Kalle Rovanpera snatched the lead of Rally Chile from his Toyota Gazoo Racing teammate, Elfyn Evans, as dense fog engulfed Saturday afternoon’s levels, turning the battle for victory on the WRC’s South American foray on its head.
The 2-time and reigning WRC champ (pictured above) will head into Sunday’s last leg with a lead of 15.1s over fellow Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 driver Evans, after benefiting partly from the difficult climate circumstances that reshaped the leaderboard late in Saturday’s second leg.
Evans had been in commanding type earlier within the day, successful three of the primary 4 levels to construct a 13.6s cushion. However his benefit evaporated on the penultimate check, 15.93-mile Lota 2, the place low cloud over the mountains resulted in thick fog on the levels, decreasing visibility to close zero in locations.
Because the final of the highest runners on the highway, Evans bore the brunt of the deteriorating circumstances and was compelled to sluggish his tempo to a crawl at instances. In distinction, 23-year-old Finn Rovanpera — who’s chosen to run a restricted 2024 schedule, however already has three wins from six earlier begins – stormed into the lead with a time greater than 20 seconds quicker, earlier than extending the hole in equally treacherous circumstances on the ultimate stage of the day, 17.65-mile Maria Las Cruces 2.
Toyota’s Elfyn Evans constructed a strong lead whereas the circumstances remained clear, however fog on the closing levels turned his rally on its head. Toyota GAZOO Racing picture
Ott Tanak held third in his Hyundai i20 N Rally1, trailing Evans by 18.5s after a day of excessive drama which additionally noticed Toyota’s solely reasonable challenger for the WRC drivers’ title, Sebastien Ogier, bow out of competition. The eight-time WRC champ’s bid for a ninth title was dealt a hefty blow when his GR Yaris struck a rock on the morning’s second stage, breaking a bolt on the steering arm.
“They had been actually tough circumstances,” mentioned Rovanpera. “Enormous fog, and among the most difficult levels of the yr, I feel. I’ve by no means carried out something like this. You drive and you’re simply attempting to remain on the highway. It’s an enormous problem.”
Evans, nonetheless searching his first WRC occasion win since Japan final November, was understandably disillusioned to lose the lead, however acknowledged there was little he may do. “I couldn’t see previous the hood,” he revealed. “It was loopy.”
Behind Tanak, his Hyundai teammate Thierry Neuville mounted a powerful comeback and climbed from sixth on Friday to complete the day 43.7s off the lead in fourth. Whereas the Belgian is now unlikely to wrap up his first WRC drivers’ title this week, he stays properly positioned to take action at subsequent month’s Central European Rally, barring any main setbacks.
Thierry Neuville moved his Hyundai as much as fourth total – not a spectacular day for the Belgian, however respectable sufficient for his WRC title hopes. Jaanus Ree/Pink Bull Content material Pool
Adrien Fourmaux additionally made good progress, shifting from eighth to fifth in his M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1. Hampered by a one-minute time penalty on Friday, the Frenchman charged previous Toyota’s Sami Pajari, who’s making solely his second Rally1 begin this weekend, and M-Sport Ford teammate Gregoire Munster. Pajari ended the day in sixth total, with Munster simply 1.1s additional again in seventh.
It was one other powerful day for Hyundai’s third manufacturing unit entry, Esapekka Lappi. Already off the tempo, the Finn’s troubles deepened when he picked up a two-minute time penalty for clocking in early for the day’s penultimate stage. He completed Saturday a distant and despondent eighth total.
In WRC2, the second tier of worldwide rallying, Oliver Solberg put in an early cost to take the category lead in his Toksport Skoda Fabia RS, and with it the possibility to wrap up the WRC2 crown no matter what his closest competitors does within the remaining two occasions.
However having stopped to alter a puncture on Saturday’s penultimate stage, Solberg plummeted to fifth within the in a single day WRC2 standings — this regardless of pulling out the stops to place in a time greater than 20 seconds quicker than class chief Nikolay Gryazin on the day’s last check.
Solberg nonetheless sits a full minute behind Gryazin’s Citroen C3, however has vowed to push exhausting on Sunday’s last leg. Might a title-sealing WRC2 win nonetheless be on the playing cards for the fired-up Swede?
WRC2 title-chasing Oliver Solberg pushed his Skoda into the WRC2 lead by means of Saturday’s opening levels, however fell to fifth with a late-day puncture. McKlein/Motorsport Photos
Sunday’s closing leg consists of two difficult levels, every run twice. It provides as much as a brief, sharp 34.05 miles of aggressive motion, together with the 5.46-mile Bio Bio 2 check that makes up the rally-closing, bonus points-paying Wolf Energy Stage.
WRC Rally Chile, positions after Leg Two, SS12
1 Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 2h25m14.3s
2 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +15.1s
3 Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +33.6s
4 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +43.7s
5 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria Ford Puma Rally1) +1m23.0s
6 Sami Pajari/Enni Malkonen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +1m49.5s
7 Gregoire Munster/Louis Louka (Ford Puma Rally1) +1m50.6s
8 Esapekka Lappi/Janne Fern (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +5m14.6s
9 Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov (Citroen C3 – WRC2 chief) +6m28.2s
10 Gus Greensmith/Jonas Andersson (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +6m45.0s
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