Evans leads as team-mate's Chile hopes take early blow

Ogier was one of only three drivers to complete the Pulperia opener before it was halted due to spectator safety concerns, and his time for the 19.72km test put him almost 10 seconds clear of the field.

Evans responded by winning the next stage in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 HYBRID, trimming the gap to 6.6sec before Ogier ran wide and clipped a bank on SS3, forcing him to stop and change a rear wheel. He lost around 1min 50sec as Evans seized the lead, heading Toyota colleague Kalle Rovanperä at the day’s midpoint.

Running fourth on the road, Evans found the varying road conditions tricky to manage. “It’s quite tricky," he said. "In some places the surface is definitely cleaning, but in others the loose [gravel] is coming [onto the road].”

Two-time world champion Rovanperä won the final morning stage but expressed dissatisfaction with his performance. “I don’t feel comfortable at all on these roads,” admitted the Finn. “They don’t suit my driving style, and I’m fighting both the car and my driving.”

Sami Pajari, on only his second Rally1 outing, impressed by rounding out an all-Toyota top three, just 4.4sec adrift of Rovanperä. Close behind was M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 HYBRID driver Grégoire Munster, enjoying one of his strongest rally starts to date after posting the third-fastest time on SS4.

Munster returned to service with a narrow four-tenth of a second lead over Hyundai i20 N Rally1 HYBRID star Ott Tänak. Chile debutant Adrien Fourmaux was content to sit just one-tenth behind Tänak in his Puma, completing the early top six.

Championship leader Thierry Neuville, who struggled with the loose conditions as the road opener, trailed Fourmaux by 6.4sec at the day’s halfway point.

Despite Ogier’s misfortune offering another boost to his title challenge, Neuville remained focused on his own performance. “I’m pushing, but there’s not much more we can do. We need to concentrate on ourselves.”

Mārtiņš Sesks, like Ogier, hit a bank and lost more than five minutes after stopping to change a wheel and deal with the subsequent damage.

Esapekka Lappi struggled to find confidence in his Hyundai and finished the morning 18.3sec off the lead in eighth. Nikolay Gryazin led the WRC2 category, holding ninth overall, while Gus Greensmith, also competing in WRC2, completed the top 10.