Evans found a strong rhythm on the rally’s longest stage, despite challenging conditions with rain and fog. He beat Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville, who came second on the stage, by eight seconds.
“Bit of a surprise,” Evans admitted upon hearing about his stunning stage time.
“Bit of a surprise, damp, very near to the start. I just said to Scott ‘I’m not sure what that’s like’, but when you’re in these conditions, you’re in it,” Evans explained.
Kalle Rovanperä, who is second in the rally, was 9.5 seconds slower than his Toyota teammate. In the overall standings, Evans extended his lead over Rovanperä to 11.3 seconds.
“We had quite a bit of fog and rain on the hard tyres. It wasn’t easy, but I tried to push hard. But apparently, some are going even faster,” Rovanperä said, referring to Evans’ performance.
Hyundai’s Ott Tänak remains in third place, 17.4 seconds behind the leader. WRC points leader Thierry Neuville moved up to fourth, overtaking Toyota’s Sami Pajari by 14.6 seconds. Pajari took a cautious approach on the final stage of the morning.
“More or less the same approach like the other stages, it was so tricky in these conditions, it started raining almost halfway through so the grip was quite low. I didn’t want to do anything stupid so it has to be clean,” Pajari said.
M-Sport Ford’s Gregoire Munster and Adrien Fourmaux are in sixth and seventh places. Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi continues in eighth, over a minute and a half behind the leaders.
Rally Chile continues with three more stages on Saturday after the service break, and the event concludes on Sunday.
Rally Chile standings after SS9/16:
| POS | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | 1:41:16.7 |
| 2. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | +11.3 |
| 3. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +17.4 |
| 4. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +48.8 |
| 5. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +1:03.4 |
| 6. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +1:24.5 |
| 7. | Adrien Fourmaux | Ford | +1:24.9 |
| 8. | Esapekka Lappi | Hyundai | +1:39.6 |
| 9. | Oliver Solberg | Skoda | +4:08.5 |
| 10. | Yohan Rossel | Citroen | +4:12.6 |
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
