Oliver Solberg claimed an 2.3-second lead at Rally Chile after trading times with World Rally Championship leader Elfyn Evans, as overnight rain created tricky conditions.
The Toyota duo made the most of the mud, having hoped for rain to reduce the cleaning effect of opening the gravel roads.
Solberg kicked off the rally by winning the opening stage by 1.4s from Evans, only for the latter to fight back in the 10.76km pass through Nuevo Rere. Evans managed to beat Solberg by 1.8s, which was enough to overhaul the Swede and move into the lead by 0.4s.
However, Solberg, who wasn’t overly happy with his display at times, posted an effort 2.7s faster than Evans in the final stage of the loop to take the lead as the crews headed to midday service.
“It is a new day [of stages] for everything and that helps me. I love these stages, but it was very sketchy conditions out there. You have to have a good flow but not push too hard,” said Solberg.
“I’m happy with the clean morning. I’m happy the rain came as otherwise Sebastien Ogier [starting sixth on the road] would have been dangerous.”
Elfyn Evans, Scott Martin, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
Photo by: Toyota Racing
Evans declared this morning “okay” but was clearly thankful the rain arrived after admitting it would have been a “disaster” had the roads stayed dry.
“It [the rain] has helped massively to even things out and play to our advantage. I was pleased to see the rain after so many dry rallies. It is an okay start. There is a lot to go in this rally,” said Evans.
Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux was among those to feel the effect of the worsening muddy conditions in the opening stage, dropping 11.6s to Solberg. A mysterious technical issue on his i20 N Rally1 hampered the Frenchman in stage two, as he held onto third overall – 17.7s from the lead at midday.
“I’m pleased to be at the end of the loop as we had a technical issue in the previous stage. It is positive we got back with the minimum time lost. This afternoon we can push. It is hard to say [how much we lost],” said Fourmaux.
Fourmaux was 2.7s faster than team-mate Thierry Neuville, who ended the loop by winning stage three to jump ahead of nine-time world champion Ogier by 0.5s. Neuville and Ogier had both struggled in the muddier than expected conditions in the previous stages, starting lower down the order.
Championship contender Sami Pajari, and the winner of the previous three rallies, was among those who struggled to cope in the mud. The Finn lacked confidence and lost 17.8s in the opening stage but was able to stem the time loss after making changes to his GR Yaris, and he reached midday service in sixth, 23.0s from the lead.
Adrien Fourmaux, Alexandre Coria, Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1
Photo by: Hyundai
Meanwhile, team-mate Takamoto Katsuta became the first retirement of the rally after coming to halt 6.2km into the first stage. The Japanese driver, co-driven by stand-in navigator James Fulton, lost the rear of his car, which then became beached at the side of the road.
Josh McErlean edged his M-Sport-Ford team-mate Jon Armstrong to hold seventh with the pair split by 4.8s. Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi struggled for confidence and speed, ending the morning in ninth after surviving a brush with a bank in stage two.
Crews will repeat the trio of stages this afternoon.
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– The Autosport.com Team
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