Solberg Dominates Rally Chile, Leads Evans by 19 Seconds

Oliver Solberg delivered a commanding performance in SS12 of Rally Chile, setting the fastest time on the 28-kilometre Maria las Cruces stage. The Toyota driver now leads teammate Elfyn Evans by nearly 20 seconds. With only four stages remaining on Sunday, Solberg is well on course for his second victory of the season.

"That is key. We have to wait for the tyres to wear out and then just go flat out. Actually, I’m joking. We have a small gap, which is great. I’ll do my best on Sunday," Solberg said.

Evans, meanwhile, was not pleased with his afternoon. "I drove cleanly. We benefited from the new tyres, but the damage had already been done on the previous couple of stages. I can’t be happy with my afternoon. We hoped we would be faster, but we’ll keep trying," he said.

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In third place, Sebastien Ogier of Toyota took control by beating Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux by more than eight seconds on Saturday’s final stage. Ogier is now over ten seconds ahead of his countryman in the overall standings. He is also challenging Evans for second, with the French champion now just over a second behind his teammate.

"Everything is fine. It will be a great Sunday," Ogier said succinctly.

Fourmaux, who had taken three soft-compound tyres, expressed his frustration. "It was painful with the tyres. I can’t say why I made that choice," he said.

Toyota’s Sami Pajari looks set to settle for fifth place. The gaps both ahead and behind are so large that the Finn was able to cruise without pressure, particularly on Saturday afternoon’s loop. "There isn’t much to say about today. We don’t have the pace we’d like. There has been a lot of discussion about road positions, but ultimately the pace just isn’t what we want it to be. Hopefully we can be faster on Sunday," Pajari said.

Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi is sixth, more than four minutes behind the leader. M-Sport Ford’s Josh McErlean is behind Lappi. French Citroen driver Yohan Rossel continues to lead WRC2 and lies eighth overall, with a lead of almost a minute over Estonia’s Robert Virves.

Rally Chile concludes on Sunday, with four stages still to be contested. With a comfortable lead, Solberg just needs to maintain consistency to secure victory, while the battle for second between Evans and Ogier remains intense.