Day two of Rally Chile BioBio has come to an end. Ott Tänak leads the WRC1 class after the day.
SS1, Pulperia 1
Ott Tänak picked up where he left off in Chile, taking the first stage win of the event. Tänak posted a time 2.1 seconds faster than Teemu Suninen to win the stage. Elfyn Evans finished with the third fastest time on the stage, 2.8 seconds slower than Suninen. Pierre-Louis Loubet set the fourth fastest time on the stage, 2.5 seconds slower than Evans. Kalle Rovanperä rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 2.6 seconds slower than Loubet.
SS2, Rere 1
Elfyn Evans took the stage win of the second stage of Rally Chile BioBio. Posting a time 1.5 seconds faster than Kalle Rovanperä to take the stage win. Pierre-Louis Loubet finished third fastest on the stage, 0.4 seconds slower than Rovanperä. Thierry Neuville set the fourth fastest time on the stage, 0.6 seconds slower than Loubet. Teemu Suninen rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 0.4 seconds slower than Neuville.
SS3, Rio Claro 1
Eflyn Evans also took the stage win on SS3. Posting a time 0.9 seconds faster than Ott Tänak to win the stage. Teemu Suninen finished third fastest on the stage, 1.6 seconds slower than Tänak. Kalle Rovanperä set the fourth fastest time on the stage, 4.5 seconds slower than Suninen. Takamoto Katsuta rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 3.5 seconds slower than Rovanperä.
SS4, Pulperia 2
Teemu Suninen took home the stage win on the fourth stage of Rally Chile BioBio. Setting a time 3.7 seconds faster than Ott Tänak to take the rally lead. Thierry Neuville finished with the third fastest time on the stage, 2.4 seconds slower than Tänak. Takamoto Katsuta posted the fourth fastest time on the stage, 0.6 seconds slower than Neuville. Elfyn Evans rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 0.8 seconds slower than Katsuta.
SS5, Rere 2
2019 winner Ott Tänak took the stage win on SS5. Posting a time 2.5 seconds faster than Thierry Neuville to take the rally lead. Teemu Suninen finished third fastest on the stage, 2.4 seconds slower than Neuville. Elfyn Evans set the fourth fastest time on the stage, 0.2 seconds slower than Suninen. Championship leader Kalle Rovanperä rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 0.8 seconds slower than Evans.
SS6, Rio Claro 2
Ott Tänak took home the stage win on the final day of Rally Chile BioBio day two. With Tänak setting a time 3.1 seconds faster than Teemu Suninen to win the stage. Thierry Neuville finished third fastest on the stage, 0.7 seconds slower than Suninen. Elfyn Evans posted the fourth fastest time on the stage, 2.7 seconds slower than Neuville. Takamoto Katsuta rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 0.3 seconds slower than Evans.
Lappi Out
The first stage of an event normally doesn’t have much drama. However, this weekend it did. As Esapekka Lappi would roll out during SS1. Due to the roll, Lappi’s car suffered a lot of damage and is unable to be repaired, thus forcing him to retire from the event as a result.
Loubet Out
Pierre-Louis Loubet crashed out on stage 3 of Rally Chile BioBio. Loubet put up strong times on SS1&2. It’s unknown if Loubet will return for day three tomorrow.
Suninen’s First
Teemu Suninen took his first stage win of the season in a Rally1 car. Winning SS4 of Rally Chile BioBio. This would also promote Suninen into the rally lead. Making it the first time he’s led a rally in a rally1 car. Unfortunately for Suninen, “normal things” forced him out of the rally lead. He now sits second 4.2 seconds behind Tänak at the end of the day.
Not Rovanperä’s Day
Kalle Rovanperä has had a tough start to Rally Chile BioBio. The championship leader currently sits 5th overall, 11 seconds behind Thierry Neuville. This is unfortunate for Rovanperä who had a chance to win his second drivers championship this weekend. However, there are still 10 stages to go and lots of time for Rovanperä to find his pace. It’ll also help that Rovanperä won’t be on road sweeping duty tomorrow.
Hybrid Issue For Hyundai
Thierry Neuville reported he had no power from his Hybrid engine on SS6. This didn’t affect Neuville much, however, as the stage didn’t require much power from the Hybrid engine. Luckily the issue only arose for Neuville on the final stage of the day. It’s also suspected Suninen has had issues with the hybrid engine, however, he is being tight-lipped about the issue.