Final-day puncture drama sees Elfyn lose vital WRC points

Welshman denied podium place and Sunday Sunday points bysetbac on penultimate stage

Elfyn maintained his lead of the FIA World Rally Championship despite a final day puncture knocking him out of podium contention at Rally Chile. He had been holding a strong second place overall and was looking set for a solid haul of points as leader of Super Sunday before a puncture on the penultimate stage saw him lose over two minutes and drop back to fifth.

Running first on the road on Friday, overnight rain had levelled the playing field, meaning Elfyn didn’t have the normal disadvantage of cleaning the loose gravel stages. Despite some tricky, muddy sections, and patches of standing water, he had a strong opening day, holding second place just 10.1 seconds behind leader Oliver Solberg.

Saturday brought drier roads and the battle for the podium places intensified, with five drivers trading times all day. 

Elfyn dropped a little time during the day as he struggled with the balance of his GR Yaris but went second fastest through the final stage of the day to fend off a charging Sébastien Ogier by 1.3s. he still held second but the gap to Solberg was now 19.1 seconds.

Sunday started with a charge. Elfyn went fastest on the opening stage and held a decent advantage in Super Sunday but he had to stop and change a puncture on SS15, turning what would have been a strong championship points gain into a disadvantage for the title battle.

He lost ground to championship rival Sami Pajari, with rally winner Oliver Solberg also edging closer.

Elfyn still leads the series but the gap has now closed from 20 to 17 points with just two rounds remaining.