Rally Chile: Day 1 - Solberg leads Evans for TGR-WRT after slippery start

Oliver Solberg and Elfyn Evans delivered a strong start on Rally Chile despite a muddy, slippery opening day, finishing Friday’s leg separated by just 10 seconds at the top. With overnight rain transforming the forest tracks and farmland roads for three repeated stages, Evans capitalized during the morning loop together with Solberg, trading leads twice before Solberg closed the morning with a 2.3-second advantage. As conditions dried in the afternoon and Evans faced more loose gravel, the gap widened to 10.1 seconds after Solberg won the final stage of the day. Sébastien Ogier and Sami Pajari climbed from fifth and sixth after the morning to fourth and fifth overall, winning a stage each in the afternoon. Ogier sits 1.7 seconds behind third-placed Adrien Fourmaux, with Pajari a further two seconds back. Takamoto Katsuta ran wide on the first stage, stuck on a bank, and will restart tomorrow. Yuki Yamamoto and co-driver Topi Luhtinen were taken to hospital after an accident in SS6, after running as high as sixth in WRC2 on his first Rally Chile.