Rally Chile – Day Two
Another intense day at Rally Chile, the 11th round of the 2023 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) season, ends with Hyundai Motorsport occupying two provisional podium positions with Teemu Suninen/Mikko Markkula in second and Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe in third.
Photo:Hyundaimotorsport
Tyre strategy proved to be the defining factor on Saturday’s stages: Chivilingo (SS7/10, 27.19km), Rio Lia (SS8/SS11, 21.09km) and Maria de las Cruces (SS9/12, 28.72km). The morning loop featured a number of different approaches in the WRC field; Suninen/Markkula chose three hard and two soft for the first three stages, while Neuville/Wydaeghe carried three of each. With tyre degradation higher than anticipated on the abrasive roads, the hard compound emerged as the most advantageous.
Suninen/Markkula started the day battling with oversteer in their Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid, which resulted in the crew losing a position to Elfyn Evans on SS7 Chivilingo 1. Their subsequent tyre management proved critical, and the Finns later regained second place at the end of the morning loop following tyre troubles for Evans.
It was a more promising day for Neuville/Wydaeghe, despite an early puncture on the first stage dropping them down to fifth overall. They reclaimed their overnight position on the following stage, SS8 Rio Lia 1, before they were promoted into third place after the longest stage of the rally, SS9 Maria de las Cruces 1.
Following the dramatic events of the first loop, every WRC crew elected to run six hard tyres for the afternoon repeat of the demanding stages. The Finnish Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team duo were flying on SS11 Rio Lia, setting the second fastest time with a brave run. A conservative drive on the final stage sees the #3 Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid crew head into Sunday with a 58.3-second gap to the rally leader.
Although Neuville had gained third place by mid-day service, it was by no means a done deal. The gap to Evans ebbed and flowed as they tackled the loose gravel roads for a second time, narrowing to just 5.7 seconds on the penultimate stage. The Belgian, who had a minor scare when his car struggled to fire up on the start line of SS12 Maria de las Cruces, was on a mission on the last stage – despite running off line and clipping the barrier, Neuville was able to extend his margin to Evans to 10.7 seconds.
Crew Notes: Teemu Suninen/Mikko Markkula (#3 Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid)
- Finns continued solid performance with measured approach on Saturday
- Crew added two further top-three stage times to Chile tally
Suninen said: “It was a nice battle today; I think it was all about keeping the mind calm and focusing on all the different things, and managing the tyres. We saw clearly if you attacked on the first stint you were losing time. Overall I think it was a good day from us, but it was really tricky. The road surface is changing junction to junction, corner to corner, requiring constant management. In some sections you really had to use the tyres or you would have been so much slower, which was intense. It would be great to finish second tomorrow; I think it would prove something from my side, but there is still one long day to go. It only counts afterwards when we finish the rally and the results come in, so we still have to keep focused.”
Crew Notes: Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (#11 Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid)
- Moved into provisional podium places after eventful morning loop
- Belgians set second fastest time on both runs of Maria de la Cruces (SS9/12)
Neuville said: “We were trying to do the job as best as we could today, but I think I did a little bit too much tyre management in the middle stage of the second loop. We got a little bit closer to second place, which was the target, but it was not a problem-free afternoon. We lost the hybrid between the first and second stage of the afternoon, and on the last one I lost all power and had to do a reset, so we were late leaving the start line. Unfortunately that lost us a few seconds, but it is what it is. Tomorrow is going to be another challenge with two shorter stages, but we’re going to do the maximum we can. It is not going to be easy, as there is a high risk of fog, which could turn around the whole classification if it is really impactful.”
Hyundai Motorsport Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul said: “We can be proud today – not only of our crews, but also the entire team. We’ve gained two positions from Toyota thanks to some great driving by the crews and taking the right decisions on tyre choice. It makes things a bit more exciting when there are elements you need to manage as a team but we should not deny the fact that Ott is very quick and pulling away from us. We have one more day to go, shorter than we’ve seen today, but still mistakes can be made, in particular if the fog is heavy, so we need to keep it simple and focus on securing those positions.”
Sunday at a glance
- Rally Chile will conclude with four final stages split by a service, covering a competitive distance of 54.12km
- Las Pataguas (SS13/15, 13.20km) and El Poñen (SS14/16, 13.86km) will round out a thrilling edition of the South American event
Classification after Day Two
| 1 | O. Tänak | M. Järveoja | Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid | 2:36:16.2 |
| 2 | T. Suninen | M. Markkula | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid | +58.3 |
| 3 | T. Neuville | M. Wydaeghe | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid | +1:12.2 |
| 4 | E. Evans | S. Martin | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid | +1:22.9 |
| 5 | K. Rovanperä | J. Halttunen | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid | +2:02.2 |
| 6 | T. Katsuta | A. Johnston | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid | +4:07.2 |
