Yahoo Autos WRC Rally Chile: Tanak chooses softs and charges hard to Friday lead
Ott Tanak led WRC Rally Chile on Friday evening after an inspired tire strategy proved to be decisive on the opening leg of the event.
The M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 driver (above) set the pace in the day’s first special stage, the 12.28-mile Pulperia 1 test, but his fortunes soon took a dip when issues caused by a heavy landing from a jump dropped him to third. As well as knocking the wind out of co-driver Martin Jarveoja, the impact also caused minor suspension damage and the loss of the car’s hybrid boost system.
Nevertheless, it was Tanak’s strategic approach to the repeated afternoon loop of three stages which helped him to reclaim the top spot. In mild spring conditions on the FIA World Rally Championship’s only South American round, the Estonian was the only front-running driver to select a tire package consisting exclusively of soft compound Pirelli rubber, known for its superior performance, but shorter lifespan.
The 2019 WRC champ snatched the lead from Hyundai’s Teemu Suninen on the days penultimate stage and, crucially, went fastest again in the 14.49-mile Rio Claro 2 finale to extend his overnight lead on the all-gravel event to 4.2s.
“The first one and the last [stage this afternoon] were extremely tough,” said Tanak, who has been without a WRC victory since the snow of Rally Sweden in February. “When it’s this hard a base it’s moving so bad that you don’t find any stability. But we had a good clean run, so no trouble.”
The WRC has returned to Chile for the first time since 2019, and the flowing roads of the Biobio region showed little mercy to title-hunting trio Kalle Rovanpera, Elfyn Evans and Thierry Neuville. All three reported exceptionally low levels of grip in the loose conditions, but it was Evans who fared the best, completing the day only 8.5s back from Suninen in third.
The Welshman trails Toyota Gazoo Racing teammate and defending WRC champ Rovanpera by 33 points in the drivers’ championship, and a result of eighth or higher in Chile would ensure the battle between the GR Yaris Rally1-equipped duo continues beyond Sunday. Rovanpera, first on the road and playing “road sweeper” because of his championship lead, suffered a half spin in the day’s final stage and slipped to fifth overall, ending the day 11.0s behind the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 of Neuville, who in turn trailed Evans by 15.0s.
Traction frustrations were the least of Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi and M-Sport Ford driver Pierre-Louis Loubet’s worries. Both rolled heavily early in the day, and both are unlikely to restart on Saturday due to the amount of damage each sustained.
Esapekka Lappi rolled his Hyundai within yards of the opening stage’s flying finish. He’s done for the weekend. Red Bull Content Pool
Takamoto Katsuta brought his GR Yaris to the overnight halt in sixth place and was comfortably clear of Puma debutant Gregoire Munster, whose co-driver Louis Louka spent the morning reading the all-important pace notes from a cell phone after accidentally leaving the paper copies in his hotel room.
Local hero Alberto Heller is the last of the remaining Rally 1 runners, holding 10th overall and enjoying every second of his first event in a rented M-Sport Puma.
In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, Sami Pajari dominated the opening leg to head class rival Oliver Solberg by 13.3s overnight.
Finn Pajari, who claimed his maiden WRC2 victory on home soil earlier this year, held a slender 2.4s lead at lunchtime after trading times with Solberg’s similar Skoda Fabia RS during the morning loop.
But when the same three special stages were repeated after service, 21-year-old Pajari was untouchable. He was fastest on every single one of them and, with Solberg hindered by damaged rear suspension in the day’s final test, grew his buffer over the Swede into double figures.
“I love this rally,” beamed Pajari, who also sits an impressive eighth in the overall rally standings. “Friday was maybe my favorite set of stages, so I hope tomorrow and Sunday will be as good, but it was really tricky.”
Sami Pajari dominated the opening day in the WRC2 class, sweeping the afternoon’s stages. McKlein/Motorsport Images
Crews journey south on Saturday to tackle the rally’s longest leg. The 16.92-mile Chivilingo 1 stage is up first, followed by 13.1-mile Rio Lia 1 – the only stage which remains unchanged from the rally’s 2019 running. The 17.84-mile Maria de las Cruces 1 stage finishes within sight of the Pacific Ocean and completes the morning loop, which is repeated once more following a midday service.
WRC Rally Chile, leading positions after Day One, SS6
1 Teemu Suninen/Mikko Markkula (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) 58m43.7s
2 Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (Ford Puma Rally1) +4.2s
3 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +12.7s
4 Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +27.7s
5 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +38.7s
6 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +45.6s
7 Gregoire Munster/Louis Louka (Ford Puma Rally1) +1m38.4s
8 Sami Pajari/Enni Malkonen (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2 leader) +2m09.6s
9 Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +2m22.9s
10 Alberto Heller/Luis Allende (Ford Puma Rally1) +2m29.3s
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