Thierry Neuville is now the firm favourite to clinch the 2024 WRC title after winning the previous round in Greece which extended his lead at the top.
The Hyundai driver, who is chasing a maiden crown, holds a 34-point advantage with 90 left available after going to Greece leading Sebastien Ogier by 27 points.
But the eight-time world champion suffered a puncture in the final stage which caused him to crash out from second meaning he now trails Neuville by 38 points.
Ogier’s retirement meant Ott Tanak finished on the podium, so the 2019 world champion moved up to second in the standings ahead of a rally only he has won.
This weekend is Rally Chile, which is set for its third appearance on the WRC calendar after 2019 and 2023 where Tanak won both times.
Neuville did finish second in the South American country last year though, so he still has form at the rally which can help him edge one step closer towards the title.
It comes after a very consistent campaign where the five-time championship runner-up has led the standings since his victory at the Monte Carlo season opener.
Though Neuville didn’t win again until Greece, he finished on the podium three times during that run while coming outside of the top eight in just one rally, which was Sardinia.
His Hyundai team also has full control of the manufacturers’ championship, as Dani Sordo’s second-place finish in Greece sealed a 1-2 for the Korean marque which leads Toyota by 35 points.
That’s despite the reigning champions Toyota currently holding two more victories for the season, but the last two rounds have proven costly as, although he won the rally, Ogier was Toyota’s only points scorer in Finland.
Toyota will field four GR Yaris entries with both Ogier and reigning world champion Kalle Rovanpera joining Elfyn Evans. Protege Sami Pajari completes the quartet following Toyota’s surprise call to bench full-time driver Takamoto Katsuta for the trip to Chile.
Lagging behind in third is M-Sport, who sit 184 points behind Toyota but the British squad has only had two points-scoring cars this season compared to three for its rivals.
However, the team will enter a third Puma Rally1 this weekend for rising star Martins Sesks, who will make his third Rally1 appearance of the season after impressing for the team in Poland and Latvia.
When is the 2024 Rally Chile?
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Date: 26-29 September
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Start time: 11pm BST/7pm local time on Thursday 26 September 2024
The 2024 Rally Chile officially starts on Thursday 26 September at 11pm in the United Kingdom and 7pm local time in the central Chilean city of Concepcion. Earlier that day at 1pm BST is also shakedown, which gives teams the opportunity to test various car set-ups ahead of the rally.
On Friday 27 September is when the opening stages of Rally Chile commence and the action starts at 12:35pm BST, which is 8:35am local time.
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Date
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Leg
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Leg total
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Start time
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Thursday 26 September
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Shakedown
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4.22 miles
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1pm BST/9am local time
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Thursday 26 September
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Ceremonial start
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N/A
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11pm BST/7pm local time
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Friday 27 September
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Stage 1 - Stage 3
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35.03 miles
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12:35pm BST/8:35am local time
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Friday 27 September
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Stage 4 - Stage 6
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35.03 miles
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6:46pm BST/2:46pm local time
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Saturday 28 September
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Stage 7 - Stage 9
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43.25 miles
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1:07pm BST/9:07am local time
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Saturday 28 September
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Stage 10 - Stage 12
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43.25 miles
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7:07pm BST/3:07pm local time
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Sunday 29 September
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Stage 13 - Stage 15
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28.6 miles
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12:23pm BST/8:23am local time
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Sunday 29 September
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Stage 16 (Power Stage)
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5.46 miles
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5:15pm BST/1:15pm local time
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How can I watch the WRC?
TNT Sports has held the WRC broadcast rights in the UK since 2014, when it was called BT Sport. So, every round of the 2024 championship has so far been live televised by the subscription-based network and that’ll continue for the rest of the year.
TNT Sports is available from £20 per month in a deal that includes all four sport channels, Eurosport 1 and 2, as well as its live-streaming platform Discovery+.
The WRC can also be watched via Rally.tv, which offers two deals to new customers: an annual pass for £119.99 or a monthly subscription for £12.99.
How can I watch the 2024 Rally Chile?
TNT Sports will commence its Rally Chile coverage on Thursday 26 September at 1pm BST for the opening session of the weekend, which is shakedown. It will return later in the day for the ceremonial start at 10pm.
That means TNT Sports will live broadcast every moment of the 2024 Rally Chile weekend, as it returns on Friday for the opening six stages. However, it will be on and off with its coverage depending on the start time for each stage, so the sessions are broadcast across the different TNT channels.
The event can also be watched via Rally.tv, who will be on and off with its coverage as well.
