The eve of the Rally Chile, the penultimate round of the 2024 WRC, was enlivened in the Italian afternoon by the Shakedown, the test stage completed on the 6.79-kilometer route called ‘Conuco’.
The Shakedown of the South American event has showcased several strategies related to the use of tyres, because in the first two stages these should prove to be fundamental.
The fastest overall time was achieved by Esapekka Lappi in 3:18.2. The Hyundai Motorsport driver achieved the benchmark time on his second run, with Martins Sesks finishing second behind him.
The Latvian driver from M-Sport, on the other hand, set his best time on the third of three laps, being 2.2 seconds slower than the Finn from Hyundai. Sami Pajari was very close to him, third with the first Toyota GR Yaris Rally1. The Finn, on his second appearance at the wheel of a hybrid Rally1, was only 4 tenths slower.
Kalle Rovanpera set the provisional best time on the first run, but did not improve on the next two, finishing in fourth place, 3.9 seconds behind Lappi and 1.9 seconds behind the second Hyundai i20 N Rally1, driven by Ott Tanak.
Elfyn Evans, sixth in the official Toyota GR Yaris Rally1, is sixth and 2.6″ faster than Thierry Neuville. The World Championship leader, together with Evans, Gregoire Munster and Sébastien Ogier, achieved his best time on the first pass. Behind him is the second Ford Puma Rally1, that of Munster, while Sébastien Ogier completed the overall Top 10, also finishing behind the Citroen C3 Rally2 of Nikolay Gryazin.
It is unclear whether Ogier’s Yaris had any problems, but it seems that not everything went smoothly for the 8-time world champion. Adrien Fourmaux, who was 16th, tried a different tire management to understand how to approach the first two stages. So he sacrificed at least part of today’s test to be ready tomorrow.
Rally Chile will start tomorrow with the first special stage, PS1 Pulperia 1 of 19.72 kilometers. The first car will enter the special stage at 13:35 in Italy.
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