Kalle Rovanpera took the FIA WRC win in Rally Chile Bio Bio from teammate Elfyn Evans, with Ott Tanak rounding the podium.
Friday –
Ott Tänak has set the stage for a potential third consecutive Rally Chile Bio Bío triumph, ending Friday’s opening leg with a narrow 0.4-second advantage. It was a day of contrasting fortunes for the Estonian, who has won every WRC round previously held in Chile. Tänak 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 overhaul Toyota rival Elfyn Evans on the penultimate Rere stage to claim the overnight lead. Despite Tänak’s strong afternoon, Sébastien Ogier appeared the most potent 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 was encouraged by the afternoon turnaround and remains poised to close the points gap to his championship-leading team-mate, Thierry Neuville, who ended down in sixth. 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.
Two-time world champion Kalle Rovanperä completed the top three, 6.7sec adrift of Evans in his GR Yaris Rally1 HYBRID, though he too voiced frustrations after overshooting and hitting a gate on SS4. 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 1.4sec separated the pair at day’s end, with Pajari trailing Rovanperä by only 2.2sec.
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 5.8sec. Fourmaux brought his Puma home in eighth, just ahead of Ogier, while WRC2 leader Nikolay Gryazin rounded out the top 10.
Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Elfyn Evans will lead Rally Chile Bio Bío into Saturday morning after receiving an updated notional time for the rally’s opening stage, based on the time he set when the stage was repeated in the afternoon. His Hyundai rival Ott Tänak initially held a slender 0.4sec advantage following Friday but the decision handed the lead back to Evans with a margin of exactly three seconds now separating the pair.
The decision was announced via a clerk of the course notification on Friday evening, upon receiving a request from Evans’ Toyota team to consider the reallocation of the notional time he received for the morning’s interupted stage. Upon further examination team-mate Sami Pajari and Adrien Fourmaux also received updated times, neither of which had an affect on the overall standings.
Saturday –
Kalle Rovanperä snatched the lead of Rally Chile Bio Bío from team-mate Elfyn Evans as dense fog engulfed Saturday afternoon’s stages, turning the battle for victory on its head. The 23-year-old Finn will head into Sunday’s final leg with a lead of 15.1sec over his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 HYBRID colleague Evans, benefiting in part from the tricky weather conditions that reshaped the leaderboard.
Evans had been in commanding form earlier in the day, winning three of the morning’s four stages to build a 13.6sec cushion. But his advantage evaporated on the penultimate Lota test, where dense fog descended in the mountains, reducing visibility to near zero. As the last of the top runners on the road, Evans bore the brunt of the deteriorating conditions and slowed his pace to a crawl at times.
Rovanperä, in contrast, 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, María Las Cruces. Ott Tänak held third, trailing Evans by 18.5sec after a day of high drama which also saw Sébastien Ogier bow out of contention.
The Frenchman’s bid for a ninth title was dealt a hefty blow when he struck a rock on SS8 which broke a bolt on his Toyota’s steering arm. Evans, still hunting his first WRC win since Japan last November, was understandably disappointed to lose the lead but acknowledged there was little he could do. Behind Tänak, Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville mounted a strong comeback and climbed from sixth on Friday to finish the day 43.7sec off the lead in fourth.
While the Belgian is now unlikely to wrap up his maiden drivers’ title this week, he remains well-placed to do so at next month’s Central European Rally, barring any major setbacks. Adrien Fourmaux also made good progress, moving from eighth to fifth in his M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 HYBRID.
Hampered by a one-minute time penalty on Friday, the Frenchman charged past team-mate Grégoire Munster and Toyota rookie Sami Pajari, who ended the day in sixth and seventh respectively. It was another tough day for Esapekka Lappi. Already off the pace, the Finn’s troubles deepened when he picked up a two-minute time penalty for clocking in early for SS11. He finished Saturday a distant eighth overall in his Hyundai, whileWRC2 frontrunners Nikolay Gryazin and Gus Greensmith rounded out the top 10.
Sunday –
Kalle Rovanperä secured victory at Rally Chile Bio Bío on Sunday, mastering dense fog and treacherous conditions to clinch his fourth win of the 2024 FIA World Rally Championship season. Driving a Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 HYBRID, the Finn edged out his Toyota GAZOO Racing team-mate Elfyn Evans by 23.4sec, conquering increasingly difficult and damp roads across Chile’s Bio Bío region.
Rovanperä made a cautious start to the 11th round of the season, admitting that the Chilean gravel didn’t suit his driving style. Nevertheless, as the rally progressed, he found his rhythm. The turning point came on Saturday afternoon when he overhauled Evans in near-zero visibility, navigating through thick fog high up the mountain stages to seize a 15.1-second lead heading into the final day.
The two-time WRC champion remained unflappable in equally difficult conditions today, outpacing Evans on all but one of the final four stages to secure the 15th victory of his WRC career. Hyundai Motorsport’s Ott Tänak completed the podium, trailing Evans by 20.5sec in his i20 N Rally1 HYBRID.
Despite the Estonian’s podium, Hyundai lost ground in the manufacturers’ championship with Toyota reducing the gap to just 17 points, courtesy of Rovanperä and Evans’ masterful performances and Sébastien Ogier’s crucial Super Sunday points haul. Championship leader Thierry Neuville enjoyed a relatively drama-free run to fourth, a result which moves him even closer to a maiden drivers’ title as he tops the standings by 29 points with just two rounds remaining.
Neuville can afford to lose a handful of points to both Evans and Ogier at next month’s Central European Rally and still lift the title there, providing he outscores team-mate Tänak. While Ogier salvaged maximum points from Super Sunday, his hopes for a ninth WRC title now appear slim. The Frenchman, who had the speed to challenge for victory, retired his Toyota on Saturday with suspension damage after striking a rock.
Adrien Fourmaux was M-Sport Ford’s top finisher in fifth, trailing Neuville by 1min 1.6sec. The Frenchman’s result could have been even stronger had it not been for a one-minute penalty incurred for a late check-in on Friday. Toyota’s rising star Sami Pajari impressed by finishing sixth on just his second Rally1 outing, while Fourmaux’s Puma team-mate Grégoire Munster followed closely behind in seventh.
Esapekka Lappi had been on course to finish eighth but was forced to retire on the penultimate stage after a spin damaged his Hyundai’s radiator. The retirement also marked the conclusion of co-driver Janne Ferm’s distinguished WRC career after 90 starts, two wins and 15 podiums. With Lappi out, Citroën C3 Rally2 drivers Yohan Rossel and Nikolay Gryazin were promoted to eighth and ninth overall, locking out the top two spots in WRC2. Their results also secured the WRC2 Teams’ title for DG Sport Competition. Gus Greensmith, another frontrunner in WRC2, rounded out the top 10.
Result: https://www.wrc.com/live-timing?liveTimingMenu=overall_livetiming&stage=FINAL&championshipId=245
[Note: The story is as per press release]
