Ott Tanak steps closer to consecutive WRC Rally Chile victory

30th September 2023 0 By Kamron Kent

M-Sport Ford’s Ott Tanak played yet another tyre strategy masterstroke on the second day of WRC’s Rally Chile as the Estonian steps even closer to back-to-back wins in Chile.

After Tanak ran exclusively on the soft compound tyres, on Friday, the Estonian opted to go for the hard tyre runs. On the other hand, other drivers opted for the more aggressive tyre choice such as Toyota’s championship leader, Kalle Rovanpera who started the morning loop equipped with soft tyres.

Despite this, Tanak’s decision to run four hard tyres enabled him to grow his rally lead from 4.2s prior to the first speed test to a whopping 47.8s over Hyundai’s second-placed Teemu Suninen by the afternoon service. Saturday’s stages were much more abrasive compared to Friday’s which ate into the tyre life of the soft-tyre runners whereas Tanak’s hard tyres, bolstered by a longer lifespan and more durability, were able to excel.

For the remainder of the day, and with a healthy lead, it allowed Tanak and his co-driver Martin Jävrveoja to manage their pace to the trailing Finn.

Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville soon found himself up into podium contention – in third – as Toyota’s Elfyn Evans dropped away and down to fourth place, following the same tyre strategy of his championship rival Rovanpera. Evans suffered two delaminations on the last stage of the morning loop and finished the day 10.7 seconds behind Neuville, who had suffered a puncture early on.

Rovanpera rounded out the top five, having benefitted from the soft Pirelli rubber on stage seven where he secured his first stage win of the weekend, and was forced to nurse his tyres home to the service park after the morning loop. The Finn finished the second day of running two minutes behind Tanak’s pace and over half a minute behind Evans.

Takamoto Katusta, Toyota, was the last of the WRC Rally1 contenders in the top 10 in sixth. The Japanese driver followed suit with his other teammates with the soft tyre choice and, as did his teammates, lived to regret the decision. By the end of stage 12, Katsuta remained in a lonely sixth place four minutes off the pace and two minutes behind Rovanpera.

Oliver Solberg led the WRC2 support category in seventh place ahead of fellow competitors Gus Greensmith, Sami Pajari and Yohan Rossell who occupied eighth, ninth and 10th respectively.

Ford’s Rally1 debutants, Gregoire Munster and Alberto Heller found themselves down in 16th and 18th to complete the Rally1 drivers.

That’s all for the article; Ott Tanak steps closer to consecutive WRC Rally Chile victory!

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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.

CategoryNews Rallying WRC