Rally Chile BIOBÍO 2023
28. 9. – 1. 10. 2023, Concepción • Horta Producciones • gravel 320.98 km • total distance including road sections - 1239.43 km • Other years
Info
SS16
"It's great to finally have some positive outcome. Thanks to mechanics and everybody in the container who came here. We were a really small bunch of people but they did a great job."
"An eventful weekend for us to be honest. Very stressful before the last stage, we were for minutes trying to start the car but I jump-start and luckily it kept going so very happy to be here."
"We were struggling at the end there with the rear tires, but we had to try and give it a push at least. It's a shame what happened on Saturday morning - I think a bit more was maybe possible from the weekend, but that's how it goes sometimes."
"Definitely not the best week for us. Felt the weekend was quite difficult already from the start, being handicapped with the starting place cost us all the weekend and also not the best choices made."
"I was still using the handbrake, a stone broke the front-right on the previous one but we still could finish the rally. Maybe for the next one we have to change our lucky number. Thanks to Jourdan [Serderidis], it's because of him we are here."
"In one hairpin I feel like some hit and I lose the rear wheels. We only want to finish this stage, we are really happy. I want to say thank you to the team who gave me a fantastic car."
"Amazing, finally win again! It's been a long year and OK my championship is over now but still fantastic to race. I felt I deserved a few before and finally get it again, amazing feeling."
"We needed the win but after the circumstances of Friday I don't think there's more me or Jonas could have done. Congratulations to Oliver, well deserved win."
"After the first day we need to have a reset. It's not a bad weekend for me, the team, the car worked very well when the grip is high - we need to work when it's low. It's like that."
"I'm so, so HAPPY! This is INCREDIBLE!"
SS15
Spin
"It's tricky, like previous time. I just struggle to drive on that one, difficult to get the feeling. We are through."
"It's a shame for him because he was doing an incredibly good rally, disappointed for that. But now we need to bring it home."
Accident
"It was starting well then suddenly I lost all the brakes, so I had to use the handbrake for the stage. We'll try to fix the issue."
SS14
Whole rear-left suspension has been destroyed around 1km before the finish, but managed to cross the finish line
Left-rear tyre has fallen off around middle of the stage
Started the stage on 1 punctured tyre (left-rear)
"This stage is a bit better, it's actually quite consistent flow, it's not too bad. Previous one was tricky and narrow. It's definitely more tricky than pushing."
"I was trying. There were some mistakes, some slides, it cost some time."
"It's cleaning a lot, so he [Suninen] should be able to go faster, but I had a good stage."
"It was very loose in here, wasn't the best run to be honest. The cleaning is massive."
"It's not going to be enough [on the powerstage]. This one is cleaning even worse than the previous stage. I think the second pass will be horrible, I think the starting place will be the biggest factor on the times."
"Very, very loose! I don't think even second pass the condition will be good, going to be still cleaning for us. So, hmmm, not so enjoyable."
"Just before the refueling out of the service we had a road section with a car, so we were a bit scared with the right side."
Alberto accidentally switched helmets with his co-driver:
"Oh, things happen, we didn't notice! That's why it's a bit bigger."
SS13
2 damaged wheels - driving slowly
"Tricky stages, very tricky stages, so let's say first loop is tricky on these ones."
"Not good enough."
"I had a good stage, I enjoyed it. A couple of small moments, I was on the limit on many corners but the car was working nice so I enjoyed the ride."
"It was a good, clean stage but it's just so loose, I guess it's cleaning a lot."
"The feeling was quite good to be honest, this is quite a nice stage, went well. Definitely it will be cleaning a lot."
"I try to get the feeling and if it feels good we try and push on the powerstage."
"I had a vibration right from the beginning so I thought I had a puncture, I'm not sure what it is."
"It was really good, quite slippery, not easy to be the first car on the road but I enjoy, was a good one for us."
SS12
"I don't know what I should have done otherwise. I was trying to do as well as I can, but I simply cannot go faster."
"It's been an extremely good day. It's just been working in our favor and stages which were bad we had advantage to slow down, and now when it was needed we were able to speed up. It's been a great job so far but not finished yet, so need to keep it going tomorrow."
"It's very difficult because it's hard to feel how much the tire is wearing. But in the end I was saving too much and I started too early, but overall the loop was OK."
"It's been difficult to be honest, my tires are completely finished coming down the last part there. That's how it is, it's part of the game. Of course this is not ideal but I was half expecting worse so it's still on for tomorrow."
"It's a bit like driving in Super Mario kart when someone is throwing bananas or smoke bombs in front of you! Definitely losing a lot of time, let's see how much we get back."
