Rally Chile: Hyundai responds to Toyota, Tänak narrowly leads

• While it is still difficult to establish a clear hierarchy, this first day of the Rally Chile offered us some very competitive special stages, in which the order often changed. If the Toyota seemed to show a better pace, the Hyundai came back in shape after the assistance in the image ofOtt Tänak, leader as he returns to his hotel room in Concepción.
• Si Sébastien Ogier left his mark on the afternoon loop with 2 scratch times and a 2nd place in 3 specials, it was the Estonian who emerged victorious from the second round of the day after seeing the Toyotas score in the first earlier. No reason to get excited, however, because everything is still very open. Indeed, Elfyn Evans went all out in the last outing of the day to come back to just 4 tenths of an inch behind Ott Tänak, missing out on taking the best time on SS5 by just 2 seconds.
• Behind the leading duo, two Toyota drivers would like to join in the fun, including Kalle Rovanperä. Back after nearly two months, the reigning double world champion remains in ambush. Although he says he lacked pace, the Finn is only 7 seconds behind and could be a real threat this Saturday if he manages to make the right adjustments to his Yaris during the night. His compatriot Sami Pajari also stood out. Despite his youth and lack of experience at the wheel of a Rally1, the boy from Lahti made a good impression with a promising 1th place, 4 seconds behind Ott Tänak. A surprising Grégoire Munster completes the Top 9, 3 seconds behind.
• From his side Adrien fourmaux must be kicking himself. Author of the best time during the last special, the Northerner appears 1'01 from the leader. A gap due to a penalty of one minute for a check-in with 6 minutes of delay during the SS5 which is explained by an alternator failure that he had to change. Without this, he would currently be third in the general classification.
• Finally, the championship leader certainly lost less time than expected. Never in the running for a better time due to his position as opener, Thierry Neuville conceded 30 seconds on his compatriot and is 3th overall. A good omen for Saturday's day as Sébastien Ogier will start this time in front of him on the road after his misfortunes of the first loop. " I could never drive fast, regretted the Belgian. I just kept going. Every time I tried to push I lost the car (…) I think we made a mistake on the set-up. Maybe it was the right direction this afternoon but it was too late (…) Let’s see what we can improve for tomorrow when I should have a better position on the road. Maybe that will help. »

General classification

• In WRC2, Nikolay Gryazin remains the strong man. The Russian leads the way with a 10" lead over Oliver Solberg who must win to secure the title this weekend. Behind, Yohan Rossel gained a position during this second loop, pointing to 2rd place 3" behind Gryazin.

The resumption of the Rally of Chile is scheduled for 14:07 p.m. this Saturday with SS7, and will still be available to follow on AUTOhebdo.

The complete classification of the Rally of Chile

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