Rally Chile 2019
16h
Ott Tänak (Toyota) took the scratch in SS2 of the Chile Rally, the 30,72km of El Puma which constitutes the longest course of the event. The crews all suffered from a very slippery road. Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) will have a fixed time, the special having been interrupted for safety reasons when he had just started.
With a time of 21'10''4, Ott Tänak was ahead of Sébastien Ogier (Citroën) by more than 3 seconds. Behind, the gaps are greater. Kris Meeke (Toyota) followed around fifteen seconds ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota), Elfyn Evans (M-Sport) and Sébastien Loeb (Hyundai). Teemu Suninen (M-Sport) failed by more than half a minute while preceding Andreas Mikkelsen (Hyundai) and Esapekka Lappi (Citroën).
Ott Tänak provisionally takes the lead in the Rally Chile, the ranking remaining provisional due to Thierry Neuville's fixed time. Sébastien Ogier follows less than 3 seconds behind. Kris Meeke is a dozen seconds behind, ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala and Elfyn Evans. Sébastien Loeb is almost half a minute from the lead in the race ahead of Andreas Mikkelsen, Teemu Suninen and Esapekka Lappi.
16h
Suninen finished 8th, 36 seconds behind Tänak. “It was really slippery but I had a really bad pace. » The M-Sport driver remains 9th, coming back to 3 tenths behind Mikkelsen.
16h
Loeb did better with the 6th time, 20 seconds from the provisional reference. “It’s very slippery in the special. There were some big rocks that you had to watch out for. » The Hyundai driver is a dozen seconds behind Evans in the general classification.
16h
Lappi is suffering even more with more than 43 seconds behind the provisional scratch. The Citroën driver is more than a minute from the lead in the race in 2 SS. “It’s not really dirt. We have absolutely no grip. »
16h
Latvala signs the 4th provisional time, just over 16 seconds behind his teammate Tänak. “I had no grip anywhere. I knew I was going to lose time, I just had to be at the finish. » The Finn finds himself one second behind Meeke in the general classification.
16h
Mikkelsen finished 40s behind the provisional reference. The Hyundai driver is not there. " It's very hard. I have no grip and I totally lack confidence. It reminds me of the worry I had in Finland. »
16h
Evans failed 16″7 behind Tänak, just over a second behind Meeke. The M-Sport driver is just over 3s behind the Northern Irishman in the general classification. “It’s very complicated, especially in terms of the state of the road grip. »
16h
Meeke fails more than 15 seconds behind his teammate Tänak and finds himself around ten seconds behind Ogier in the general classification. “I suffered in this SS. I had trouble keeping up with my notes and finding grip. »
16h
Tänak only improves Ogier's time by 3″2, who gets away with it as he is less than 3 seconds behind the Toyota in the general classification. “It was very complicated. The special stage was very hard, the road was rough. I'm not riding very well at the moment. »
16h
Ogier sets a time of 21'13″6, the first reference of the special since Neuville saw the course interrupted. “A tough special, beautiful but tricky to grasp in terms of grip. »
16h
Meeke is struggling to keep up with his teammate Tänak, 7s behind the Estonian in the 4th split. Ogier is 4s behind the leading Toyota helot in the 6th sector.
16h
Tänak is now ahead of Ogier by 8 tenths in the 3rd sector.
15h
Tänak gets closer to 4 tenths of Ogier in the 2nd split. Meeke is 3s behind the Frenchman in the first split.
15h
Ogier has around 2s ahead of Tänak in the first partial.
15h
Ogier sets off at full speed in SS2 which is operational again. Neuville should receive a fixed time, which could benefit him due to his position as fly-half.
15h
The commissioners indicated that the special was interrupted for safety reasons concerning spectators.
15h
During the interruption of the SS, here is an update on the WRC 2 rankings.
Ostberg leads the WRC 2 Pro with almost 3 seconds ahead of Rovanperä. Greensmith follows at 11s. Katsuta leads WRC 2.
15h
The reason for the interruption is still unknown. Neuville was the first driver to start the special.
15h
No worries for Neuville. The special is interrupted by the marshals.
15h
Neuville is slow in the special!
