The first leg of Rally Argentina was cancelled after drivers struggled to make the 700km journey back to Cordoba from the opening super-special in Buenos Aires.

One of the three planes carrying competitors, officials and personnel had been unable to land in Cordoba on Thursday night because of bad weather and had returned to the capital.

The event  opened with a short super-special stage in the River Plate soccer stadium in the Argentine capital. The first proper competitive stage had been scheduled to start on Friday morning near Cordoba.

Stages two to six were cancelled before organizers then decided that all of the first leg's regular stages should be abandoned.

Citroen's Sebastien Loeb had earlier questioned the wisdom of scheduling an opening super-special so far away. The operation involved nine coaches, 80 cars, 14 transporters and three planes.

"The logistics are a little complex for just one stage which, to my mind, has little to do with the rally," the Frenchman had said in a team preview.

"If super-specials are organized in the region of events for those spectators who can't get out to the stages, so be it. But when they become a priority, I really hope they're worth it."

Friday night's Super Special Stage will be the only stage run, commencing at around 7pm local time. 

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