Ott Tanak held off World Rally Championship title rival Elfyn Evans to claim a slender 0.4s Rally Chile lead on the opening day of the final gravel round of the season.
Tanak was never totally comfortable with his Hyundai i20 N through the day’s six slippery gravel stages but consistent pace helped the Estonian snatch the lead away from Evans.
Evans issued a fightback on the final stage of the afternoon loop, but was unable to hustle his Toyota back to the lead he held after the morning loop.
World champion Kalle Rovanpera ended the day in third [+7.1s] despite struggling for confidence, while his Rally1 rookie Toyota team-mate Sami Pajari came through in fourth [+9.3s].
Gregoire Munster rounded out the top five [+10.7s] ahead of championship leader and road opener Thierry Neuville [+30.3s]. Esapekka Lappi [+36.1s], Adrien Fourmaux [+1m01.0s], and Sebastien Ogier [+1m24.9s] completed the Rally1 field.
M-Sport’s Martins Sesks retired from Friday’s action after picking up a double puncture on stage three.
The second pass through the stages proved to be equally as challenging as the first, as crews faced tricky loose gravel, but the unpredictable road surface didn’t halt a fired up Ogier, desperate to recover from picking up a puncture in stage three after hitting a bank.
The Frenchman, who monstered the morning’s first pass through Pulperia, repeated the feat in the afternoon. Ogier was 5.9s faster than nearest rival Tanak, and a whopping 10.5s quicker than the rally leader Evans.
Elfyn Evans, Scott Martin, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
The effort helped Ogier climb from 15th to ninth overall despite losing almost two minutes to a wheel change on stage three.
Tanak’s committed run pushed him up to second overall and 2.7s behind Evans. Tanak benefitted from a rare mistake by Rovanpera, who lost the rear of his GR Yaris and overshot a corner, costing the world champion valuable seconds.
“I had a bit of a wide moment in a low speed corner, nothing too dramatic but a bit unfortunate. I had to reverse out, not too optimal when you consider our pace this morning,” said Rovanpera.
Fourmaux delivered a time good enough for fourth quickest to jump to fourth overall ahead of Pajari and Munster.
Following on from the morning, Neuville continued to fight his i20 N for grip, being the first to tackle the road, as the Belgian held onto seventh overall.
Neuville did…
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