MotoGP
Rally Chile 2019
14h
The crews now head to the El Puma special, the longest route of the Rally Chile with 30,72km timed. Neuville is expected to start from 15:33 p.m.
14h
Kris Meeke and Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota) signed the scratch by completing the first special of the Rally of Chile, the 17,11km of El Pinar, in 11'35''9. Elfyn Evans (M-Sport) was closest, following at 2 seconds, Sébastien Ogier (Citroën) following the Welshman by half a second after going wide after a bridge. Ott Tänak (Toyota) was trapped in the same place and finished almost 3 seconds behind his teammates.
Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) failed 3”6 from the benchmark by sweeping the special. The Belgian finished ahead of his teammates Andreas Mikkelsen and Sébastien Loeb. Teemu Suninen (M-Sport) finished a dozen seconds behind. Esapekka Lappi (Citroën) has already lost around twenty seconds after a slight exit without consequences for his C3 WRC.
14h
Suninen fails 12s behind Latvala and Meeke.
14h
Loeb failed about ten seconds from the provisional scratch at the end of this first course. The Alsatian signs the 8th fastest time. “It went well, but the road was slippery. »
14h
Lappi finally fails 21s from the provisional benchmark and already finds himself behind the lead of the race. “We went wide after a ford. I had to reverse but we didn't hit anything. »
14h
Lappi is late after losing around twenty seconds when stopping in the special. The Citroën driver is no longer very far from the finish.
14h
Latvala equalizes his teammate Meeke's time! “It's not an easy SS because we discovered it in the fog during reconnaissance. We will move forward step by step. »
14h
Mikkelsen is the slowest at the finish, almost 8 seconds behind the provisional reference.
14h
Evans is also in the mix being the closest to Meeke with 2″1 behind. “It wasn’t perfect but it’s okay. »
14h
Meeke takes the provisional scratch with a 2″6 lead over Ogier. Neuville is 3″6 behind the Northern Irishman. “It was really slippery, it wasn’t easy. You had to be very focused on the grades. »
14h
Tänak failed just 3 tenths behind Ogier, ahead of Neuville by 7 tenths. “I had to stop after the bridge... It wasn't pleasant to drive in these conditions, we will have to improve the car. »
14h
Meeke is currently the fastest in the special, being the only one faster than Ogier.
14h
Ogier improves Neuville's time by one second despite his mistake. “It's more pleasant to ride without the fog that we had during the reconnaissance. I almost stalled at one point, the conditions are still tricky. »
14h
The rain that fell yesterday disrupted the crews who had to get their bearings after reconnaissance carried out in the dry.
14h
Neuville signs a first reference in 11'39″5. “It wasn't a very good start for me. I had a hard time. My grades were not optimal. I didn't feel confident. »
14h
Tänak was trapped in the same place as Ogier. The Toyota driver was also able to resume his race without losing too much time.
14h
Slight error from Ogier who shot straight after a bridge at low speed. The Citroën driver was able to resume his journey immediately.
14h
The weather is dry but the earth is very loose with some patches of humidity. The road seems rather slippery.
13h
Neuville sets off in the first ES of the day! The sun only rises in Chile!
12h
The strategies are identical in WRC with 5 medium tires for all crews for this first pass.
