The 2024 World Rally Championship season continues this weekend with Rally Chile Bio Bio 2024. Find out everything you need to know below.
Championship Rundown
Thierry Neuville continues to lead the championship as he has done all season. Neuville sits 34 points ahead of his Hyundai teammate and two-time Rally Chile Bio Bio winner Ott Tänak. Sebastien Ogier is third in the championship after a final-stage retirement last time out in Greece. The eight-time world champion sits 38 points behind Neuville and 4 points behind Tänak. Elfyn Evans sits fourth in the championship, 14 points behind Ogier. Adrien Fourmaux rounds out the top five in the championship. With the Frenchman sitting 10 points behind Evans.
Neuville Can Win The Title This Weekend
Thierry Neuville can clinch his first world championship this weekend. However, it is quite unlikely. As the Belgian will need to score 27 more points than Tänak and 23 more than Ogier. Meaning both these drivers have to retire. Alongside that, Neuville would also have to finish 9 points ahead of Evans and lose less than 2 points to Fourmaux. Chances are Neuville will take home the title at the Central European Rally next month. However, as Ogier showed in Greece, anything can happen.
Pajari And Sesks Return
Both Sami Pajari and Martins Sesks will return to Rally1 action this weekend. Pajari is filling in for Takamoto Katsuta who has been given the weekend off the reset for the final two events of the season. While Sesks will once again pilot a hybrid-less M-Sport Puma. Don’t expect a lot out of either driver this weekend. Pajari is using this event to gain more experience for next season. While Sesks is trying to earn a drive for next season.
Itinerary
Friday
The first day of Rally Chile Bio Bio will see drivers contest 112.76 km across 6 stages. The longest of these stages is the 23.32 km San Rosendo stage which will serve as SS3 and SS6. The shortest stage is the 13.34 km Rere stage, which serves as SS2 and SS5. Drivers will have a little room for error, as there is a 30-minute midday service.
Saturday
Day two as per usual is the longest day of the event. As drivers will contest 139.20 km across 6 stages. The day’s longest stage is the 28.31 Maria Las Cruces stage, which serves as SS9 and SS12. The shortest stage is the 15.65 km Pelun stage, which serves as SS7 and SS10. There will once again be a 30-minute midday service so teams can repair any damage accumulated in the morning loop.
Sunday
Super Sunday will see drivers contest the final 54.80 km of the event across the final 4 stages. The longest of the days stages is the 18.62 Laraquete stage which serves as SS13 and SS15. The shortest stage is the Bio Bio stage which serves as SS14 and SS16, and the wolf powerstage. There is no midday service, nor tyre fitting zone for the drivers. As a result, drivers will have to be more watchful about the amount of damage the car takes and how they manage their tyres.
Driver Quotes
Hyundai Motorsport
Cyril Abiteaboul – Team Principal
“While we approach Rally Chile with both optimism and momentum, we are also going into the event with great caution. Greece was a fantastic display of what can be achieved with great team-work, but it is imperative we do not lose focus in the final events of the season. The Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid has demonstrated its robustness and reliability at other gravel rallies this season, so we want to end the final event on this surface strongly before our return to tarmac. Every point counts so we need to be at the spearhead of the classification by Saturday evening before we assess how much we need to push on Sunday. We want to protect the advantage we have in all three standings as a priority, but we still want to push for wins and podiums too.”
Thierry Neuville
“Rally Chile is similar to some of the other gravel events we have faced this season, but the stages can vary a lot. We were able to really enjoy the drive last year and finish on the podium to make our weekend even better. We need a lot of traction from the car, particularly with our road position, but it also needs to be resistant to bumpier sections because the risk of punctures in Chile is high. We are going to push through the weekend without trouble and score as many points as possible; our main target is to keep a good lead in the championship. The last three rounds are going to be about managing the gap and Chile is an important event for that. We need to come away with good points before going to the tarmac rounds where we know we can do well.”
Ott Tänak
“The last time we were in Chile, the roads were very abrasive, which was challenging for tyre management but not so hard on the car. At the same time, it was quite demanding for the drivers with a mix of fast and slow sections – similar to Finland. There is a bit of everything in this event, but it’s a driver’s rally – it’s all about performance. Experience is always good, but it’s difficult to take anything forward from our win last year in a new car with a new team. In Chile, the weather can be a tricky element, particularly as we have had a lot of difficult conditions. The car needs to be performing very well and needs to be giving us good confidence. We need to do our maximum and target a win there for sure.”
