A battle for second marked the start of the second stage of the Vodafone Rally de Portugal. Ott Tänak and Hyundai hold on to first place, but Sébastien Ogier and Toyota are in the fight for victory.
A very challenging morning for the drivers, who encountered some very demanding sections on the first run through Vieira do Minho, Cabeceira de Basto and Amarante. At the start of the second stage, almost everyone opted for the soft tyres, which suggested an attack strategy for this second day. The exception was Kalle Rovanperä, who made a unique choice, opting for three soft tyres and one hard tyre, but without great results in terms of timing.
The fight for first place, between Ott Tänak and Sébastien Ogier, dominated the first section of the second stage. The two drivers pushed themselves to the limit and won the three stages held before regrouping at Exponor, in Matosinhos.
Eight-time world champion Sébastien Ogier went on the attack and won in Vieira do Minho 1 and Cabeceira de Basto 1, reducing the gap to Ott Tänak to two seconds. Amarante, one of the toughest stages of the rally, closed the first section and saw the confirmation of the Hyundai driver, who won the section and increased his advantage over Ogier from two to 11.8 seconds. “I had a good stage. I adapted well and had a good feeling with the car”, said the leader of the race. Sébastien Ogier’s winning dynamic ended at this stage, with the Frenchman finishing only fifth fastest. “I was too slow. Maybe it was the hard tire”, explained the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 driver.
The battle for third place between Katamoto Katsuta and Kalle Rovanperä was another highlight of Saturday morning, with the Toyota drivers swapping positions in the overall standings several times. The Finn started the stage in front, but the Japanese driver pushed hard in the first two sections and moved up to third place. Rovanperä attacked in Amarante 1 and regained the position with a 0.4s advantage over Katamoto Katsuta. “I was on a hard tyre and we did what we could,” said the Finn.
World champion Thierry Neuville did not perform brilliantly during the morning and finished the section in fifth place “The car’s behaviour changed and I had difficulty keeping the rear end on the road,” explained the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 driver, who is fifth, 46.6s behind the leader.
Oliver Solberg continues to lead the WRC2 category, despite not winning any sections this morning due to the reduced effectiveness of the hard tyres. The Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 driver has a 46.6s advantage over Yohan Rossel (Citroën C3 Rally2) and 50.3s over Nikolay Gryazin (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2).
Classification at the end of the 5th section
1st Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (Hyundai I20N Rally1), with 2h:20,01.8
2nd Sébastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1), 11.8s
3rd Kalle Rovanperä/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1), 35.8s behind
4th Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1), 36.2s
5th Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai I20N Rally1), 46.6s behind
10th Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2), 5m.29.o (1st Rally2)
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