Kalle Rovanpera snatched the lead of Rally Chile from his Toyota Gazoo Racing teammate, Elfyn Evans, as dense fog engulfed Saturday afternoon’s stages, turning the battle for victory on the WRCโs South American foray on its head.
The two-time and reigning WRC champ (pictured above) will head into Sunday’s final leg with a lead of 15.1s over fellow Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 driver Evans, after benefiting in part from the tricky weather conditions that reshaped the leaderboard late in Saturdayโs second leg.
Evans had been in commanding form earlier in the day, winning three of the first four stages to build a 13.6s cushion. But his advantage evaporated on the penultimate test, 15.93-mile Lota 2, where low cloud over the mountains resulted in thick fog on the stages, reducing visibility to near zero in places.
As the last of the top runners on the road, Evans bore the brunt of the deteriorating conditions and was forced to slow his pace to a crawl at times. In contrast, 23-year-old Finn Rovanpera — whoโs chosen to run a limited 2024 schedule, but already has three wins from six previous starts โ stormed into the lead with a time more than 20 seconds faster, before extending the gap in similarly treacherous conditions on the final stage of the day, 17.65-mile Maria Las Cruces 2.
Toyotaโs Elfyn Evans built a solid lead while the conditions remained clear, but fog on the closing stages turned his rally on its head. Toyota GAZOO Racing photo
Ott Tanak held third in his Hyundai i20 N Rally1, trailing Evans by 18.5s after a day of high drama which also saw Toyotaโs only realistic challenger for the WRC driversโ title, Sebastien Ogier, bow out of contention. The eight-time WRC champโs bid for a ninth title was dealt a hefty blow when his GR Yaris struck a rock on the morningโs second stage, breaking a bolt on the steering arm.
โThey were really difficult conditions,โ said Rovanpera. โHuge fog, and some of the most challenging stages of the year, I think. I have never done anything like this. You drive and you are just trying to stay on the road. Itโs a big challenge.โ
Evans, still hunting his first WRC event win since Japan last November, was understandably disappointed to lose the lead, but acknowledged there was little he could do. โI couldnโt see past the hood,โ he revealed. โIt was crazy.โ
Behind Tanak, his Hyundai teammate Thierry Neuville mounted a strong comeback and climbed from sixth on Friday to finish the day 43.7s off the lead in fourth. While the Belgian is now unlikely to wrap up his first WRC drivers’ title this week, he remains well placed to do so at next monthโs Central European Rally, barring any major setbacks.
Thierry Neuville moved his Hyundai up to fourth overall โ not a spectacular day for the Belgian, but decent enough for his WRC title hopes. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Poolย
Adrien Fourmaux also made good progress, moving from eighth to fifth in his M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1. Hampered by a one-minute time penalty on Friday, the Frenchman charged past Toyotaโs Sami Pajari, whoโs making only his second Rally1 start this weekend, and M-Sport Ford teammate Gregoire Munster. Pajari ended the day in sixth overall, with Munster just 1.1s further back in seventh.
It was another tough day for Hyundaiโs third factory entry, Esapekka Lappi. Already off the pace, the Finnโs troubles deepened when he picked up a two-minute time penalty for clocking in early for the dayโs penultimate stage. He finished Saturday a distant and despondent eighth overall.
In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, Oliver Solberg put in an early charge to take the class lead in his Toksport Skoda Fabia RS, and with it the chance to wrap up the WRC2 crown regardless of what his closest competition does in the remaining two events.
But having stopped to change a puncture on Saturdayโs penultimate stage, Solberg plummeted to fifth in the overnight WRC2 standings — this despite pulling out the stops to put in a time more than 20 seconds faster than class leader Nikolay Gryazin on the dayโs final test.
Solberg still sits a full minute behind Gryazinโs Citroen C3, but has vowed to push hard on Sundayโs final leg. Could a title-sealing WRC2 win still be on the cards for the fired-up Swede?
WRC2 title-chasing Oliver Solberg pushed his Skoda into the WRC2 lead through Saturdayโs opening stages, but fell to fifth with a late-day puncture. McKlein/Motorsport Images
Sundayโs closing leg consists of two challenging stages, each run twice. It adds up to a short, sharp 34.05 miles of competitive action, including the 5.46-mile Bio Bio 2 test that makes up the rally-closing, bonus points-paying Wolf Power 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 โ WRC2 leader) +6m28.2s
10 Gus Greensmith/Jonas Andersson (Skoda Fabia RS โ WRC2) +6m45.0s
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