WRC Chile: why tyres matter

Nearly four-and-a-half years after its debut, Rally Chile returns to the World Rally Championship.

With its long and narrow shape, Chile is a country of great variety: from the deserts in the north to its snow-capped south. Its WRC round takes place around 500 kilometres south of the central capital city, Santiago, in the forests around Concepción. The largely smooth gravel roads in these parts provided a stark contrast to the more familiar, rocky tracks of neighbouring Argentina which preceded the championship's first trip to the other side of the Andes mountains, back in 2019.

Instead, the drivers compared the stages to well-loved roads from other parts of the rally world. The high speeds and blind crests in places reminded them of Finland, the cambers of New Zealand, and the often damp and muddy conditions were reminiscent of Wales. The surface characteristics can also be considered a combination of these: rallies where the grip offered by softer rubber is usually preferred. The soft-compound Pirelli Scorpion KX tyre is therefore the main choice available in Chile, with the hard compound as an alternative.

While the first edition was held at the beginning of May during autumn in the southern hemisphere, the rally has now moved to springtime in Chile. How that will exactly affect the stages remains to be seen: one of several unknowns for the eagerly-anticipated Chilean comeback this year.

Rally Chile takes place in the Biobio region of Chile, and the 2023 edition begins with a ceremonial start in the city of Los Angeles (no, not the one in the United States…) on Thursday evening. The service park, which serves as a hub for the weekend's action, is located next to the international airport between the port city of Talcahuano and Concepcion, which together form Chile's largest population centre outside of Santiago.

Compared to 2019, much of the route is new, so any pace-note books that crews have kept hold of will only be of limited use this time round. Friday's stages, situated south-east of Concepcion and closer to Los Angeles, are almost entirely new, except from part of the opening test which is driven in the opposite direction to before. Saturday, meanwhile, is almost the same as four years ago, taking in three repeated stages south of Concepcion. Sunday's stages, just to the east of the city, are entirely new. In all, there are 320.98 competitive kilometres to be tackled across 16 stages.