoid that."