WRC2
Virves targets Chile response with WRC2 Challenger title in reach
Robert Virves has the opportunity to turn disappointment into championship celebration when the FIA World Rally Championship continues at Rally Chile BioBío this week.
The Estonian remains firmly in control of the outright WRC2 standings despite seeing his remarkable run of four victories from his first four points-scoring appearances brought to an abrupt end in Paraguay.
Virves and co-driver Jakko Viilo crashed into bushes on Friday’s opening stage there and lost almost an hour making repairs. Yet their subsequent pace underlined what might have been: the Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 crew set nine WRC2 fastest stage times across the remainder of the event, more than any rival.
He therefore arrives in Concepción still on 100 points, 21 clear of Roope Korhonen and 24 ahead of Teemu Suninen. Neither of his two closest outright championship rivals is entered in Chile.
The outright title cannot be sealed this weekend - Suninen can still theoretically reach 126 points - but Virves does have a championship match point elsewhere.
He leads WRC2 Challenger with 100 points, six ahead of Korhonen and 19 clear of Léo Rossel. Victory in Chile would guarantee Virves the Challenger drivers’ crown, regardless of what happens over the final two rounds.
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Achieving that will be anything but straightforward.
Paraguay winner Diego Domínguez immediately returns to action after a superb home performance which carried the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 driver to seventh overall, while Gus Greensmith - runner-up by just 22.7sec in Encarnación - is again among the leading contenders.
Taylor Gill also heads across the Andes with momentum after finishing fourth in Paraguay on his first outing with Toksport WRT’s Škoda. The Australian described that result as a “good foundation to build on for Rally Chile”.
Lancia Corse HF, meanwhile, fields Nikolay Gryazin and Yohan Rossel fresh from securing the WRC2 Teams’ Championship in Paraguay. Both have already tasted WRC2 victory this season - Gryazin in Japan and Rossel in Croatia and Spain - and remain capable of disrupting Virves’ title plans.
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Alejandro Cachón adds further depth in another GR Yaris Rally2, while Yuki Yamamoto continues his maiden South American campaign with Topi Luhtinen alongside him after regular co-driver James Fulton was called up to partner Takamoto Katsuta in Rally1.
There is also considerable home interest.
Chileans Alberto and Pedro Heller both line up in GR Yaris Rally2 machinery, with Alberto returning to the category after competing in a Puma Rally1 on last year’s event. He has already claimed two victories with the Toyota in Chile’s domestic Copec RallyMobil championship this season. Jorge Martínez, Emilio Rosselot and Tadeo Rosselot further strengthen the local challenge.
In total, the entry features 18 Rally2 cars, 17 of them eligible for WRC2 points, representing Toyota, Škoda, Lancia, Citroën and Ford.
They face 16 stages and just over 311 competitive kilometres through the forests surrounding Concepción. Chile’s roads are generally fast and flowing but place a premium on precision, while abrasive gravel can punish tyres and low cloud or fog can transform visibility with little warning.
