Estonian crew Ots Tanak and Martin Jarveoja from M-Sport remained undefeated in the Chile WRC rally. Belgians Thierry Neuville and Martin Vidage of Hyundai finished second after a fierce battle, while the British crew of Alvin Evans and Scott Martin of Toyota completed the podium.
The WRC Rally of Chile has previously only taken place once in the 2019 season. That year’s champion Ots Tanak celebrated the victory while still in Toyota. The much-loved rally is finally back and the slippery roads in the Andes are always a challenge!
First day
The rally started where it ended four years ago – with Tanaka’s fastest time. The other two morning stages were won by Elvin Evans, who also took over the leadership of the rally, but Tanak fell to the third position. The strong road cleaning effect greatly helped the later cars and Tämu Suninen took second place, while Pierre-Louis Loubet strengthened his position in fourth place. The Frenchman increased his pace in the last stage of the morning and declared himself for the stage victory, but made a mistake and flew off the road at high speed. The first loser was Finnish Esapeka Lapi, who flipped in the last corner of the first stage. Both athletes’ cars were too damaged to be repaired for the next few days.
Suninen started the second loop of the day very well and the Finn took the lead of the rally with the best time. Tanak chose a different tire strategy and the softer tires allowed him to win the remaining two stages of the day, once again changing the leading position. The day ended 4.2 seconds ahead of Suninen, while Evans followed 12.7 seconds behind Tanaka. At the end of the day, Thierry Neuville was able to overtake Ravanper in the fight for fourth place after changing the settings of the car.
Elvin Evans Day Two
The second day was started aggressively by the Toyota team, with all drivers running on soft tires only. Rovanpera won the first stage and overtook Neuville, but Evans regained the second position from Suninen. Once again, Tanak chose the opposite strategy and the Estonian won the remaining two stages of the morning with hard tires. But the Toyota drivers quickly realized their mistake: after seeing the condition of the tires, Rovanpera continued at a very calm speed and lost 40 seconds to Neuville until the service park. Katsuta had a complete flat tire, but Evans finished with two flat tires. The Welshman lost two positions at once to both Suninen and Neuville. The local star with his private Ford Puma – Alberto Hellers – also finished identically without both rear tires. The dramatic morning loop ended with 47.8 seconds in favor of Tanaka, followed by the Hyundai duo of Suninen and Neuville.
The second loop was identical, but much calmer – Kalle Rovanpera was the fastest at first, but Ots Tanak managed to save his tires the best and win the remaining two stages. The Estonian’s lead over Suninen at the end of the day reached an impressive 58.3 seconds. However, teammate Thierry Neuville promised to give the Finnish driver a headache, who finished the day only 13.9 seconds behind Suninen. Another private Ford Puma car – Gregor Munster – ran into the wall twice. The athlete punctured two tires, but tried to continue on his way until he turned. However, the tires had to be changed and more than seven minutes were lost in total.
Thierry Neuville Day three
The final day of the Chile WRC Rally started with Thierry Neuville’s offensive. The Belgian won both morning stages and closed his deficit to Suninen to a paltry 6.7 seconds. After the last service park and tire change, Suninen tried to increase the pace until he hit a stump on the side of the road, broke the suspension and slid deep into the ditch! The rally was over for the athlete, which lifted Neuville to second position, while Evans moved up to third. Suninen’s withdrawal raised the intrigue in the Constructors’ Cup. Toyota drivers Rovanpera and Evans were the fastest in the final Powerstage stage, which was enough for Toyota to become manufacturers’ champions two stages before the end of the season! Neuville set the third time to finish second, but rally leader Tanak was fourth fastest and collected two bonus points in the overall standings. The Estonian won his 19th career victory with an impressive lead of 42.1 seconds. Tanak’s second victory in two Chilean rallies means the Estonian remains unbeaten on the Chilean roads.
There are two more stages left in the calendar – the Central European Rally and the Japanese Rally. Toyota have already won their championship, but Evans has narrowly reduced their deficit to 31 points. With 60 points still up for grabs, one failure for the Rowanper side could put Evans back in direct contention for the title.
Chile WRC results Drivers standings Manufacturers standings
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2023-10-01 18:11:31
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