Hyundai team-mates Teemu Suninen and Thierry Neuville are just 6.7 seconds apart after Sunday morning’s loop of Rally Chile, as M-Sport Ford’s Ott Tänak continued to lead the event.
The day’s stages and loops were shorter than on the previous two days, with Sunday’s action beginning with the 8.2-mile Las Pataguas test.
Neuville led a Hyundai 1-2 through it, and by going 4.8s faster than Suninen he closed the gap in the overall classification to him down to 9.1s.
Elfyn Evans was third fastest, adding 6.4s to his gap over Toyota team-mate and title rival Kalle Rovanperä. Despite being over 10s off the pace in Las Pataguas, Tänak was unbothered as he still led the rally by 52.3s.
There was a little more drama in El Poñen, which will run as the powerstage at the end of the day. Neuville and Suninen were the fastest two drivers once again, with Neuville setting the pace by 2.4s. After having several big moments on the stage, Suninen admitted he felt the pressure from being chased by Neuville for second place.
The cleaning effect meant the drivers going onto the stage later had slightly better conditions, and so Tänak – as the last Rally1 driver in – only had his lead decreased by 0.7s.
Oliver Solberg continues to lead WRC2 by 23.1s over Gus Greensmith.
Kajetan Kajetanowicz meanwhile retired with the rear-left suspension completley breaking free of his Škoda on SS14 after an incident on the previous stage.
