Toyota’s Kalle Rovanpera secured victory at Rally Chile on Sunday, mastering dense fog and treacherous conditions (above) to clinch his fourth win of the 2024 FIA World Rally Championship season.
Driving a Toyota GR Yaris Rally1, the two-time and reigning WRC champ edged out his Toyota Gazoo Racing teammate Elfyn Evans by 23.4s, mastering the increasingly difficult and damp gravel roads across Chile’s Bio Bio region.
Rovanpera made a cautious start to the 11th round of the season, admitting that the Chilean gravel didn’t suit his driving style on Friday’s opening leg. But as the rally progressed, found his rhythm. The turning point came on Saturday afternoon when he overhauled Evans in near-zero visibility, navigating through thick fog high up the mountain stages to seize a 15.1s lead heading into the short final leg.
The 23-year-old Finn, who’s taking on only a part-time campaign in 2024 to recharge his rallying batteries, remained unflappable in equally difficult conditions on Sunday, outpacing Evans on all but one of the final four stages to secure the 15th victory of his WRC career.
“It feels really good,” said Rovanpera. “Big thanks to the team — the car and everything worked perfectly. The win actually feels like a good one, but Friday did not feel so good and the conditions were really difficult all weekend, so, yes, it feels really good.”
Hyundai Motorsport’s Ott Tanak completed the podium, trailing Evans by 20.5s in his i20 N Rally1. Despite the Estonian’s podium, Hyundai lost ground in the WRC manufacturers’ championship, with Toyota reducing the gap to just 17 points, courtesy of Rovanpera and Evans’ masterful performances and third factory entry Sebastien Ogier’s crucial Super Sunday maximum points haul.
Championship leader Thierry Neuville enjoyed a relatively drama-free run to fourth in his factory i20 N Rally1, a result which moves him even closer to a first drivers’ title as he tops the table by 29 points with just two rounds remaining. Neuville, a five-time runner-up in the WRC standings, can afford to lose a handful of points to both Evans and Ogier at next month’s Central European Rally and still lift the title there, providing he outscores teammate Tanak.
While Ogier salvaged every point available from Super Sunday, his hopes for a ninth WRC title now appear slim. The Frenchman, who had the speed to challenge for victory, retired his Toyota on Saturday with suspension damage after striking a rock and rejoined on Sunday purely to put on a charge and mop up the points on offer.
Adrien Fourmaux was M-Sport Ford’s top finisher in fifth, trailing Neuville by 1m1.6s. The Frenchman’s result could have been even stronger had it not been for a one-minute penalty incurred for a late check-in in his Puma Rally1 on Friday.
Toyota’s rising star Sami Pajari impressed by finishing sixth on just his second Rally1 outing, while Fourmaux’s M-Sport Ford teammate Gregoire Munster followed closely behind in seventh.
Esapekka Lappi had been on course to finish eighth, but was forced to retire on the penultimate stage after a spin damaged his Hyundai’s radiator. The retirement also marked the conclusion of Lappi’s co-driver Janne Ferm’s distinguished WRC career after 90 starts, two wins and 15 podiums.
In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, Yohan Rossel and Nikolay Gryazin’s 1-2 finish secured DG Sport Competition the 2024 WRC2 teams’ title.
Just 17.3s separated the Citroen C3 Rally2 pair. Frenchman Rossel was given a late advantage on Saturday night when event stewards awarded him a corrected time for Saturday’s penultimate stage, where he was held up behind WRC2 points leader Oliver Solberg, and he began Sunday’s final leg holding a 21.6s lead.
However, Rossel’s buffer steadily eroded as Gryazin closed in on Sunday’s four stages. A 10-second time penalty for a jump start only added to the tension, but Rossel kept his composure through the thick fog and treacherously muddy roads to claim victory. His win keeps his title hopes in the WRC2 drivers’ title alive.
Solberg, who had led earlier in the rally before suffering a costly wheel change on Saturday, could only manage fourth in class. The Toksport Skoda Fabia RS driver has now completed the maximum seven events allowed in WRC2, and although he currently leads the standings, the Swede will have to wait anxiously for the final two rounds to see whether Rossel or Sami Pajari, back in his WRC2 Yaris next time out, can overhaul him for the title.
[lawrence-related id=367856]
The WRC returns to Europe for its penultimate round, the Central European Rally, Oct. 17-20. Based out of the south-east German city of Bad Griessbach, the event will take crews on a multiple border-crossing journey on all-asphalt stages spanning Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic.
WRC Rally Chile, final positions after Leg Three, SS16
1 Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 2h58m59.8s
2 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +23.4s
3 Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +43.9s
4 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +1m01.1s
5 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria Ford Puma Rally1) +2m02.7s
6 Sami Pajari/Enni Malkonen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +2m39.7s
7 Gregoire Munster/Louis Louka (Ford Puma Rally1) +2m47.7s
8 Yohan Rossel/Florian Barral Citroen C3 – WRC2 winner) +8m31.4s
9 Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov (Citroen C3 – WRC2) +8m48.7s
10 Gus Greensmith/Jonas Andersson (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +8m52.1s
WRC Drivers’ Championship after 11 of 13 rounds
1 Neuville 207 points
2 Tanak 178
3 Ogier 166
4 Evans 161
5 Fourmaux 140
WRC Manufacturers’ Championship after 11 of 13 rounds
1 Hyundai Motorsport 482 points
2 Toyota Gazoo Racing 465
3 M-Sport Ford 245
Check out WRC.com, the official home of the FIA World Rally Championship. And for the ultimate WRC experience, sign up for a Rally.TV subscription to watch all stages of every rally live and on demand, whenever and wherever.