Sebastien Ogier mounted a remarkable charge on Saturday to seize the overall 2025 WRC Rally Chile lead from his Toyota teammate Elfyn Evans, while Hyundai toppled from the top amid challenging conditions and mechanical woes.
Saturday’s stages totaled approximately 139.2 competitive kilometers, split into two loops of three stages each, creating a long, demanding day of racing that tested both driver skill and team strategy.
The stages were predominantly gravel, characterized by a mix of wide, abrasive roads and tricky technical sections, with early morning wet weather demanding acute tyre management and car control.
Elfyn Evans started the day in a strong position and his mastery of the slick conditions was evident as he gained significant time, turning around a 13.1-second deficit carried over from Friday, to take the rally lead by lunchtime.
However, the afternoon loop presented drier conditions and the nature of the stages shifted to more abrasive surfaces requiring a solid tyre strategy.
This played to the advantage of eight-time world champion Sebastien Ogier who had struggled on Friday due to issues with his car setup and cautious driving in the wet conditions earlier in the rally.
Ogier along with co-driver Vincent Landais expertly cycled through four hards and two softs to blaze through the afternoon stages, setting the fastest times in all three tests of the final loop.
His consistency and speed allowed him to erase Evans’s lead, first by halving it on SS10 before overtaking Evans on SS11, and ultimately extending his lead to 6.3s by the close of the final longest stage, Maria Las Cruces (28km).
“The lead sounds good but it is going to be intense until the end,” said Ogier. “Tomorrow morning I need to be awake, not like every first stage across the last two days.”
For Hyundai, the penultimate day at 2025 WRC Rally Chile was far from favorable. Adrien Fourmaux who led his teammate Thierry Neuville after Friday’s stages, were unable to mount a charge against the Toyotas.
The Hyundai team struggled with traction and tire wear on the harsh Chilean gravel that punished their cars more than the Toyotas, causing their drivers to lose valuable seconds consistently throughout the day.
Fourmaux who had been in a strong podium contention slipped to third overall, 26.8s adrift, while Neuville fell to fourth, trailing his teammate by approximately 14.9s.
“It is difficult because the opponents are quite strong on the polished stones, and I really tried as hard as I can,” said Fourmaux. “For sure, there are places we lose a bit of time, but we are lacking something today.
“It is quite a shame but we didn’t give up the fight. We continue and we learn. For sure, it is quite frustrating for us, but the positive is we are on the podium for tonight, but we want more.”
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Meanwhile, Ott Tänak opted to save his new engine for Sunday after running only two stages and currently sits 18th overall, removing one of Hyundai’s top title hopes from contention.
Toyota’s Sami Pajari held fifth place, about 50s behind the leaders, showing commendable consistency on a tough surface.
Kalle Rovanperä took sixth, 1:23 minutes behind Toyota teammate Ogier, after enduring a difficult day being the first car on the road. He claimed Saturday’s final stage was the worst due to dry conditions and loose gravel, which led to slower times.
Takamoto Katsuta finished seventh; he managed to gain better speed in the afternoon loop but could not challenge the leaders significantly.
M-Sport Ford’s Grégoire Munster secured a solid eighth while WRC2 contenders Oliver Solberg and Nikolay Gryazin rounded out the top ten.
