Sébastien Ogier opened up a 6.3s lead over World Rally Championship title rival Elfyn Evans heading into the final four stages of Rally Chile, as Hyundai’s victory charge faded on Saturday.
Eight-time world champion Ogier started Saturday just 2.3s off the lead in third, but dropped to as low as fourth after being too cautious in wet conditions that plagued the morning stages.
However, Ogier mounted a fightback, and as conditions began to dry, the Toyota driver claimed the three afternoon stages to overhaul Evans and become the fifth different leader of the rally — with a final day still to come.
Elfyn Evans, Scott Martin, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
Overnight leader Adrien Fourmaux witnessed his advantage evaporate as the Frenchman slipped to third [+26,8s], while team-mate Thierry Neuville fared even worse in the drying conditions. Neuville was one second off the lead at the start of Saturday, but will now head into Sunday, 41.7s behind in fourth.
Heavy overnight rain and further showers played into the hands of championship leader Evans across the morning loop, as the Welshman shot from fifth into a 5.6s rally lead over Ogier, as crews headed to midday service after stage nine.
By the time the crews tackled stages for the second time, the road surface had dried significantly. It meant road cleaning would play more of an effect and tyre strategy became a factor on the abrasive gravel surface.
While Ogier and Evans took four hards and two softs, it was the former that starred. Ogier, starting sixth on the road compared to Evans fourth, managed to edge his team by 2.9s in stage 10. Ogier repeated his speed in stage 11, posting a time 3.7s faster than Evans to move into a one second rally lead over his team-mate.
Adrien Fourmaux, Alexandre Coria, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1
Photo by: Austral / Hyundai Motorsport
Behind, the Hyundai pair of Fourmaux and Neuville were lacking grip and struggled to match the Toyota pair.
Fourmaux dropped 7.3s in stage 10 while Neuville, who took three softs and three hards, lost 4.6s to Ogier.
Stage 11 was more or less dry, which wasn’t what the Hyundai drivers were expecting. A frustrated Fourmaux ceded 7.8s, and opted not to speak to the stage end reporter. Teammate Neuville admitted: “we didn’t have good stage information. The stage is completely dry except for the last bit.”
Joshua McErlean, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
Ogier completed an impressive afternoon drive by notching up a third fastest time in stage 12 after taking a further 5.3s out of Evans.
“It [the lead] sounds good but it is going to be intense until the end. Tomorrow morning I need to be awake, not like every first stage across the last two days,” said Ogier.
Fourmaux and Neuville were unable to claw any time back as their hopes of victory continued to fade.
“It is difficult because the opponents are quite strong on the polished stones, and I really tried as hard as I can. For sure, there are places we lose a bit of time, but we are lacking something today,” said Fourmaux.
“It is quite a shame but we didn’t give up the fight. We continue and we learn. For sure, it is quite frustrating for us, but the positive is we are on the podium for tonight, but we want more.”
Sami Pajari, Marko Salminen, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
Photo by: Toyota Racing
Sami Pajari enjoyed a solid drive through the day’s six stages to hold fifth as the Finn cut the gap to only 8.7s behind fourth place Neuville.
Title contender Kalle Rovanperä faced the worst of the conditions in the afternoon but managed to end the day in sixth [+1m23.s], after losing more than a minute when he knocked a tyre off the rim while leading the rally on Friday.
Rovanpera’s Toyota team-mate Takamoto Katsuta recovered from two spins, overhauling M-Sport-Ford’s Gregoire Munster to slot into seventh.
Oliver Solberg, Elliott Edmondson, Printsport Toyota GR Yaris Rally
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
Oliver Solberg held ninth but more importantly was 30.2s ahead of Nikolay Gryazin in the battle for WRC2 honours. A victory for Solberg will secure the title.
M-Sport’s Josh McErlean retired from the day due to a fuel pump issue, while Hyundai’s Ott Tanak retired after the first two stages to protect the spare engine his car is running after an overnight engine change.
Four stages covering 54.80 competitive kilometres will conclude the event on Sunday.
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