Estonian Ott Tänak won the Chile Rally on Sunday, the 11th round of 13 of the WRC world championship, with Finnish Kalle Rovanperä failing to secure his second consecutive world crown at the end of this event as he could have. hope. Tänak, who won his second victory of the season and the 19th of his WRC career, dominated the South American rally at the wheel of his M-Sport/Ford, ahead of Belgian Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) at the finish by some 42 seconds and the British Elfyn Evans (Toyota) by 1 min 7 sec. “It's good to finally have a good result,” Tänak said at the finish after not being spared from bad luck this year which saw him win the Swedish Rally in February. “There are even Estonians here, which is surprising! » he exclaimed with all his characteristic reserve.
Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota) could not do better than 4th and saw Evans take back two points in the championship to find himself 31 points behind him while there were still two events to run and 60 points to distribute. The young Finn – who celebrated his 23rd birthday on Sunday – however managed to limit the damage by winning the last special, the Power Stage, pocketing 5 additional points in the championship. “It hasn't been the best week for us,” he noted, lamenting having to open the road on Friday due to his leading position in the championship. “I was going hard but when you don’t have the right trajectory everywhere, it’s impossible to stay clean.”
Toyota is however assured, thanks to the results of its drivers in Chile, of retaining its title of manufacturers' world champion with two events remaining. If Tänak was never really worried, things were more uncertain behind him. The unlucky one of the day is the Finn Teemu Suninen (Hyundai) who went out in the penultimate special while he was second. Suninen and his co-driver Mikko Markkula emerged from the accident unscathed and Neuville found himself in comfortable second, although far from Tänak.
Evans was comfortably in 3rd place and relegated Rovanperä to the finish line by more than 1 minute, but was unable to finish ahead of him during the Power Stage, where he settled for second place and therefore 4 additional points. in the championship for 5 in Rovanperä. He now has 217 points and Evans 186, ahead of Neuville (155) and Tänak (146) who no longer have a chance in the championship.
This is the second victory for Tänak, 35, in Chile after that of 2019, the year which saw him become world champion while racing for Toyota. The Chile Rally made its return to the WRC calendar this year after four years of absence. Next up is the Central European Rally, straddling Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic, from October 26-29.
Rankings for the Chile Rally, 11th round of 13 in the WRC World Championship, and the World Championship:
1. Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (EST, M-Sport/Ford) 3:06:38.1
2. Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (BEL, Hyundai) at 42.1
3. Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (GBR, Toyota) at 1:06.9
4. Kalle Rovanperä/Jonne Halttunen (FIN, Toyota) à 2:11.0
5. Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (JAP/IRL, Toyota) 4:41.5
…
Special stage winners:
Ott Tänak (ES1, ES5, ES6, ES8, ES9, ES11, ES12), Thierry Neuville (ES13, ES14, ES15), Elfyn Evans (ES2, ES3), Kalle Rovanperä (ES7, ES10, ES16) Teemu Suninen (ES4)
Principal abandons: Esapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm (FIN, Hyundai), Pierre-Louis Loubet/Nicolas Gilsoul (FRA, M-Sport/Ford, Teemu Suninen/Mikko Markkula (FIN, Hyundai).
World Championship standings after 11 out of 13 rounds:
1. Kalle Rovanperä/Jonne Halttunen: 217 points
2. Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin 186
3. Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe 155
4. Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja 146
5. Sébastien Ogier/Vincent Landais 99
…
Next event: Central Europe Rally October 26-29