"I got caught with the rear tire that were completely done, and we touched a bank and I was thinking we broke a [steering] arm so I tried to continue slowly, but actually we had a double puncture on the right. I just hope we didn't disturb Rovanpera too much."
"Yeah it's OK, everything is fine I just had to let's say do a job for the team and get through the stage. I just wanted to make sure we finish the day, that's it."
Stalled on start line
Driving in the dust of Munster
"The entry of one of the hairpins was a big stone, I didn't see it and I bent my steering. But it's OK. I was trying not to spin like all the stages in the morning, but we are here."
Bended steering
Driving slowly (steering issues after hitting of stone on road)
Spun and stalled engine after puncture
Puncture after off road
Off road moment -> Little damage on car
SS11
"We don't know how good was it as we still have one to go, and tire wear is massive."
"We tried to be really neat and tidy, but hard to say."
"I had a good run, just tried to save the tires. That was the only thing. I think we are not too bad for the last one."
"Straightaway delaminated, I don't know why. We have two stages with a delamination, I don't know how we survive the next one."
"I would say the tires are completely done, and we still have one to do. It's good I do some ice driving in the winter becasue it's exactly the same!"
SS10
"It's so difficult to understand if it's too much or how it is, it feels so, so bad. We still need to make sure we get through the loop."
"Just trying to manage, trying to be smooth. Hard to know how everything is until we check everything over but all good just now."
"I had a good start but towards the end I took it very steady on the last downhill, tried to save the tire. It's hard to know how much the tire is overheating as you feel them, but you don't know if it's taking the rubber or just the gravel moving."
"We didn't have any hard tires it's difficult to predict how the tire wear is. Even on this one it already feels quite rough for the tires, so I need to check the tire wear and manage the loop."
"Quite slippy still, lines are not our lines so I had to make a new line and it was quite slippy. So not so easy to drive."
"No dust this time and better grip. In general it was better, much more enjoyable."
"It was the worst stage for me of the weekend because I have the lines of the front-wheel-drive, and I'm not able to put the car in the position. But it's OK we continue, we enjoy."
Spin
SS9
Puncture
Spin
Puncture
Hit the bank and rolled
Puncture
Puncture
"Was OK. I think it was a mistake to go with five [tires]. I was just saving the tires for two and a half stages and still it wasn't enough."
"It was the first good stage for us since the beginning of the weekend where I felt more or less comfortable."
Rear tyres with no rubber left, double puncture
Finishes with no rubber on rear tyres "I think we are lucky to be here. A big mistake with the tire choice. For sure we knew that this one will be rough on the tires but we didn't expect it to be that high tire wear."
"It's unbelievable! But it's OK, we change tires now."
Rear tyres with no rubber left, punctures
"I made the stages for the last eight years, and again I make a mistake with my tire choices! Softs on the rear."
Rear tyres with no rubber left, double puncture
SS8
"Was tricky. I was still on the mixed tire on this one and the balance was quite terrible, but for the next one we should be OK."
"It's one stage to go, we have different tactics so we will see how it ends up."
"To be honest we were trying to be very, very careful but it was really slippery at the same time. So let's see."
"It's all about managing the tires now. Felt good for first few kms but then the tires were gone. With puncture we have one tire less so we are in a bad situation."
"Our plan was way too optimistic this morning and it didn't work out so well for the tires."
"Good experience. So much sliding all around and very low grip, but it's good practice."
"We have a small spin, but half only. I prefer to let the car make the spin and don't try to save because I didn't want to put my car in danger. We have a good stage, tire choice was not correct but OK."
Spin
SS7
"Two times I needed to stop because of the dust, I couldn't see absolutely anything. It is how it is, not much we can do."
Spin
"It's extremely demanding, I was not sure my tire choice is correct but now I think it's OK."
"Really, really bad. Huge understeer at the beginning and huge oversteer at the end. It's going to be a really long loop so we will see."
Puncture
"Not really feeling good, but hopefully it's better than yesterday. Still struggling with the car a bit on the twisty sections, I don't really like how it feels at the moment. Tricky stage - low sun and lots of dust."
"For sure this dust you cannot drive like normal, so yeah to be honest some places quite stupid to drive. OK everybody probably the same so we just need to survive."
"There is a problem with the launch control, it always stalls two seconds from the start so it's difficult to focus in the beginning. There is low sun and in the dust of Heller we couldn't see a thing."
"Like always, beautiful stage, this downhill is amazing. First time I'm opening the road in a rally because in Chile we run reverse order, so I'm learning, but I enjoy a lot."
SS6
Spin
"OK Friday was maybe my favorite, so I hope tomorrow and Sunday can be as good."
