Making his first Rally Chile Biobío start in Rally1 machinery, Solberg claimed two stage victories as crews faced wet and slippery roads during the morning before increasingly dry and abrasive conditions developed across the afternoon loop.
The Toyota driver set the pace on the opening Turquía stage, finishing 1.4 seconds ahead of Evans. The championship leader responded on SS2, Nuevo Rere, to move 0.4 seconds ahead overall, before Solberg regained first place on Hualqui and returned to midday service with a 2.3-second advantage.
Conditions changed significantly during the afternoon as the roads began to dry. Sami Pajari was fastest on the second pass of Turquía before Sébastien Ogier claimed SS5, Nuevo Rere 2. Solberg then completed the day with victory on Hualqui 2 to extend his overnight advantage to 10.1 seconds.
Five different drivers recorded stage victories across Friday’s six tests.
Evans completed the opening leg in second place after running first on the road throughout the day. Overnight rain reduced the road-cleaning effect during the morning stages, although the drying surface created more challenging conditions for the Welshman during the second loop.
Adrien Fourmaux holds third place for Hyundai, 18.0 seconds from the lead, after recovering from a technical issue during the morning. The Frenchman is closely followed by defending Rally Chile Biobío winner Sébastien Ogier, who sits just 1.7 seconds behind in fourth.
Pajari completes the top five, 21.7 seconds behind Solberg. After losing time on the opening stage while struggling for confidence in the inconsistent grip, the Toyota driver recovered strongly during the afternoon, including victory on SS4.
Thierry Neuville is sixth, 27.4 seconds from the lead, after a difficult opening day in which he struggled for confidence and later reported a minor damper issue.
M-Sport Ford drivers Josh McErlean and Jon Armstrong occupy seventh and eighth respectively, separated by 2.4 seconds, while Esapekka Lappi completed his first day back in FIA WRC competition in ninth.
Takamoto Katsuta was the most significant retirement of the opening leg. The Japanese driver slid off the road 6.2 kilometres into SS1 and was unable to continue after his car became stranded. Katsuta and stand-in co-driver James Fulton were unhurt.
In WRC2, Nikolay Gryazin leads the category and sits 10th overall, 8.5 seconds ahead of championship leader Robert Virves.
Friday’s results also maintain an important dynamic in the FIA WRC Drivers’ Championship. Evans arrived in Chile with a 20-point advantage over Pajari, while Solberg began the event a further 21 points behind in third.
Saturday represents the longest leg of Rally Chile Biobío, with crews facing 139.2 competitive kilometres across two passes of Pelún, Lota and the 28.31-kilometre María las Cruces stage.
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