The Kronos C൩itroen World Rally team have confirmed that their number two driver, Xavier Pons will be able to re-start the Rally Argentina on Saturday for the second leg of the event.

Poಞns was the first major retirement of the event, when he went out on SS6, the 14.53 kilometre run through Cab▨alango-Carlos Paz.

The Spaniard slid wide on a corner and hit a rock early on in the test and although he trie𓆏d to drive slowly to the end of the stage and then limp it back to the mid-day service, he was subsequently forced to stop aft💟er his Citroen Xsara WRC briefly caught fire.

"The impact had consequences for the transmission and fuel syst🌄em," read a statement from the team, "wh🌌ich caused a small fire that was rapidly extinguished by the crew."

Pons will now re-start the second leg on Saturday way down the order in 33rd place overall, having incurred 25 minutes wor🌌th of penalties for each stage missedꦰ, as laid down under the SupeRally regulations.

"Their aim will be to work hard, gain exper☂ienc♐e for future events, and to target some manufacturer points," added the Kronos squad.

Pons 🎉was one of three 'works' retirements during the first leg, with BP Ford duo, Marcus Gronholm and Mikko Hirvonen also going out later on in the day.