WRC
Solberg masters changing conditions to lead Rally Chile overnight
Oliver Solberg delivered a measured display through wildly changing conditions to lead Rally Chile BIOBÍO by 10.1sec over championship leader Elfyn Evans at the end of Friday’s opening leg.
Making his first start on the Chilean event in Rally1 machinery, Solberg adapted quickest as roads around Concepción swung from rain-soaked mud in the morning to increasingly dry and abrasive gravel during the afternoon.
The Toyota driver won two of Friday’s six stages and, after briefly surrendering the lead to Evans on SS2, moved back ahead on Hualqui before steadily stretching his advantage across the second loop.
“I went back to the set-up I had earlier in the car,” Solberg explained after winning the final stage. “At the beginning of the stage I was too careful; I was trying to stay clean.
“I think it was an important afternoon to stay clean. I’m happy.”
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It was an accomplished opening day on territory already associated with some of Solberg’s biggest career moments. He won WRC2 in Chile in both 2023 and 2025, sealing last year’s title here, but this week marks his first attempt at the rally in a top-class car.
Friday’s contest began in conditions very different from those crews had anticipated 24 hours earlier.
Overnight rain left the opening Turquía test sodden and slippery, but crucially reduced the road-cleaning disadvantage expected for championship leader Evans, who was first on the road.
Solberg won that opener by 1.4sec, only for Evans to respond immediately on Nuevo Rere and edge 0.4sec ahead overall. Solberg reclaimed the lead on SS3 and reached midday service with 2.3sec in hand.
As the roads dried after service, the complexion of the rally shifted again. Pajari won the second pass of Turquía, Ogier topped Nuevo Rere and Solberg struck back on the final Hualqui run, meaning five different drivers claimed stage victories across Friday’s six tests.
Evans nevertheless emerged from the day in a strong second place after opening the road throughout.
The Welshman had actively hoped for rain after Thursday’s shakedown and admitted the overnight change had “helped massively” during the morning. As the surface dried, conditions became less favourable, but he limited the damage and heads into Saturday 10.1sec from the lead.
“It sounds good,” Evans said of his overnight position. “The afternoon was more tough, or as tough as we expected. It was not delivering us as much as we would like. Hopefully it will be better tomorrow.”
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The result carries added significance in the drivers’ championship. Evans arrived in Chile 20 points clear of Sami Pajari, with Solberg another 21 points further back in third.
Pajari endured a difficult start, dropping 17.8sec on SS1 as he struggled for confidence in the inconsistent grip, but his afternoon was transformed. The winner of the previous three WRC rounds claimed SS4 and pushed hard on the final two tests to finish fifth, 21.7sec from Solberg.
Ahead of him, Adrien Fourmaux holds third for Hyundai after overcoming a technical issue during the morning. His margin is anything but comfortable: defending Chile winner Sébastien Ogier sits just 1.7sec behind in fourth, with Pajari another 2.0sec back.
Fourmaux ended Friday just 18.0sec from the lead and produced one of the day’s more enthusiastic assessments after narrowly missing the final-stage win.
“To drive this car in those stages is one of the best things in the world,” he said. “It is so nice to drive. I had a very good stage considering my tyres. I gave everything.”
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Thierry Neuville completes the leading six, 27.4sec down, after struggling for confidence and later revealing a small damper leak on his Hyundai.
Behind them, Josh McErlean won the intra-team M-Sport Ford battle to end seventh, 2.4sec ahead of Jon Armstrong, while Esapekka Lappi endured a difficult return to WRC competition in ninth.
Takamoto Katsuta was Friday’s major casualty. The Japanese driver, who had topped Thursday’s shakedown, slid off 6.2km into the opening stage and became beached with no spectators nearby to assist. He and stand-in co-driver James Fulton were unhurt.
Nikolay Gryazin leads WRC2 and sits 10th outright, 8.5sec ahead of championship leader Robert Virves.
Saturday brings the longest leg of the rally, with two passes each of Pelún, Lota and the 28.31km María las Cruces forming 139.2 competitive kilometres.