"I have driven the last 20km with broken rear-left suspension! I don't know, lucky I guess. I did 20km flat out rough gravel, road section is fine! I'm happy to still be in second and in this position."
"After the first stage I think the rally is dead for me, but I am here. It's not good but I keep the smile. I don't want this result but it's like that, we need to work and we will see tomorrow."
"Amazing, we finished out first day! First target done. I think it's the day in rallying I have enjoyed most in my career. Tomorrow will be another great day for sure."
"For sure it didn't start the perfect way but we enjoyed a lot. It's not easy to drive such cars but what a pleasure it is."
"It's all under control, so no worries."
"At the end I felt much better than the morning but still I'm missing some confidence and feeling. I need to find out what I can improve."
"The first one and this one were extremely tough, when it's this hard base it's moving so bad you don't find any stability. But we had a good clean run so no trouble."
"We had an issue before the stage, I lost the hybrid so I did the whole stage without. But in this stage you don't need it so much as it's so fast, the tires are overheating so you can't use full power."
"Really struggled for grip, especially at the rear. I don't really know why, but really struggled."
"I had a half spin so I lost some time there going a bit not the right way let's say, anyway happy to be at the end of the day. Second pass was much more demanding than the first pass. Very hard base on the road but no line at all, I cannot do much more."
Small off
SS5
Rolled
Damaged rear suspension
"I am in map two, it's quite good now. I reset just after the stage but yeah I see the chickens, the dog in the middle of the road - it's crazy."
"I saw my girlfriend on one corner, so I wave and say hi to her!"
"I did a good stage. Normal things."
"We had a massive moment in this one, I don't know if get away with this one! The rear wing is there?"
"Obviously the jump I really slowed down this time, just to be sure. But yeah, I guess we had to try a bit. Let's see, the next one is a crucial one."
"Still a lot of cleaning in there, I would say same amount as this morning. On this stage I struggle less with the car than on other stages, I don't know why."
"It's definitely a bit better on the afternoon but surprisingly dirty still."
SS4
"It's hard for the tires, so I tried to just be smart and see if he has f***** his or not."
"I have a big problem with my engine, I don't have any power. It's like that."
"I enjoyed driving, grip level was higher so all good."
"In the morning I was really disappointed in myself but I changed the setup and everything feels really good. Let's see, next one I try and push more."
"I tried hard on this one. After 2km [the tires were] already quite hot, so we tried to come through as smooth as we could."
"I think it's about the tire management. I was managing the whole stage through, it's going to be a long afternoon."
"It's very hard now but still a bit of cleaning I guess. But OK."
"For sure it's better than in the morning but it's still quite a big mess after the small cars, and the stage has been open for some civilian cars in between so that's not good. But I tried to be clean on a messy surface."
SS3
Rolled
"It's great to be here, but I could drive faster."
"Like I said honestly I didn't feel so good with my driving. Car is good but I don't know, pacenotes and my driving aren't matching so well."
"Incredibly tricky. I've no hybrid and generally hard. Seems like we've been having some damper issue since the beginning so happy to get back to service now."
"It's very scary to be honest. I'm fighting like hell and I'm having lots of moments."
"It's been pretty difficult with the low grip, it's really hard to gauge how you're doing. It's been a tricky morning."
"Quite tricky. Still seems to be a lot of cleaning so that's definitely quite tricky. Also here I felt that the car balance was not so good, I was oversteering everywhere all the time. Hopefully in the afternoon we can do something better."
SS2
Puncture
Spin
Spin
"At least I had turbo response on this stage, but not ideal."
"Really bad. I missed one bridge and lost many seconds there. In the end I hit the bank..."
"Honestly it's really bad driving so far, so I need to improve"
"There is a really dangerous jump at the beginning. I'm not sure if Martin is OK, we had a hard landing and lost the hybrid and stuff."
Spin
"I don't know where that was. We did a big step on the chassis, but still I cannot trust it."
"It's pretty loose, it's going to keep getting quicker I'm sure."
SS1
"Balance of the car for me is terrible, it's undrivable. I'm going to have to call my engineer to figure something out, because she's s***."
"It was a mess. I had trouble with pacenotes and I think a mechanic touched the button, we had no ALS."
"It's a shame to hear EP's been off, but extremely tricky, extremely tricky. So many grip changes."
"Stage is fun but extremely demanding. Can't really say feeling comfortable in the car, for sure would like to improve a lot."
Rolled
"I had no grip, I had no grip. I couldn't find the confidence. The car is sliding all around so I really struggled a lot in there."
"I'm not surprised [they're faster on the splits] to be honest, it was really dry - much more loose than expected. Definitely one of the worst stages I have done this year driving wise also, proper s***."