Ott Tanak admitted he was stunned to be combating for the Rally Chile victory having initially written off his possibilities after Friday’s first stage.
The Hyundai driver delivered a powerful drive from second on the highway to guide Toyota’s Elfyn Evans by 0.4 seconds on the finish of Friday’s six phases.
Tanak will, nevertheless, head into Saturday’s phases trailing Evans by three seconds after officers issued an adjustment to Evans’ notional stage one time, which handed the Toyota driver the rally lead.
Tanak was by no means completely snug behind the wheel of his i20 N on the slippery gravel roads that led to the two-time Chile winner chasing set-up all through Friday to tame his automotive.
Fixed set-up adjustments in between phases helped Tanak discover confidence to take a seat atop of the timesheets.
“I positively am [surprised to be in this position] – after the primary stage I stated to the engineers {that a} high six or high eight is the utmost, it was not driving in any respect,” stated Tanak.
“Thierry was struggling, I used to be struggling and Esapekka [Lappi] was struggling much more.
“We clearly had struggles with the automotive and the set-up. It’s one thing with these sort of roads however we must always be capable of react.
“Within the morning, it was trying extraordinarily demanding and I actually struggled to seek out any sort of feeling within the automotive.
“It was fairly troublesome for the afternoon however clearly the grip improved a bit and the automotive improved slightly bit.
“I’m not likely feeling absolutely like I ought to however in the mean time we tried to take the utmost out of it.”
Saturday’s phases are set to supply a totally new problem with the highway floor way more abrasive in comparison with Friday’s assessments, that means tyre administration will likely be essential.
Tanak mastered these situations final 12 months whereas driving for M-Sport, which proved to be key in his run to victory.
“The traits is totally totally different for positive however usually from the highway we must always get extra grip and a lot better highway positions and altogether we ought to be in a greater place,” he added.
“I’m unsure if it [the tyre wear] will likely be precisely the identical [as last year], however I’m positive tyres would be the story once more.”
Neuville attributes struggles to set-up mistake
Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai World Rally Staff Hyundai i20 N Rally1
Picture by: McKlein / Motorsport Photos
Whereas Tanak was capable of coax his i20 N into a greater working window, championship chief Thierry Neuville believes his struggles for tempo had been all the way down to going the mistaken manner on automotive set-up.
Neuville, who began first on the highway, ended Friday in sixth place 30.3s behind team-mate Tanak after admitting he was combating together with his automotive throughout the six phases.
“I believe we had been simply on the mistaken set-up as I can not clarify how I might’ve struggled that a lot on the market,” stated Neuville.
“The tempo wasn’t there and the sensation wasn’t good. We didn’t have any enjoyable on the market at present. We did some set-up adjustments however it was not what we would have liked.
“We’re 30 seconds off the lead and we’re solely 20 seconds behind fourth and fifth and that should be our goal.
“Clearly we want a bit extra efficiency and a bit extra pace and we have to chase these positions.
“I truthfully consider that, if the automotive offers me the required confidence, it ought to be potential.”
