The third and final day of Rally Chile Bio Bio 2024 has come to an end. Kalle Rovanperä held on to take the event win.
SS13, Laraquete 1
Sebastien Ogier kicked off the final day with a stage win. As the Frenchman set a time 5.6 seconds faster than Kalle Rovanperä to take the stage win. Elfyn Evans finished with the third fastest time on the stage, 9.2 seconds slower than Ogier and 4.2 seconds slower than Rovanperä. Esapekka Lappi was fourth fastest on the stage, 1.6 seconds slower than Evans. Ott Tänak rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 0.6 seconds slower than Lappi.
SS14, Bio Bio 1
Sebastien Ogier also took home the fastest time on the fourteenth stage of Rally Chile Bio Bio 2024. With a time 0.2 seconds faster than Kalle Rovanperä to top the stage. Ott Tänak finished third fastest on the stage, 0.3 seconds slower than Ogier and 0.1 seconds slower than Rovanperä. Elfyn Evans set the fourth fastest time on the stage, 0.9 seconds slower than Tänak. Thierry Neuville rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 2.2 seconds slower than Evans.
SS15, Laraquete 2
Sebastien Ogier was also the fastest driver on SS15. With the Toyota driver setting a time 1.5 seconds faster than Elfyn Evans to top the stage. Thierry Neuville finished with the third fastest time on the stage, 2.2 seconds slower than Ogier and 0.7 seconds slower than Evans. Kalle Rovanperä was fourth fastest on the stage, 0.1 seconds slower than Neuville. Ott Tänak rounded out the top five on the stage, 1.3 seconds slower than Rovanperä.
SS16, Bio Bio 2 Wolf Powerstage
Sebastien Ogier also took home the stage win on the sixteenth stage of Rally Chile Bio Bio 2024 to complete a clean sweep of the day. Ogier would set a time 0.1 seconds faster than Kalle Rovanperä to top the stage. Ott Tänak finished with the third fastest on the stage, 2.3 seconds slower than Ogier and 2.2 seconds slower than Rovanperä. Thierry Neuville was fourth fastest on the stage, 1.3 seconds slower than Tänak. Elfyn Evans rounded out the top five on the stage, 0.1 seconds slower than Neuville.
Championship Rundown
Thierry Neuville continues to hold the championship lead after Rally Chile Bio Bio 2024. However, Neuville would lose points to his Hyundai stablemate Ott Tänak. As Neuville now only holds a 29-point lead over the Estonian compared to the 34-point lead he had heading into the event. Sebastien Ogier remains third in the championship, now 41 points behind Neuville and 12 points behind Tänak. Elfyn Evans also remains in the same position, as he is still fourth, now 5 points behind Ogier. Adrien Fourmaux rounds out the top five in the championship, with the Frenchman sitting 21 points behind Evans.
Driver Quotes
Toyota
Jari-Matti Latvala – Team Principal
“This is a great result for our team. A perfect Sunday for the first time this season feels really good, especially after the devastating blows we felt on the final days of the past two events. Our drivers did a magnificent job today pushing until the end of the last stage. This result will boost the whole team and give them extra motivation for the two remaining events. Kalle and Elfyn both drove really well the whole weekend and either would have deserved to win the rally. Seb did really quick times on every stage he did and thanks to his speed and his fighting spirit today, we take away really important points for the manufacturers’ championship. Lastly, Sami did exactly what we were looking for this weekend, driving consistently and bringing the car home with a really mature performance, gaining more and more experience. So, all in all, it has been a really positive rally for us.”
Kalle Rovanperä – 1st Overall
“This win feels really good for us. It was a tough weekend and it always feels good when you’ve really had to fight for a victory. It wasn’t easy at any point with all of the weather and everything, but we did a good job. On Friday I wasn’t feeling so comfortable, but we made it through without any big mistakes and when conditions became difficult we could make some big gaps. It was important to push today as well and together with our team-mates we scored really important points for the manufacturers’ championship and we can be very happy with that. A big thanks to the team: the car was really strong this weekend.”
Elfyn Evans – 2nd Overall
“It’s been a good weekend more or less from the start to the end. We showed some good performance and it’s an amazing result for the team and I’m happy to be a part of that. The conditions didn’t go in our favour yesterday but Kalle did well with the strategy and has driven really well, so congratulations to him. Today we had more wet conditions and quite a bit of fog around too, but we managed to get through cleanly with no issues and still some decent speed. The result has really helped in the manufacturers’ championship and we just need to focus on continuing in the same way now until the end of the year.”
Sami Pajari – 6th Overall
“It’s really nice to reach the finish of this rally. Thank you to the team, because it has been such a pleasure to drive this great car again. Friday was quite promising for us and we could show some pace. Then there was a lot of learning on the following two days with tricky conditions but that’s part of the game. To get safely through the whole rally was the main plan, so we need to be happy with that and at least we could show good pace on some of the stages. Now I can’t wait for Central European Rally which will be another new challenge with a lot to learn.”
