Elfyn Evans leads Rally Chile Biobío on Friday night after a corrected time put him back ahead of Ott Tänak on round 11 of the 2024 FIA World Rally Championship.
Tänak, driving for the Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team, completed Friday’s final stage with an overall lead of 0.4s over Evans, only for a corrected time from the day’s red-flagged opening stage to give the lead back to Evans (Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT).
Evans, who has been slow out of the blocks on recent events, delivered a more aggressive start in Chile but struggled with confidence on the afternoon loop, and appeared to have conceded the lead to rival Tänak.
However, following a decision from the clerk of the course, the Welshman, who had driven through the red-flag interrupted opening stage in road mode, was given an updated notional time, based on his afternoon performance on the same stage, to retake the lead by 3.0s. Sami Pajari and Adrien Fourmaux also had their earlier times updated.
“The afternoon was tougher for us,” Evans said. “I maybe didn’t have the best feeling in the first couple of stages, but it was better in the long one to end the day. “
It was a day of contrasting fortunes for Tänak, who has won every WRC round previously held in Chile. The Estonian struggled in the morning, sitting fifth at lunchtime after grappling with a lack of confidence and balance in his Hyundai i20 Rally1 Hybrid during the first pass of the three gravel stages south of Concepción. However, set-up tweaks at service rejuvenated his performance and helped him to pull in Toyota rival Elfyn Evans on the penultimate Rere stage to close in on the outright lead.
Despite Tänak’s strong afternoon, Sébastien Ogier was the most potent performer throughout day one. The Frenchman won three stages and would have led the rally by almost 30 seconds had he not run wide and hit a bank on SS3, forcing him to stop and change a wheel.
Tänak, though, remains poised to close the points gap to his championship-leading team-mate, Thierry Neuville, who ended leg one down in sixth.
Two-time world champion Kalle Rovanperä completed the top three, 10.1sec adrift of Evans in his GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid, though he too voiced frustrations after overshooting and hitting a gate on SS4.
“I don’t feel comfortable on these roads,” Rovanperä explained. “When it’s dry like this, it doesn’t suit my usual driving style. I’m fighting the car and my driving a lot.”
Back at the event where he made his top-tier debut last year, Grégoire Munster put in his best performance of the season, but tyre damage on the final stage saw him drop to fifth behind Toyota rookie Sami Pajari. Just 1.4s separated the pair at day’s end, with Pajari trailing Rovanperä by only 2.2s.
For Munster’s M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 team-mates, it was a more challenging day. Mārtiņš Sesks retired his non-hybrid car in the morning after hitting a bank and damaging two tyres while only carrying one spare wheel. Adrien Fourmaux fell from fourth to eighth after incurring a one-minute time penalty for arriving late to SS5. The delay stemmed from roadside repairs, first to his alternator and then to a water pipe.
Championship leader Neuville ended the day sixth, over half a minute off the pace. Opening the road, he struggled with loose conditions but still led team-mate Esapekka Lappi by 5.8s.
“There wasn’t much more I could do,” Neuville admitted, while Lappi described his performance as “a disaster of a day.”
Fourmaux brought his Puma home in eighth, just ahead of Ogier, while FIA WRC2 leader Nikolay Gryazin rounded out the top 10, despite a two-wheel moment on SS6. Diego Domińguez holds a comfortable lead in FIA WRC3.
At 139.20 kilometres, Saturday’s second leg, located south of Concepción, is the longest of the rally with the 28.31-kilometre Maria las Cruce stage the rally’s longest. The two loops of three stages are considered more twisty than legs one and three, while Lota houses the fan-friendly Rally Village.
