Thousands of fans flocked into Cordoba's international soccer stadium yesterday evening as Rally Argentina hit top gear in spectacular fashion.  Gone were the goals and corner flags as the stadium was transformed into a loose surface speed test to provide the opening action of this fifth round of the FIA World Rally Championship.The passionate Latin American fans transformed the arena into a mass of colour and noise as they cheered on the world's best rally drivers as two cars at a time raced over the floodlit 2.40km course.  Sweeping hairpin bends, fast straights and an exciting jump which threw the cars into the night-time sky provided excitement galore for the near 15,000 crowd.BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen were paired with Sébastien Loeb in the evening's top heat.  The Finns were edged out by their French rival but posted second fastest time in their Ford Focus RS World Rally Car.  "I slid a little wide on the final bend but the surface was very slippery and I concentrated on making sure I didn't hit the barriers.  It was great to see so many excited fans inside the stadium.  Now I'm planning a good night's sleep before attacking hard when the traditional special stages begin in the mountains tomorrow morning," said Hirvonen. Team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila were paired with Dani Sordo.  Sordo took the heat but Latvala was a steady sixth fastest, the 24-year-old Finn easing his way back into competition after his heavy accident on the previous round in Portugal.  "There were no nasty mistakes and even though it wasn't my best performance, it was good to be back in the car again.  The stage was identical to the test in 2007 but we made a new set of pace notes.  It was quite a compact surface, like cement, but there was a lot of dirt on the top," said Latvala.The action continues tomorrow when competitors restart from Carlos Paz at 06.07.  Ahead of them lies two loops of four tests covering 139.76km north of the town in the Punilla Valley.  Although the loops are not identical, all four tests are tackled twice.  The cars return to Carlos Paz at 19.49. Leaderboard after stage 1 of 231.  S Loeb/D Elena                               FRA                 Citroen C4                   2min 23.6sec2.  M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen                     FIN                 Ford Focus RS           2min 24.6sec3.  D Sordo/M Marti                            ESP                 Citroen C4                   2min 24.7sec4.  P Solberg/P Mills                            NOR                Citroen Xsara               2min 25.5sec5.  H Solberg/C Menkerud                  NOR               Ford Focus RS           2min 26.1sec6.  J-M Latvala/M Anttila                    FIN                 Ford Focus RS           2min 26.3sec 7.  S Ogier/J Ingrassia                         FRA                 Citroen C4                   2min 27.6sec8.  N Al-Attiyah/G Bernacchini           QAT                Subaru Impreza            2min 27.8sec    9.  M Wilson/S Martin                       GBR               Ford Focus RS           2min 28.6sec 10 F Villagra/J Perez Companc         ARG               Ford Focus RS           2min 30.1sec