Esapekka Lappi
“I am feeling prepared for Chile, we did some testing in Finland prior to Acropolis so we have had some important seat time in the car fairly recently. The surface is quite unique: there is a lot of loose gravel, but it can also be abrasive when the road section begins to be cleaned. A good setup and perfect pace notes are crucial to fast times at this event. We need a lot of stability and traction from the car, and because of the crests, corners and banks, it can be hard to see where the road is going. We have seen very different weather conditions here in 2019 and 2023, so we rely even more than usual on the weather team because of the time of year. I am excited to be back in the car and I am hoping to bring a lot of points home for the team.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing
Jari-Matti Latvala – Team Principal
“The last two rallies have not gone our way in terms of our championship ambitions, but we will not give up the fight. We will keep pushing and focus on winning the last three rounds of the season and doing everything that we can to keep the pressure on. Our team is really motivated to do a good result in Chile and with Elfyn, Seb and Kalle we have a very strong driver line-up to fight for the win. The stages there are generally fast and flowing, which should suit our drivers and our car. The one thing we discovered last year is that the tyre wear can be quite high when it’s dry so we need to pay attention to that. For Sami, this is a chance to build on Finland where he did extremely well, and to see how he feels with the Rally1 car on different terrain and build up his experience. And if everything goes well, those roads could suit him well and we could see another strong performance.”
Sebastien Ogier
“Our challenge in Greece didn’t end in the way we were hoping and the gaps in both championships moved in the wrong direction, but we won’t give up and we’ll keep giving our best in these last three rounds of the season because things can still turn around. I didn’t go to Chile last year, but my memories from 2019 are of a nice event with stages that are enjoyable to drive, as well as a good atmosphere like we often have when we go to South America. So I’m happy to go back there. There will be a mix of some sections I know and some that will be new for me, but I’m never afraid of that challenge. Recently our pace has been pretty strong and we’ve been scoring higher than our rivals on average, and I hope we can carry that on.”
Elfyn Evans
“I really enjoy driving the roads in Chile and I’m looking forward to the event. There’s a bit of a mix in character from day to day: the first is a bit more technical with crests, quite similar to Finland in a way, and then the second is a bit more wide and open, even a little like Wales. It was quite a strong event for us last year in terms of pace at least. We just underestimated how abrasive it would be in the dry conditions, which cost us a chance to challenge for victory, so we need to keep that in mind depending on how the weather is when we get there. After a difficult couple of events for various reasons, we’re definitely looking for a more positive outcome at the end of the weekend.”
Kalle Rovanperä
“We’re going to try and do everything we can to help the team fight back in Chile. The roads there are fast and flowing like in Finland but the characteristics of the gravel and the road base is really different, so managing the tyre wear is the biggest thing, I would say. It was not the easiest event for us last year, but we had the speed at least and together with the team we have tried to learn from that so that we can have a clean weekend and be fighting for the podium places. We had really good pace in the last rallies that we did during the summer in Europe and hopefully we can have a good comfortable feeling from the start of the rally.”
Sami Pajari
“I’m really excited to get back in the Rally1 car in Chile. I hope it can be a really enjoyable event for me. I competed in Chile for the first time last year in WRC2 and the pace was quite good. The roads there are nice and a bit similar to some of the stages in Finland: mostly quite fast and flowing, with of course some specific challenges as well. I’m hoping I can have a similar weekend like in Finland – try to enjoy the driving and get better with every kilometre – and not feel any pressure in terms of the result. The main thing is just to get more experience in this car and all the seat time that I can.”
M-Sport Ford
Rich Millener – Team Principal
“I’m really excited to be heading back to South America for Rally Chile, especially since we are fielding three Rally1 cars there. I’m pleased to have Mārtiņš back with us in the non-hybrid Puma, his performances earlier this season have really made him stand out and I’m looking forward to seeing what he makes of this opportunity.
“Grégoire will benefit from last year’s experience here, and with more time in the car since then he should feel quite comfortable. Hopefully he can hunt for a good result next week after a tricky weekend in Greece.
“Adrien and Alex will be taking on this event for the first time but I strongly believe they are up to the task! They’ve proven their pace on gravel with four podiums on loose surfaces already this season, notably in Finland. I’m excited to see what they can do here.”
Adrien Fourmaux
“It’s going to be all new for me on this event, last year I was back in France commentating for Canal+! It’s nice to be competing in South America, and I’m excited to discover Chile and the rally itself. Looking at the videos it seems to be quite a fast and smooth rally in some stages, but also quite technical in places – it’s not rough like Greece.
“We still want to get our first win so we are going to try again on this final gravel rally of the season!”
Grégoire Munster
“I’m looking forward to Rally Chile as it was our first event with the Rally1 car last year. The surface is quite familiar with some loose gravel, but the tyre wear on the second day is incredibly high so you have that strategic aspect of the tyre choice that makes it very interesting.
“It’s a fast rally, but there are still some very narrow roads up in the mountains, there’s a lot of variety in the stages so it’s quite a nice event.”
Martins Sesks
“Of course it will be a big challenge to go to South America and drive a Rally1 car in Chile for the first time. It will be a great adventure I think, something new again and we’re now trying to prepare for the rally. We’re watching the onboards and seeing similar things to some European rallies.
“It will be a bit harder for us driving the non-hybrid car, but again it’s an opportunity to show some pace without the hybrid, and if we succeed there it’s even better. Our experience from Poland and Latvia in understanding the car will help a lot. It will be a challenge but we’re looking forward to it!”