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Rovanpera wins Rally Chile as Neuville protects overall lead / Photo: © AFP
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Rovanpera wins Rally Chile as Neuville protects overall lead
Overnight leader Kalle Rovanpera cruised to victory at Rally Chile on Sunday as Sebastien Ogier returned from a crash the day before to win all four stages.
Belgian Thierry Neuville finished fourth to protect his championship lead over Hyundai team-mate Ott Tanak.
Finland's Rovanpera was second on three of Sunday's stages to end the rally 23.4 seconds ahead of Welshman Elfyn Evans. Tanak was third, another 20.5sec back with Neuville a further 17.2sec behind.
"The conditions were really difficult all weekend so it feels really good," said the Finn, who grabbed the lead on Saturday as Evans struggled in the Pacific fog.
It was Rovanpera's fourth victory of a season in which he is racing only part time.
After struggling on the first day, Neuville opted to play it safe as the Toyotas of Rovanpera and Evans, a distant fourth in the overall standings, dominated.
"We did not have the performance package this weekend," Neuville said. "We could not fight the Toyotas."
The remaining races, the Central European Rally and then Japan, are both on tarmac roads.
"I am happy the gravel is over," said the Belgian who holds a 31-point lead over Tanak.
Ogier punctured on Friday to lose time and then broke the suspension on his Toyota on Saturday and had to withdraw for the rest of the day.
This ended his chances of victory, leaving him with no points ahead of Sunday, where he collected the maximum 12.
Ogier started the season racing "a la carte" like Rovanpera. The Frenchman skipped three of the first seven rallies but changed his mind after his third victory of the season, in Finland, put him in contention for a ninth title.
"I think I did everything I could... to recover something for the weekend," said Ogier. "Some good speed but some silly mistakes which cost us."
Final standings at Rally Chile
1. Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (FIN/Toyota) 2hrs 58mins 59.8sec, 2. Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (GBR/Toyota) at 23.4sec, 3. Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (EST/Hyundai) 43.9, 4. Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (BEL/Hyundai) 1min 1.1sec, 5. Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (FRA/M-Sport/Ford) 2:02.7.
Special stage winners
Sebastien Ogier (SS1, SS4, SS5, SS13, SS14, SS15, SS16), Elfyn Evans (SS2, SS7, SS9, SS10), Kalle Rovanpera (SS3, SS8), Adrien Fourmaux (SS6, SS12), Thierry Neuville (SS11)
Drivers championship standings
1. Thierry Neuville (BEL) 207 points, 2. Ott Tanak (EST) 176, 3. Sebastien Ogier (FRA) 166, 4. Elfyn Evans (GBR) 161, 5. Adrien Fourmaux (FRA) 140
O. Larsen--BTZ
