Kalle Rovanperä to victory in Chile – a stunning blow after a dark Friday | Sport

Kalle Rovanperä mastered the foggy and rainy conditions and drove to victory in the World Rally Championship in Chile.

Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä celebrated his fourth victory of the season in the World Rally Championship on Sunday. Rovanperä drove to victory in the Chilean race ahead of his Welsh teammate Elfyn Evans.

Rovanperä left Evans 23.4 seconds behind and took the 15th World Championship victory of his career.

Hyundai Estonia bus Ott Tänak drove third and his teammate Thierry Neuville fourth.

Toyota took a triple victory in Sunday’s sprint race. On Saturday, he stopped the outing Sebastien Ogier was Sunday’s number one and also claimed the Power Stage’s full points pot by 0.1 seconds ahead of Rovanperä. Rovanperä drove second and Evans third in Sunday’s race.

Toyota’s previous race weekend in Greece went under the bench, but thanks to the success in Chile, it moved up to 18 points behind Hyundai, who leads the manufacturers’ World Series.

The Belgian Neuville continues to have an overwhelming lead in the World Series. Tänak is second, 29 points away, and Ogier is third, 41 points behind Neuville.

There are still two World Series races to be played. The championship is therefore on hold for Neuville at the Central European Rally in October.

– We knew this would be a challenging weekend, and it was. Our car was nowhere near Toyota’s performance, but now the gravel races are thankfully over. There are two asphalt races ahead, which I’m looking forward to, Neuville said.

Rovanperä came out on top on Saturday

Rovanperä rose to the top of the rally on Saturday evening, when he reached top speed in the 11th special stage, driven in heavy fog. There was enough fog and rain even for Sunday’s special tests.

– It feels really good. Of course, it’s a bit sad that we lost the Power Stage by 0.1 seconds. It’s always more fun to be number one. A big thank you to the whole team, the car and everything else worked perfectly, Rovanperä said.

– On Friday, I didn’t feel very confident in the car. On top of that, the weather conditions were really difficult throughout the weekend. We had to fight for victory. Maybe that’s why it feels so good, Rovanperä said according to STT.

Toyota’s Sami Pajari placed sixth. Pajari, who competed in a Rally1 car for only the second time in his career, drove steadily in Chile.

– It was really great to drive this wonderful car. Friday was quite promising and we kept a good pace. The next two days were quite a learning experience. Pajari your sum.

Lapland stopped before the Power Stage

Hyundai’s Esapekka for Lapland The weekend in Chile was a bitter disappointment. Lappi had to stop before the Power Stage when he hit the bench hard and broke the front of his car. Lapland was eighth in the rally before its suspension.

Lappi broke the front of his car already on Saturday and received another two-minute time penalty because he arrived too early for the start of EK 11.

Lapland does not have a contract for the coming season. The race in Chile could be his last rally at the wheel of Hyundai.

In the World Series, the Central European Rally will still be run in October, until the season ends in November in Japan.