WRC Rally Chile: Rovanpera and Toyota have a chance of title glory

The World Rally Championship is set to return this weekend at the Rally Chile, for the first time since 2019, as both Toyota and Kalle Rovanpera have opportunities to secure their respective titles.

Team Championship to be secured?

As the sport heads to the South American west coast for the 11th round of 13, there stands a chance for Toyota to clinch the team championship.

Rovanpera helped the team secure maximum points last time out, at Rally Greece. The championship leader secured the rally lead and the fastest time in the Wolf Power Stage to give the finish driver 30 points to his name.

As a result, it means Toyota stands at the top of the team standings with 430 points, 91 points ahead of their closest rivals Hyundai. If the Japanese marquee outscore Hyundai by 13 points or more they will leave South America with yet another consecutive title to their name.

On the cusp of glory, Toyota Team Principal, Jari-Matti Latvala still believes there is ‘important work to do’ to claim both titles. Latvala said:

“After the great result for the team in Greece, it’s looking good for us in all the championships but with three events to go, there is still some important work to do to secure the titles and continue maximising our results.

“It’s going to be interesting to go back to Chile. I drove the rally with the team back in 2019 and it’s a much smoother and faster gravel event compared to Greece. The roads are a bit of a combination of the characteristics you can find in Finland, Wales and even New Zealand.”

The Drivers title Could be decided this weekend

At the time of writing, Rovanpera, Evans and Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville still remain in mathematical contention for the drivers title with only three rounds left to go.

The advantage lies at the feet of Rovanpera who stand 33 points ahead of his Welsh teammate, and 66 points ahead of Neuville. In turn, alongside Toyota’s title ambitions, it also means the Finnish world champion could add another title to his name.

90 points still remain up for grabs amongst the drivers still in contention for the WRC title. If the point differences are maintained at the end of the event, it will mean the title will remain within the team as it will knock Neuville out of the running.

In addition, at the end of the event, if the points difference between Evans and Rovanpera stands at 61 points or more it will provide Rovanpera with his second consecutive title.

First time to Chile since 2019

This weekend will be the first time back to the spine of South America, along the Pacific coastline, in Chile. The last time the WRC participated in the South American country was back in 2019, when Latvala competed with the Toyota team.

Last time out, Ott Tanak – who raced for the Japanese team then – secured the inaugural victory with five stage wins to his name and maximum points from the Wolf Power Stage. The Estonian failed to put a foot wrong all weekend to clench the first Rally Chile win.

Sebastien Ogier, who raced for Citroen then, and – then-Hyundai driver – Sebastien Loeb completed the inaugural podium in second and third respectively, 30 seconds behind the inaugural winner: Tanak.

That’s all for the article; WRC Rally Chile: Rovanpera and Toyota have a chance of title glory!

Read more WRC here:

• Rovanpera wins Rally Greece ahead of title rival Evans
• Neuville and Ogier take damage in Rally Greece as Rovanpera takes lead
• Neuville remains just ahead of Ogier after Day 2 in Rally Greece
• Rovanpera wins new Rally Greece super special stage in Athens
• Mikkelsen leads WRC2 after opening solo stage in Rally Greece
• WRC Rally Greece: Shakedown cancelled, who can eat into Rovapera’s lead

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.