Elfyn Evans snatched the Rally Chile lead from Toyota World Rally Championship team-mate Sebastien Ogier after the Frenchman was forced to change a wheel on stage three.
Evans delivered strong pace throughout the morning’s gravel stages to head to midday service with a 2.2s lead over Toyota team-mate and reigning world champion Kalle Rovanpera.
Toyota protege Sami Pajari climbed to third [+6.6s} after Ogier’s drama, while Gregoire Munster’s fast and clean driving placed the M-Sport-Ford in fourth [+6.9s].
Hyundai’s Ott Tänak was fifth [+7.3s] ahead of Adrien Fourmaux [+7.4s] with championship leader Thierry Neuville in seventh [+13.8s] and team-mate Esapekka Lappi eighth [18.3s]. The top 10 was completed by WRC2 runners Nikolay Gryazin and Oliver Solberg, who could wrap up the title this weekend.
Only three cars successfully navigated through the rally’s opening stage (Pulperia, 19.72km) before officials were forced to cancel the test on spectator safety grounds.
Of the three cars to complete the stage, it was Ogier that set a blistering pace starting third on the road behind Neuville and Tanak.
Ogier was 9.1 faster than Tanak, who was in turn 1.4s faster than Neuville.
“All good, good start,” said Ogier who continued to offer little in stage-end interviews following his suspended €30,000 fine for comments made in Greece.
Neuville faced the brunt of the road sweeping having been first to tackle the stage.
“Really challenging to be honest, the grip is basically zero. It is like driving on ice at the beginning. We know what our target is” said Neuville, who could also mathematically sew up the title in Chile.
Officials red-flagged the stage shortly after Ogier had reached the stage end meaning the rest of the field had to navigate through the test in road mode, with Neuville’s time given as a notional time. However, that is subject to being revised after the second pass of the stage this afternoon.
The crews managed to pass through stage two (Rere 13.34km) without interruption and it was Evans who managed to tame the tricky loose gravel the best.
The Welshman was 2.3s faster than team-mates Rovanpera and Rally1 rookie Pajari to move to second overall, 6.6s behind rally leader Ogier.
Ogier ensured it was Toyota lockout at the top of the timesheets in fourth, 3.9s slower than Evans. The eight-time world champion once again refused to offer much in terms of comments at the stage-end.
Tanak seemingly followed Ogier’s stage-end comment protest although the Estonian was the quickest of the Hyundais, 4.1s shy of the pace, but ahead of the M-Sport duo of Fourmaux and Munster.
Lappi struggled to make the most of his advantageous road position with the Finn 6.6s adrift. He was however faster than Neuville, who felt the cleaning effect was much worse than the previous test.
M-Sport’s Martins Sesks was a tenth slower than Neuville in his non-hybrid powered Puma having elected to take a steady approach to his third Rally1 start.
The final stage of the morning loop (San Rosendo, 23.32km) provided the first moment of drama for the championship contenders.
Rally leader Ogier was pushing hard in the stage but ran wide at a fast right-hander and clipped a bank with the left rear of his GR Yaris, which knocked a tyre off the rim. Ogier dropped 1m48.5s after being forced to pull over and change a wheel.
This handed the rally lead to Evans, who came through the stage posting the second fastest time. Rovanpera knicked the stage win by a tenth of a second but the Finn admitted he was struggling on slippery road surface.
“Really bad to be honest, I don’t feel comfortable at all on these roads. I was expecting it a bit, but when it is dry like this it does not fit my usual driving style. I am fighting the car and my driving a lot,” said Rovanpera.
M-Sport’s Munster impressed to post the third fastest time ahead of Fourmaux, Pajari, Tanak and Neuville.
The stage didn’t appear to clean in the traditional way as more rocks were dragged onto the surface after every pass. The challenging conditions led to Lappi running wide and clipping a bank while Sesks fared even worse.
Sesks drifted well wide at a right-hander into bank which caused a double puncture. Carrying only one spare wheel, Sesks and co-driver Renars Francis opted to change the front left and limped to the finish with the rear left deflated, costing them more than five minutes.
Sesks pulled over to let WRC2 title rivals Oliver Solberg and Yohan Rossel through. The pair trailed early WRC2 leader Nikolay Gryazin ahead of the afternoon loop.
