Rovanperä started the day in third but moved into the rally lead in the afternoon during challenging foggy conditions. On the final stage of the day, Rovanperä increased his lead over teammate Elfyn Evans to 15.1 seconds.
The Finnish driver had two soft tyres for the final stage, which may have been a decisive factor.
“It seems to be on this stage I cannot make the whole stage work. I should be a bit more easier on the tyres, even when it’s damp. It is really difficult to predict how the tyres work. I think it was one of the most difficult stages of the year. You drive just to stay on the road,” Rovanperä explained.
“Commitment this time, felt good last time but did not have the same feeling this time round. Tricky conditions, we didn’t maximise ourselves in there,” Evans admitted.
Hyundai’s Ott Tänak is in third place, 33.6 seconds behind the leader. The Estonian driver was frustrated with the incorrect weather forecast at the end of the day.
“They say ‘no rain expected this evening’, completely wrong information. Everything is difficult in this life, still you need to be on it,” Tänak summarised.
Hyundai’s Belgian driver Thierry Neuville remains on track for the championship. He sits fourth in the rally, securing valuable conditional points. Neuville trails Tänak by 10.4 seconds.
“We did exactly what we had to do, we had a good rhythm. We did the maximum which was possible today. We don’t get it 100 percent right. I could’ve done a bit more in here but I think it’s impossible to catch [Tänak], so we will do what we have to do,” Neuville said.
In fifth place is M-Sport Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux, who set the fastest time on the final stage of the day, ahead of Toyota’s Sami Pajari and fellow Ford driver Gregoire Munster. Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi is eighth, more than five minutes behind the leader.
In WRC2, Nikolay Gryazin continues to lead ahead of Gus Greensmith and Yohan Rossel.
Rally Chile concludes on Sunday, with four more stages remaining.
Rally Chile standings after SS12/16:
| POS | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | 2:25:14.3 |
| 2. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +15.1 |
| 3. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +33.6 |
| 4. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +43.7 |
| 5. | Adrien Fourmaux | Ford | +1:23.0 |
| 6. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +1:49.5 |
| 7. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +1:50.6 |
| 8. | Esapekka Lappi | Hyundai | +5:14.6 |
| 9. | Nikolay Gryazin | Citroen | +6:28.2 |
| 10. | Gus Greensmith | Skoda | +6:45.0 |
| 11. | Yohan Rossel | Citroen | +6:46.6 |
Rally Chile itinerary (CET):
Thursday, 26 Sept: 13:31 Shakedown: Conuco (6.79 km) Friday, 27 Sept: 13:35 SS1: Pulperia 1 (19.72 km) 14:30 SS2: Rere 1 (13.34 km) 15:21 SS3: San Rosendo 1 (23.32 km) 18:11 Service (30 min) 19:46 SS4: Pulperia 2 (19.72 km) 20:41 SS5: Rere 2 (13.34 km) 21:32 SS6: San Rosendo 2 (23.32 km) Saturday, 28 Sept: 14:07 SS7: Pelun 1 (15.65 km) 15:01 SS8: Lota 1 (25.64 km) 16:05 SS9: Maria las Cruces 1 (28.31 km) 18:37 Service (30 min) 20:07 SS10: Pelun 2 (15.65 km) 21:01 SS11: Lota 2 (25.64 km) 22:05 SS12: Maria las Cruces 2 (28.31 km) Sunday, 29 Sept: 13:23 SS13: Laraquete 1 (18.62 km) 14:35 SS14: Bio Bio 1 (8.78 km) 15:35 SS15: Laraquete 2 (18.62 km) 18:15 SS16: Bio Bio 2 (8.78 km) Power Stage
