Although he did not speak much in front of the camera to protest against the reprimand received by his friend Sébastien Ogier in Greece, Ott Tänak nevertheless explained to what extent this terrain does not please his horse. As soon as the hard ground/low grip combination presents itself, the i20 is in trouble. The problem is recurring and the team plans to play 4 jokers next year to try to improve the phenomenon.
Meanwhile, this does not suit the Estonian at all. If he managed to better manage events during the 2e loop, he was still surprised to find himself at the head of the race. This did not last, however.
Spectators being poorly placed in SS1 at Pulperia, the race management decided to interrupt the special after 3 cars. As is often the case in this case, the other competitors first received a fixed time, that of Thierry Neuville, who, as “chief sweeper”, had experienced difficulties in this section. Considering that the fixed time was not correct, a request was made to the race management by the Toyota team.
The officials decided to modify the times of Evans, Kalle Rovanperä and Adrien Fourmaux. While this had no impact on the Frenchman who had been slowed by mechanical problems, it pushed Kalle back to 10” of the lead instead of 7”1. Finally, the most important concerns the leader. Ott Tänak finished his day 0”4 ahead of Elfyn Evans. He is now 3” behind. The Welshman will therefore be the last of the Rally1 crews to start, which will perhaps make the difference given the sweep announced on Saturday.
Ranking after the first stage of the Chile rally