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Date
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Leg
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Channel
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Coverage from
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Thursday 26 September
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Shakedown
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TNT Sports Extra 1
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1pm BST
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Thursday 26 September
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Ceremonial start
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TNT Sports Extra 6
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10pm BST
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Friday 27 September
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Stage 1 - Stage 3
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TNT Sports 2
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12pm BST
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Friday 27 September
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Stage 4 - Stage 6
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TNT Sports 3
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6:45pm BST
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Saturday 28 September
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Stage 7 - Stage 9
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TNT Sports Extra 2
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1pm BST
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Saturday 28 September
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Stage 10 - Stage 12
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TNT Sports Extra 2
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7pm BST
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Sunday 29 September
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Stage 13
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TNT Sports 4
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12:15pm BST
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Sunday 29 September
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Stage 14 - Stage 15
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TNT Sports 3
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1:30pm BST
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Sunday 29 September
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Stage 16 (Power Stage)
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TNT Sports 3
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5pm BST
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Date
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Leg
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Channel
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Coverage from
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Thursday 26 September
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Shakedown
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Rally.tv
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1pm BST
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Thursday 26 September
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Ceremonial start
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Rally.tv
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10pm BST
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Friday 27 September
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Stage 1 - Stage 3
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Rally.tv
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12:30pm BST
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Friday 27 September
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Stage 4 - Stage 6
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Rally.tv
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5pm BST
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Saturday 28 September
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Stage 7 - Stage 9
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Rally.tv
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1pm BST
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Saturday 28 September
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Stage 10 - Stage 12
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Rally.tv
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7pm BST
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Sunday 29 September
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Stage 13 - Stage 15
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Rally.tv
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12:15pm BST
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Sunday 29 September
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Stage 16 (Power Stage)
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Rally.tv
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5pm BST
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How can I watch the 2024 Rally Chile highlights?
TNT Sports will broadcast several 30-minute highlight programmes of the Rally Chile weekend, starting at 3am (TNT Sports 1) on Saturday morning. Most of the programmes will be run at anti-social hours due to the timing of the rally, but TNT Sports 4 will broadcast a highlights package at 11:45am on Sunday.
Red Bull TV will also show highlights, but its one-hour programmes are set to air at 2am on Saturday, Sunday and Monday morning. ITV4 will run highlights at a more reasonable time though, as it will broadcast an hour programme on Tuesday 1 October at 9pm.
Autosport will also have daily highlights of the action from Chile, as will the official WRC platforms which upload clips throughout the weekend.
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Date
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Channel
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Time
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Saturday 28 September
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TNT Sports 1
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3am BST
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Saturday 28 September
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Red Bull TV
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2am BST
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Sunday 29 September
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Red Bull TV
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2am BST
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Sunday 29 September
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TNT Sports 4
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11:45am BST
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Monday 30 September
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TNT Sports 2
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1am BST
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Monday 30 September
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Red Bull TV
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2am BST
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Monday 30 September
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TNT Sports 3
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4:30am BST
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Tuesday 1 October
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ITV4
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9pm BST
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What is the route for the 2024 Rally Chile?
The 2024 Rally Chile will have 16 special stages covering a total competitive distance of 190.61 miles. Drivers will first tackle a 12.25-mile stage of Pulperia before heading south to Rere (8.29 miles) and San Rosendo (14.49 miles) to complete the morning.
Those three stages will be run again in that order on Friday afternoon, while Saturday also has six stages featuring two identical loops. It begins with a 9.72-mile run of Pelun, which is adjacent to Chile’s Biobio River, before the longest stages of the weekend as drivers next tackle 15.93 miles of Lota and then 17.59 miles of Maria las Cruces.
That same route will run again on Saturday, a day which features pretty hilly stages as they all have over a 500m difference between the highest and lowest elevation. Sunday will then feature two identical routes which make up four stages, starting with Laraquete (11.57 miles) and Bio Bio (5.46 miles), which is quite a flat rally.
Drivers will return to Laraquete for stage 15, before Bio Bio serves as the weekend-closing power stage where bonus points are on offer to the top five fastest cars.
Rally1 entry list for the 2024 Rally Chile
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Team
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Driver
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Co-driver
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Hyundai
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Ott Tanak
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Thierry Neuville
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Martins Sesks
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Renars Francis
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Toyota
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Sami Pajari
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Enni Malkonen
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Sebastien Ogier
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Elfyn Evans
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Kalle Rovanpera
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Jonna Halttunen
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