Welshman Elfyn Evans takes an early lead in Chile Rally

Evans ideally needs to win this 11th round of 13 to keep in the world championship hunt as he lags 33 points behind in the standings led by his Toyota teammate Kalle Rovanpera.

Ott Tanak won the first special of the day with Evans and co-driver Scott Martin topping the times in the next two, with three stages on Friday remaining.

Evans holds a narrow 2.6-second lead over Hyundai rival Teemu Suninen with Tanak hovering in third and defending champion Rovanpera fourth almost 14sec adrift.

Rovanpera was hindered by having to 'open the road' on the tricky gravel surface.

This South American leg of the calendar, making its return for the first time since 2019, proved punishing for Esapekka Lappi, who rolled his Hyundai dramatically on a fast left-handed corner on stage three.

Both Lappi and his co-driver Janne Ferm escaped unharmed from their wrecked car.

"I braked too hard and couldn't take the corner. The car's roll bar is damaged so there's no chance" of continuing, said Lappi.

Evans must finish in the top eight in Chile to prolong the title fight.

"It's been pretty difficult with the low grip," Evans said in reference to the loose stones blanketing the gravel surface.

"It's really difficult to gauge how you're doing because it's so technical and the grip is so low."

The final two rounds of the season are the Central European Rally, a new addition to the calendar, in Austria, Czech Republic and Germany, in late October with Japan hosting the 13th and final leg in November.