Solberg Tops Argentina Shakedown

The Norwegian driver was comfortably fastest around the 2.27-mile test, run in cold and dry conditions. Mitsubishi's Gigi Galli was second quickest, 1.5s off the Subaru man's pace, while Toni Gardemeister (Ford) was third and Harri Rovanpera (Mitsubishi) fourth.

Solberg's fastest time came on his second run at the stage, but the 2003 world champion played down his efforts.

"The first couple of runs were okay," he said. "But when we did two more, it was too rough - it wasn't representative of the rally. We certainly won't be making any changes to the car on the basis of that.

"Okay, fastest time is nice, but the real rally starts tomorrow."

Solberg and Subaru will be keen to erase the memory of last year's Rally Argentina, when both cars suffered extensive damage in one of the many water splashes along the route - forcing the Imprezas out.