The 57th edition of the Vodafone Rally de Portugal kicks off this Thursday, in Coimbra, where another flood is expected to welcome WRC machines and drivers. Figueira da Foz Super-Special opens the competitive aspect, which will have 22 classifications contested in the Center and North of the country, between Thursday and Sunday.
Today, the 69 teams registered in the WRC Vodafone Rally de Portugal completed their recognition for the fifth race of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), which is also eligible for the Portuguese Rally Championship. Sun and mild temperatures welcomed the riders on the sections in the North region, after, yesterday, the teams had achieved marks in the Central stages.
The pool of candidates for victory is wide and there is great expectation to see what drivers like Sébastien Ogier (Toyota) and Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota) can do, who are not competing in the entire championship and, therefore, will have a position of latest match compared to the first placed teams in the World Cup. Ogier will be fifth on the road during the first stage and Rovanperä seventh, leaving the task of ‘clearing’ the dirt sections of the Central region on Friday to drivers such as championship leader Thierry Neuville (Hyundai), second-placed Elfyn Evans (Toyota), or third Adrien Fourmaux (M-Sport Ford). Neuville and Evans, who have already won the Automóvel Club de Portugal (ACP) race, reach this stage separated by just six points in the championship, with Fourmaux, one of the season’s biggest surprises, 27 points behind Neuville and ahead of another strong candidate for victory, Ott Tänak (Hyundai), who wants to regain confidence and return to good results.
The WRC2 race, with Rally2 cars, has an extensive list of almost 40 teams, which includes some names that have already ridden in the World Cup’s premier category, Rally1. These are the cases of Pierre-Louis Loubet (Skoda), Teemu Suninen (Hyundai), Gus Greensmith (Skoda) and Kris Meeke (Hyundai), the latter having dominated the Portuguese Rally Championship so far. The Rally2 World Championship is led by Oliver Solberg (Skoda) and Yohan Rossel (Citroën), both with 43 points, three more than Nikolay Gryazin (Citroën), which suggests a new intense battle in Portugal.
The Portuguese Rally Championship race, which will award its scores at the end of the ninth stage (end of Friday’s stage), has Kris Meeke as the natural favourite, although the experience and talent of Armindo Araújo (Skoda) – 12 times the best Portuguese in the race and who has already won three editions of the Rally de Portugal – promises to make the Northern Irishman’s task difficult. The reigning national champion, Ricardo Teodósio (Hyundai), as well as José Pedro Fontes (Citroën), the young Lucas Simões (Ford) and Pedro Almeida (Skoda), or Ernesto Cunha (Skoda), who is making his first season with a Rally2, they also want to shine in the most famous and media-centric event of the championship. Among the 2 Wheel Drives of the CPR, the highlight is the expected duel between Hugo Lopes (Peugeot) and Gonçalo Henriques (Renault), which, for now, has been in favour of the driver of the Peugeot 208 Rally4.
Paredes, Coimbra and Figueira da Foz in the Day 1 program
As usual, the action starts with the Paredes Shakedown, inside and around the Baltar circuit, starting at 8:01 am tomorrow. A 4.61 km spectacular section, which the riders will cover more than once, in a last opportunity for adjustments, before the official start of the race. After returning to Exponor, the teams head towards Coimbra, which will once again host the official Departure Ceremony.
An autograph session with the riders, starting at 4 pm, at the Santa Clara-a-Velha Monastery, precedes the official departure, at 5 pm, on Avenida de Conímbriga. The competitors then head to Figueira da Foz, for the opening Super Special, which this year has a redesigned route (2.94 km), next to Forte de Santa Catarina, starting at 7:05 pm (and broadcast live on SportTV4 and RTP1).
What the pilots said before the start
Check out the statements from the nine drivers in the WRC’s main category, before the official start of the 57th Vodafone Rally de Portugal.
Thierry Neuville (Hyundai Shell Mobis): “Success in Portugal depends on the same factors as always. We need consistency, a good set-up and confidence in the car. The road conditions and position on the road will also make a huge difference to our performance. When it’s dry, we’ll have more difficulties, because everyone knows the stages well. I was pleased with the car in the pre-event test and we have focused on a set-up that will give me the confidence to attack in slippery conditions. My goals are to optimize performance on Friday and Saturday, before trying to get maximum points on Sunday.”
Elfyn Evans (Toyota Gazoo Racing): “We are entering a busy phase of the season, with rallies following one another quickly, and our attention turns to the dirt road races. Portugal can be a very enjoyable rally, with some fast and flowing sections, but recently it has become more of a challenge in terms of the hardness of the surfaces, especially in some of the classic stages in the Center on Friday. As is always the case on dirt, road position can be a factor, but it is also a rally that can be affected by weather conditions. We just have to focus on doing the best job we can with the conditions we have and try to make the most of the weekend.”
Adrien Fourmaux (M-Sport Ford): “The Portuguese Rally is very famous and spectacular. The roads are very technical and we usually have very difficult conditions, with very high temperatures. This is my fourth time in Portugal. I’m looking forward to enjoying the atmosphere and, hopefully, achieving another good result.”
Ott Tänak (Hyundai Shell Mobis): “It’s great to be back on a harder surface. Portugal is very pleasant. It is a fast rally, with high speeds, normally smooth on the first pass and very hard on the second. The contrast between the first and second passage is notable due to the fact that the sections can be very degraded.”
Sébastien Ogier (Toyota Gazoo Racing): “I am excited to return to Portugal after a year away. It’s a country that I have very good memories of, perhaps a little more from the time when the rally was held in the Algarve. Still, the atmosphere is always great and it’s a rally where we shouldn’t be at a disadvantage with our position on the road, which could perhaps even benefit us a little. It’s my first time competing on dirt in a while, but we had a good test and I’m looking forward to the rally.”
Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota Gazoo Racing): “Portugal is a rally that I like and I know the stages very well. I will try to try as hard as possible. I am not signed up to score points for the team in this event, so I don’t have any pressure in that sense and I can just concentrate on driving fast and trying to do my best.”
Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota Gazoo Racing): “There are a lot of fans here and a great atmosphere. The stages have excellent characteristics and we have had a lot of success here in the last two years. Of course, our objective will be to try to win, but it is never easy. Our position on the road can help us, but we will have to see how long it takes…”
Dani Sordo (Hyundai Shell Mobis): “I’m very excited to be racing again, especially in Portugal. It’s always a special rally for everyone. Getting the set-up right is key to performing well here. We worked hard in pre-event testing to trying to perfect the tuning so we can do a good job. It’s going to be interesting with a lot of the part-time competitors being so competitive this year.”
Grégoire Munster (M-Sport Ford): “We did a good test before the event. Portugal will be very similar to Sardinia, a slightly complicated race for us, because we don’t have much experience compared to our competitors. Thanks to my great idea of rolling the car in the first special stage of last year’s rally, we lack knowledge of the stages.”
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