By Paul Evans

Elfyn Evans will start today’s final leg of Rally Chile in fourth place, although with a big gap ahead and behind him, he might need someone to hit bad luck if he is to move up any more.

Evans and co-driver Scott Martin made another good start on day two in their M-Sport Ford Fiesta WRC, setting the third fastest time on the opening speed test and taking time out of nine-time World Champion Sébastien Loeb.

As the day wore on the Dolgellau driver struggled to match Loeb on certain sections, but despite falling adrift of the fight at the front, Evans delivered a clean and conscientious drive.

“It’s not been a bad day by all means and it’s good to be in fourth place at the end of the day,” said Evans. “We’ve been pushing pretty hard, but there are still some areas where we’re struggling to find the ultimate confidence in the car; in the high-speed sections I just don’t have the stability that I’m used to. The remaining stages are tighter and more twisty, but the gaps are pretty big now and I don’t think we’ll have an opportunity to do anything on pace alone. But we’ll keep pushing and see what happens.”

1. Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja (Toyota Yaris WRC) 2:41:05.5
2. Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia (Citroen C3 WRC) +30.3
3. Sébastien Loeb / Daniel Elena (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +35.4
4. Elfyn Evans / Scott Martin (Ford Fiesta WRC) +1:06.3
5. Teemu Suninen / Marko Salminen (Ford Fiesta WRC) +3:03.0
6. Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferme (Citroen C3 WRC) +3:13.3
7. Andreas Mikkelsen / Andreas Jaeger (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +3:43.4
8. Kalle Rovanperä / Jonne Halttunen (Skoda Fabia R5) +6:33.2
9. Mads Østberg / Torstein Eriksen (Citroen C3 R5) +7:09.3
10. Kris Meeke / Sebastian Marshall (Toyota Yaris WRC) +7:21.9