Tänak arrived at the evening service as the rally leader but dropped to second place, just three seconds behind Toyota’s Elfyn Evans, once the calculated times for the opening special stage were finalized. The times for the opening stage were determined based on the second run of the stage.
“I really struggled to find any kind of feeling in the car. It was quite difficult for the afternoon also. Obviously the grip improved a bit and then the car improved a little bit as well. I’m not really feeling fully like I should, but at the moment we’ve tried to take the maximum out of it,” Tänak said.
“After first stage this morning, I said to the engineers that top six or maybe top8 eight is maximum. You know, it was not driving at all. Thierry (Neuville) was also struggling. Clearly we had struggles with the car and with the car setup.”
Tänak and the championship leader Thierry Neuville managed to keep their cars on the road on Friday, despite the slippery conditions. According to the Estonian driver, the handling and setup challenges in Chile are similar to those faced during the Finnish round at the beginning of August.
“As said clearly we had struggles with the car and with the car setup. It’s something to do with these kind of roads as well, like we had in Finland and here. But you still need to push, be able to react and to improve,” Tänak told.
The Estonian driver hopes that Saturday’s special stages will suit the Hyundai car better.
“The characteristic is completely different for sure, and normally from the road we should get more grip. We have also much better road position. So all together we should be in a better position.”
On Saturday in Chile, six special stages will be contested. The rally will conclude on Sunday.
