Day 1
M-Sport’s Ott Tanak emerged from an eventful Friday leading Rally Chile from Hyundai’s Teemu Suninen as the World Rally Championship returned to the South American nation after a four-year hiatus.
Toyota’s Elfyn Evans led the rally after the morning loop but the effects of his elevated road position dropped the Welshman to third, 12.7s adrift.
Elsewhere Hyundai driver Esapekka Lappi has suffered a heavy roll on the opening stage of Rally Chile, ending any hopes of a strong points haul.
Also after an impressive start to the rally, Loubet was sitting fourth heading into stage three when he went off the road at high-speed.
Day 2
M-Sport’s Ott Tanak produced a faultless drive to take a comfortable Rally Chile lead over Hyundai’s Teemu Suninen into the final day of the World Rally Championship event.
An inspired tyre call across the morning loop helped Tanak increase his lead to 47.8s, before a masterclass in tyre management maintained his momentum in the afternoon.
Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville ended the day in third (+1m03.0s) after surviving a couple of wild moments. The Belgian had 10.7s in hand over Toyota’s Elfyn Evans, who dropped from second to fourth after Toyota’s tyre strategy miscue in the morning.
Day 3
Tanak delivered a masterclass in speed and tyre management to score his and the British team’s second win of 2023.
The 2019 world champion won seven of the 16 tricky gravel stages to complete the rally with a 42.1-second margin over Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville, who snatched second after late drama struck team-mate Teemu Suninen.
Neuville pushed on Sunday, winning the first two stages before inheriting second when Suninen clipped a tree stump and damaged his front-right suspension on stage 15.
Suninen retired on the spot, which promoted Evans, who led the rally at Friday’s midpoint service, to third (+1m06.9s).
Crucially, he finished ahead of title rival Rovanpera, who headed to Chile with a slim chance of sealing a second world title. His championship lead over Evans has been reduced to 31 points with two rounds remaining.
Toyota’s Katsuta produced a solid drive to finish fifth overall, with his points helping Toyota secure a third consecutive manufacturers’ crown.
Oliver Solberg came through an eventful rally to finish sixth to claim the WRC2 class win from Toksport Skoda team-mate Gus Greensmith. The rest of the top 10 was covered by Pajari, Rossel & Gryazin.
