Kalle Rovanperä and Elfyn Evans secured a valuable one-two finish for Toyota in South America. Additionally, Rovanperä and Sebastien Ogier, who had retired on Saturday, set blistering times on Super Sunday stages, ensuring Toyota took the maximum haul of 55 points.
Before the gravel rally in Chile, Hyundai held a commanding 35-point lead over Toyota in the manufacturers’ championship. However, Toyota’s perfect performance halved Hyundai’s lead to just 17 points.
“You’re always living in hope, but this weekend the team did a really great job. I think they gave us all a really fast car, and that obviously translated into some great results,” Evans praised.
“I’m happy to be part of that. And of course, it definitely helps on the championship side.”
Evans led Rally Chile for a long time, but on Saturday afternoon, his teammate Rovanperä surged ahead during the foggy stages. After that, Evans could no longer challenge the Finnish star.
“From the team’s perspective, this was good. From our side, of course, we wanted to win. But obviously, the damage was done on Saturday afternoon, so it is what it is,” said Evans, who is still chasing his first win of the season.
Toyota had the opportunity to make a bold tactical move on Saturday evening, when major conditional points were up for grabs. Rovanperä could have been given a time penalty to drop behind Evans on the leaderboard, allowing the Welshman to collect three more points.
According to Evans, such a possibility wasn’t even discussed.
“The position in this team is quite clear with the team orders. We don’t expect anything different. It’s fair for everybody, and that’s fine,” Evans clarified.
Evans still has a theoretical chance in the championship fight, but he is now 46 points behind the championship leader, Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville. Ahead of him in the standings are also Hyundai’s Ott Tänak and teammate Sebastien Ogier.
With only two rounds left in the season, Evans’ chances of securing the title are practically non-existent.
