Sébastien Ogier wants at all costs to try to bring home the ninth world title of his WRC career and at the Rally Chile he started with a knife between his teeth.
The Toyota Gazoo Racing driver won the Special Stage 1, the 19.72 kilometer Pulperia 1 which was then interrupted after three cars reached the finish line due to the inappropriate behavior of the spectators, inflicting huge gaps on all his rivals.
However, it should be considered that, apart from Ott Tanak and Thierry Neuville, all the other drivers were assigned an official time for not having taken part in the test competitively. The result, however, is an important leadership in the hands of the Gap champion.
In the second special, the Rere 1 of 13.34 kilometres, it was Elfyn Evans who won, but Ogier, also thanks to the fourth time, remained ahead of everyone in the general classification with an advantage of 6″6 over the first of his rivals, his the Welsh teammate.
Great start in general for the 4 Toyota GR Yaris Rally1, because in SS2 they signed a poker, while in the general classification they occupy the first three positions and the fifth with the rookie Sami Pajari, a good fifth just 2 tenths from the first Hyundai, that of Ott Tanak who is in fourth place.
Ogier, therefore, immediately made his objectives clear: to try to win the rally to keep the World Championship discussion open, hoping in the meantime that Thierry Neuville makes a mistake. The Belgian, meanwhile, struggled as expected to open the special stages. He is currently ninth and already 14.9 seconds behind the Frenchman.
As if that wasn’t enough, in open dispute with the FIA for the (suspended) fine imposed on him by the commissioners of the Acropolis Rally at the beginning of the month, Ogier did not speak to RallyTV’s microphones at the end of the test, precisely in protest by virtue of the fine received in Greece.
Returning to Neuville, he only managed to get behind Martins Sesks, and by just 1 tenth. In front of him, 1″7 behind, is his teammate Esapekka Lappi and, at 2″4, the first Ford Puma Rally1 available, that of Gregoire Munster. For the Belgian, however, it won’t be easy to recover positions, barring mistakes from those in front of him.
In WRC2, Nikolay Gryazin made an excellent start with the first Citroen C3 Rally2. The Russian, who races under a Bulgarian licence, has a 1″7 advantage over Gus Greensmith’s Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 and a 4″6 margin over the first Toyota GR Yaris Rally2. that of the Spaniard Jan Solans.
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