Rally Chile – A high-tension Sunday in WRC2

With 4 competitors in 14'' on Friday evening, it was clear that the WRC2 in Chile was far from over. Having been in the background until then and looking for a good feeling, Oliver Solberg adopted a completely different pace on Saturday morning. After the loop of three SS, he returned to the service park as leader. I need to increase my lead ", he said. Although he did not set the best time in the first time trial of the afternoon, that did not prevent him from increasing the gap on his main rivals. In the 10^e ES, a slow puncture forced him to stop to replace the wheel. I quickly felt that something was wrong.he explained. The car was behaving strangely… It’s really annoying. Why now? » After changing wheels, the Swede achieved an ultra-fast end to the special stage and a scratch in the following one, and reached the closed park 1'21'' behind the leader Yohan Rossel.

Third in ambush on Friday evening, the Gardois once again had a splendid day that started off with a bang with the best time on SS7. With Florien Barral at his side, he led the race for two times in the morning (SS7 to 8) then he managed to negotiate the sectors shrouded in fog well during the 2^e loop. Stuck behind the Nordique's Skoda RS after the latter changed his wheel, Yohan had to fight both the fog and the dust! "We told him we were there, he said. I thought he was going to let us pass, but since he didn't, I preferred to slow down in order to have a minimum of visibility. "After a correction of his time, he was the one leading the category on Saturday.

For Oliver Solberg, the goal for Sunday is simple: to return to the podium. On paper, making up 1'21''9 in 54,8 km to win looks very complicated, but he is sure that he will try. I have no choice, he said last night, still smiling. I don't know if I can overtake 3 competitors. With a bit of luck maybe. I have to be on the podium and the title will still be possible. "Since six out of seven results are retained, the count will have to be included when calculating the totals at the end of this race. In the event of victory, Yohan Rossel will have the opportunity to score 7 points in Central Europe, but he will also have to remove 25 from his score with his worst position (Portugal), which could play into Oliver's hands depending on his place in Chile.

All these uncertainties are added to the changeable weather in the Biobio region and this promises once again an exciting stage in WRC2.

Ranking at the end of the 2nd stage of the rally from Chile