Sebastien Ogier – 36th Overall
“t’s nice to finish the weekend on a positive note and really help the team today to bring the manufacturers’ championship back alive. I still feel a bit disappointed with myself and the mistakes we made on the previous days which were very costly, because we had amazing speed and won most of the stages we finished. But that’s not enough in rallying: you need to put it all together and we didn’t do that this weekend. I had a lot of fun driving the car and I want to thank the team for all their efforts improving the car, as it’s never felt so good on gravel. We are going in the right direction and we will keep on pushing up to Rally Japan.”
Hyundai
Cyril Abiteboul- Team Principal
“This has been a very difficult rally for us, and a complete contrast to where we were at Acropolis Rally earlier this month. We didn’t have the package to win this weekend, and so we focused on the championship battles and avoiding the pitfalls we saw over the weekend. In that respect, it is mission accomplished, but we depart Chile with the gap we had built in the manufacturers’ standings now halved. It is imperative that we give our drivers a more competitive car for the last two tarmac rallies, where we hope to unleash the full potential of the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid and rebuild our advantage. On a final note, I would like to extend my congratulations to Janne on a fantastic career in rallying, and wish him all the best in his ‘retirement’. He is a character like no other and he will be dearly missed by everyone in the team. ”
Ott Tänak – 3rd Overall
“It is difficult to take many positives form this weekend; we were a bit lucky that Ogier hit trouble on Friday but other than that, there was nothing we could do to take the fight to the Toyotas. We gave Rally Chile our maximum and scored everything we could. Now we go to two tarmac rallies and in normal circumstances our road position should be good for us. The fight for the manufacturers’ title is not over yet, but we need to work hard for it.”
Thierry Neuville – 4th Overall
“A tough weekend for us, made more challenging by the weather conditions. Since Saturday, things started to go a bit better for us in terms of set-up and the profile of the stages, which gave us a bit more confidence and a decent rhythm. There was no need to take big risks, we just managed our result. We tried to push a bit more in the Power Stage but we had fog for a couple of corners that cost us important seconds and a few points but at the end of the day, I’m happy with the outcome.”
Esapekka Lappi – Retired SS15
“This has not been our weekend. Today was much more challenging in terms of conditions with the overnight rain and low cloud affecting visibility. There was some light at the end of the tunnel but our task was to attack today and try to mix up the points, but we failed to do that. Finally, I need to thank Janne for 15 seasons together. We were both rookies when we started and we climbed up the hill to be professionals together, and now this journey comes to an end. I’m sure we still sit together in a rally car, but not professionally. He has been the loudest laugher of the team – you might not see him, but you
can hear him from very far away. We will miss his jokes and sense of humour.”
M-Sport
Richard Millener, Team Principal, said:
“It is definitely a case of what could have been here, the one minute time penalty really hampered the overall result for Adrien, which was a huge shame. However, that’s rally sometimes and despite this disappointment we can still look back on another positive weekend. Two stage wins, another demonstration of the speed of the Puma from both Adrien and Gregoire, and solid results from them both in some really tricky conditions.”
“I am also happy for Grégoire and Louis that they have got a solid result after the last two tricky events.”
“For Mārtiņš and Renārs, I guess it wasn’t quite what they had hoped for. A small mistake with big consequences on Friday, and a tough last stage with no rear spoiler, but I think they still did a great job and got an insight into the experience that they need to learn to get to the top of the WRC – one of the key reasons to bring them here.”
Adrien Fourmaux, 5th overall
“First time here in Chile, and I really enjoyed the stages. The fans were great with us and cheered us on all the time. We enjoyed the rally; it was really a shame what happened on Friday with the issue with the alternator and the water pipe, but that’s part of the game.”
“We managed to get a top-five result so we can be pleased with that, now we go back to Tarmac to finish the season.”
Grégoire Munster, 7th overall,
“I’m happy with our Friday performance, we showed good pace and were competitive with the front guys. Saturday was a bit more difficult in the morning, they were new stages for us but we improved in the afternoon in tricky conditions. In the fog we managed to do a third-fastest time in SS11, which was really great for us.”
“Sunday was tricky again with the rain and fog but we managed to stay out of trouble and not make any mistakes throughout the weekend. The goal was to bring the car home, which was important for us after a good effort on Friday.”
Mārtiņš Sesks, 24th overall
“First of all I think it was really challenging to be here in Chile for the first time. Our first two Rally1 outings were quite smooth really from our side. But here we found many new challenges, and everyday was different. We caught a double puncture on Friday unfortunately, and since Saturday it was just about keeping it safe and learning as much as we can.”
“Some new experience for us, especially with losing the aero on Sunday. I think it’s better to have these challenges now, when we’re not really fighting for anything. It’s better to know how to cope with it now than in the future when there’s more at stake.”