The first pass through the famous dirt stages in the Center region is marked by balance, with six riders separated by 9.1s overall.
Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota) leads the race after the first five stages, with a mere 2.9s advantage over Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) and 3.3s over Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota). Tire management is again crucial for the afternoon section.
After a first day marked by the starting ceremony, in Coimbra, and the Super Special, in Figueira da Foz, the first competitive morning of the Vodafone Rally de Portugal included the first passes through the stages of Mortágua (18.15 km), Lousã ( 12.28 km), Góis (14.30 km) and Arganil (18.72 km). Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota) was the fastest in Mortágua, Dani Sordo (Hyundai) won the next two, and Thierry Neuville closed the morning, with the best time in the Arganil classic.
Managing tyre degradation has been a priority for drivers, given the region’s hard surfaces. Neuville, on the other hand, is the first driver on the road and as such has the thankless position of ‘clearing’ the ground for drivers starting further back, although the WRC leader is doing an excellent job managing that disadvantage, particularly in Arganil.
With this, Katsuta leads the rally before the afternoon section, with a 2.9s advantage over Neuville and 3.3s over Rovanperä. But riders like Ott Tänak (at 4.1s), Sébastien Ogier (7.5s) and Dani Sordo (at 9.1s) are very close to the top places, so everything is open for the afternoon section.
In WRC2, the duel between Oliver Solberg (Skoda) and Gus Greensmith (Skoda) for the lead is, for now, in favour of the young Swedish driver. Solberg has an advantage of 8.7s over the Briton and 10.9s over his great rival in the World Championship, Yohan Rossel (Citroën). These differences could be rectified, due to a neutralization in the Mortágua stage, caused by Pepe López’s mishap.
In the Portuguese Rally Championship race, which awards scores at the end of today’s stage, an initial advantage goes to Kris Meeke (Hyundai), who is ahead of Armindo Araújo (Skoda) and Ricardo Teodósio (Hyundai).
WHAT THE PILOTS SAID (AFTER P.E. 5 – ARGANIL)
#11 – NEUVILLE/WYDAEGHE
“I stuck to the plan until the end. We expected wetter conditions and more grip, but I’m very happy with my morning. After the shakedown, I wasn’t feeling well, but now I feel much better. I tried to manage my tyres well.”
#33 – EVANS/MARTIN
“It’s not going well. The feeling with the car isn’t the best.”
#16 – FOURMAUX/CORIA
“We have been managing the tyres all morning. There was a lot of cleaning of sections, but I am satisfied with the section. We know that a lot of things can happen on Friday afternoon in Portugal.”
#69 – ROVANPERÄ/HALTTUNEN
“I can tell you one thing: black car + this heat = sweat.”
#18 – KATSUTA/JOHNSTON
“It’s good to maintain the position. It’s going to be very difficult. We’ll try to keep pushing. I could attack a little more, but at the same time I also made some mistakes.”
#17 – OGIER/LANDAIS
Ogier was left without an intercom. “It happened somewhere on the stage. There’s not much (we can do), we changed the tyres…”
#13 – MUNSTER/LOUKA
“This was very difficult. I was hesitating a lot. We have a better position in the match than the guy in front, so Thierry has to go fast. We have to improve.”
#6 – SORDO/CARRERA
“I did the entire Arganil stage without the hybrid system. I lost a lot of time.”
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