Ott Tanak admitted he was surprised to be fighting for the Rally Chile victory having initially written off his chances after Friday’s first stage.
The Hyundai driver delivered an impressive drive from second on the road to lead Toyota's Elfyn Evans by 0.4 seconds at the end of Friday's six stages.
Tanak will, however, head into Saturday’s stages trailing Evans by three seconds after officials issued an adjustment to Evans' notional stage one time, which handed the Toyota driver the rally lead.
Tanak was never totally comfortable behind the wheel of his i20 N on the slippery gravel roads that led to the two-time Chile winner chasing set-up throughout Friday to tame his car.
But the constant set-up changes in between stages helped Tanak find confidence to sit atop of the timesheets.
“I definitely am [surprised to be in this position] - after the first stage I said to the engineers that a top six or top eight is the maximum, it was not driving at all,” said Tanak.
“Thierry was struggling, I was struggling and Esapekka [Lappi] was struggling even more.
“We clearly had struggles with the car and the set-up. It is something with these kind of roads but we should be able to react.
“In the morning, it was looking extremely demanding and I really struggled to find any kind of feeling in the car.
“It was quite difficult for the afternoon but obviously the grip improved a bit and the car improved a little bit.
“I’m not really feeling fully like I should but at the moment we tried to take the maximum out of it.”
Saturday’s stages are set to offer a completely new challenge with the road surface much more abrasive compared to Friday’s tests, meaning tyre management will be crucial.
Tanak mastered these conditions last year while driving for M-Sport, which proved to be key in his run to victory.
“The characteristics is completely different for sure but normally from the road we should get more grip and much better road positions and altogether we should be in a better position,” he added.
“I’m not sure if it [the tyre wear] will be exactly the same [as last year], but I’m sure tyres will be the story again.”
Neuville attributes struggles to set-up mistake
While Tanak was able to coax his i20 N into a better operating window, championship leader Thierry Neuville believes his struggles for pace were down to going the wrong way on car set-up.
Neuville, who started first on the road, ended Friday in sixth position 30.3s behind team-mate Tanak after admitting he was fighting with his car across the six stages.
“I think we were just on the wrong set-up as I cannot explain how I could've struggled that much out there,” said Neuville.
“The pace wasn’t there and the feeling wasn’t good. We didn’t have any fun out there today. We did some set-up changes but it was not what we needed.
“We are 30 seconds off the lead and we are only 20 seconds behind fourth and fifth and that must be our target.
“Clearly we need a bit more performance and a bit more speed and we need to chase these positions.
“I honestly believe that, if the car gives me the necessary confidence, it should be possible.”
