Who will benefit from Chile in WRC2?

Usually, meetings outside Europe are not popular with competitors in this secondary championship. Coming at the end of the calendar, Chile nevertheless welcomes most of the contenders, because the opportunities to score points are becoming increasingly rare. Absent in Concepción, Andreas Mikkelsen will follow the debates with interest. The WRC2 leader could see opponents getting closer and even overtaking him while the rest of his program which could include 2 rallies is still undecided.

With 19 cars, the WRC2 field is once again substantial. Among the boys who had legitimate ambitions at the start of the year, two can no longer hope to win the crown. With 3 blank scores, Oliver Solberg is no longer in the race and he will be able to ride free in Chile. Getting ready to record his 7^e result in Chile, Sami Pajari is in a similar situation. The young Finn will perhaps seek to gain experience in this country which should be on the calendar again next year rather than seeking victory as the Swede will certainly do.

Currently 2^e of the competition with 16 points behind Mikkelsen, Yohan Rossel will be aiming for big points. Based on what he showed at the Acropolis, the PH-Sport driver can definitely claim it. While it will still have an opportunity to score points, the C3 Rally2 will once again be pitted against many Skodas.

At Toksport, apart from Solberg, there is Fergus Greensmith who is 28 units behind Mikkelsen. The Englishman has no choice. He must rely on the experience acquired in Fiesta R5 during Chile 2019 if he does not want to be satisfied with an entry at the end of the year. Like Rossel, Gus will then only be able to record one result. From this point of view, two competitors are better off and they will be ones to watch closely this week.

Winner in Kenya, will Kajetan Kajetanowicz manage to win again to maintain his title chances? (Photo Nikos Katikis / DPPI)

Although he ran a lot this year in WRC (8 appearances), Nikolay Gryazin has only scored points in WRC2 on 4 occasions. He can therefore compete in the 3 remaining events. In the event of a full success, the Russian could do everyone's hair. Similar situation for Kajetan Kajetanowicz. The Pole is even in an even more enviable position, because he is only 45 points behind Mikkelsen (compared to 53 for Gryazin). Will its strategy of favoring long trips (success at the Safari) pay off?

The final driver to consider will be Emil Lindholm. The reigning champion will record his 6^e result in South America and for him also the improved victory is an imperative. On his Hyundai i20 from the 2C Compétition team, the Finn who has 46 points to fill can no longer procrastinate.

With very diverse situations, WRC2 promises to be spicy during the 16 specials and 320,98 km timed offered by Chile.

WRC2 rankings before Chile