– Third-to-last season race 2026 of the World Rally Championship (WRC): The Rally Chile, just two weeks after the Rally Paraguay the second gravel rally in South America, was tackled by the WRC stars on Friday with the first six of a total of 16 special stages (SS).
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The total distance of the six SS on the first day was exactly 100 kilometers. After the shakedown took place on Thursday under optimal conditions, rain showers during the night caused the gravel roads to be mostly muddy on Friday morning.
The three stages driven in the morning were driven again in the afternoon under better track conditions. In the morning, the three fastest times went consecutively to Oliver Solberg (Toyota), Elfyn Evans (Toyota), and Thierry Neuville (Hyundai). In the afternoon, Sami Pajari (Toyota), Sebastien Ogier (Toyota), and Solberg were the fastest in succession.
At the top of the standings after the Friday leg is Oliver Solberg. Teammate and championship leader Elfyn Evans is second with a 10.1-second deficit. Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai) is overnight third.
Fourmaux struggled with a technical problem in the morning that he could not explain. With only an 18.8-second deficit after the Friday leg, everything is still possible for him. Sebastien Ogier (Toyota) is right behind him with a further 1.7 seconds behind.
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Sami Pajari, who has won the last three rallies (Estonia, Finland, Paraguay), is currently fifth in the standings. Thierry Neuville, who had a damper problem in the afternoon, is overnight sixth. After 100 kilometers against the clock, the top 6 are within 28 seconds(!).
Esapekka Lappi (Hyundai) ranks ninth behind M-Sport Ford teammates Joshua McErlean and Jon Armstrong. Lappi touched a bank on SS2 but was lucky to continue the rally. Tenth is currently the leader in the WRC2 classification, namely Nikolay Gryazin (Lancia).
Less lucky than Lappi was Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota). The Japanese misjudged directly on SS1, put his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 into the undergrowth, and had to give up the day early. Katsuta himself and James Fulton, who is his co-driver this time, remained uninjured.
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On Saturday, the WRC drivers in Chile have to cover just under 140 kilometers against the clock, again spread over six special stages (SS7 to SS12).
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