Rally Chile 2024, SS6: Tänak leader, but what a mistake by Ogier! | FP

The first day of the Chile Rally, the third to last round of the 2024 world championship, could have ended with Sébastien Ogier in the role of absolute protagonist of the South American stage. The Frenchman, determined to redeem himself after the dissatisfaction accumulated in the last Acropolis Rally, however made a mistake just as he was pushing to defend the leadership gained in the first special stages, throwing away the possibility of finishing in front of everyone and called to a complex comeback between now and the next two days.

SS1-SS3: the first twist

The first morning of the Chile Rally therefore seemed to smile on Ogier, determined to make up ground on the classification leader Thierry Neuville so as not to lose his hopes of a ninth world championship title. The confirmations arrived already during the SS1, with the Toyota driver setting the best time and with considerable gaps over his pursuers despite the suspension of the stage due to the inappropriate behavior of some spectators. The episode forced the Race Direction to provide official times to the drivers who had not yet started, but despite the 4th place in the SS2 Ogier permanently maintained the leadership of the general classification, closing a top-4 made up of only Toyota standard bearer and captained by Elfyn Evans, author of the best time. Neuville is in more difficulty, only 9th, at least until the SS3: right here, in the San Rosendo 1 special stage, Ogier made a mistake by going long and hitting a bank of dirt, puncturing the left rear tire. An episode that forced the driver to stop shortly afterwards to replace the tyre, in a test won by Rovanperä and with Evans new leader of the standings. A low blow for Ogier, relegated to fifteenth position and which inevitably favored at the same time a small comeback from Neuville, 7th and with the fight for the title benefiting the Belgian from Hyundai.

SS4-SS6: Ogier’s comeback begins

With all the determination to get back into the top ten in the shortest time possible, Ogier succeeded in his mission already in SS4, immediately setting the best time and climbing back into the top-10 also due to an error by Rovanperä. An unscheduled move that allowed Tänak to catch up with Evans in the general classification, until he took the lead at the end of SS5 despite Ogier’s second victory. The overtaking also occurred due to the disaster of Adrien Fourmaux, 2nd in the time classification but subsequently penalized by one minute for showing up late for the time check after an alternator failure. In this way, Hyundai took the lead with Tänak, while Neuville, although still in difficulty, moved up to sixth place. In the last test of the day Ogier did not complete his trio of consecutive victories, with Fourmaux making amends after the penalty by setting the best time. The general classification awaiting Friday’s tests is incredible, with Tänak maintaining the advantage over Evans, but by only 4 tenths. Virtual podium completed by Rovanperä, with world leader Neuville 6th and Ogier 9th at the end of a bitter Friday for the Frenchman.

Rally Chile 2024, ranking after SS6 (Top-10)