A lot of crowd, three different leaders, five riders winning stages and the first four to finish the stage separated by just 5.4 seconds. What a fantastic Friday day of the Vodafone Rally de Portugal.
In the centre of the country, Finns Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Haltunen were the fastest, with the Toyota duo finishing the stage with a second advantage over Sébastien Ogier. José Pedro Fontes led among national drivers, but in the Portuguese Rally Championship, Kris Meeke (Hyundai) scored his fourth victory of the season, in as many races. Tomorrow (Saturday), the XX teams in the race will head North to compete in the penultimate stage.
On the day the contract was signed for the continuity of the Vodafone Rally de Portugal in the 2025 and 2026 World Rally Championship, the many thousands of spectators who went to the stages in Mortágua, Lousã, Góis and Arganil watched a spectacle of extraordinary situation that promises to continue in the coming days. If the first four finished the stage separated by 5.4 seconds, the first seven fit in 31.8 seconds and, this time, not even the traditional toughness of the sections in the Central region caused any victims among the Rally1 teams. In other words, expectations for tomorrow’s stage are high.
Today (Friday), the Finnish duo, Kalle Rovanperä/Jonne Halttunen only won one of the eight stages of the day and finished the stage a mere second ahead of their teammate and eight-time world champion, Sébastien Ogier. “It was a big battle all day. Still, I don’t think we’re where we should be. We were just surviving and ended up with the rear tyres in really bad shape. Tomorrow will be a different day, but I admit it’s fun to be lead”, said the winner of the last two editions of the Vodafone Rally de Portugal.
The Japanese Takamoto Katsuta was one of the heroes of the day: he was the fastest in three stages and completed the Toyota trio, just 4.7 seconds from the lead.
Ott Tänak finished fourth and first of the three Hyundai I20 N Rally1s, just seven-tenths of a second behind Katsuta. Teammate Dani Sordo, in the first WRC race of the season, won three stages, completing the top five.
WRC leader Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) had the thankless task of opening the road, but kept his aspirations for victory intact, losing just 18.1 seconds to the leader.
In the immediate positions finished Adrien Fourmaux (Ford), with the current third-placed WRC player taking the risk of taking just one spare tyre for the morning section, and Elfyn Evans, the big unlucky guy on the stage. In addition to an ungrateful starting position, co-pilot Scott Martin forgot his notebook at the end of the first section, so, until the end of the day, he was forced to read the notes from a digital copy, in a cell phone. A puncture in the right front tyre worsened the frustration of the winner of the 2021 edition of the Vodafone Rally de Portugal, who lost 1m43.2s to the leader. “Nothing is going well for us. That’s how things are sometimes. He (Scott) did very well. But next time, it would be better if he remembered the book!”, said the Brit.
WRC2 turned into a two-man fight between Oliver Solberg and Yohan Rossel. Despite some engine failures at low revs, Solberg ended the day with a 7.3-second advantage over the Frenchman. After Pierre-Louis Loubet’s retirement in Góis 2, Briton Gus Greensmith finished in third place, 13.3 seconds behind the leader.
Kris Meeke (Hyundai) won again at the CPR
Today’s stage of the Vodafone Rally de Portugal counted for the Portuguese Rally Championship (CPR). Kris Meeke had his fourth success in the same number of events on the calendar. His superiority only ended in the second section, when the Hyundai’s crankcase protection forced the Northern Irish driver to drive with great care. Even so, he ended the day 1m24.3s ahead of José Pedro Fontes, second place. The Citroën driver had an interesting duel with Armindo Araújo (Skoda), as confirmed by the 9.3 seconds in which they finished apart. Pedro Almeida (Ford) and Paulo Neto (Skoda) closed the top five group.
Among the main protagonists of the CPR, a highlight is the fact that Kris Meeke and Armindo Araújo will continue in the race, despite the next stages not allowing them to gain points for the championship.
Teams head to the North
Today, the competitors head to the North, to compete for two passes through the stages of Felgueiras, Montim, Amarante, Paredes and Felgueiras and, to end the day, the always spectacular Lousada super-special. In total, nine specials make up a total of 145.02 times.
Vodafone Rally de Portugal Classification – After PE9
1 Kalle Rovanperä/Jonne Halttunen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 HYBRID 1:25:00.4
2 Sébastien Ogier/Vincent Landais Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 HYBRID + 1.0
3 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 HYBRID + 4.7
4 Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja Hyundai i20 N Rally1 HYBRID + 5.4
5 Daniel Sordo/Candido Carrera Hyundai i20 N Rally1 HYBRID + 17.9
6 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 HYBRID + 18.1
7 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria Ford Puma Rally1 HYBRID + 31.8
8 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 HYBRID + 1:43.2
9 Grégoire Munster/Louis Louka Ford Puma Rally1 HYBRID + 2:27.3 (WRC2)
10 Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson Skoda Fabia RS + 3:42.1 (Melhor português)
21José Pedro Fontes/Inês Ponte Citroën C3 + 7:48.3
Program
Saturday, May 11, 2024
07:00 Departure from Matosinhos (Exponor)
08:05 SS10 Felgueiras 1 (8.81 km)
09:05 SS11 Montim 1 (8.69 km)
10:05 am SS12 Amarante 1 (37.24 km)
11:35 am SS13 Paredes 1 (16.09 km)
12:26 Arrival at the regrouping and assistance area in Matosinhos (Exponor)
1:30 pm Departure from Matosinhos (Exponor)
2:35 pm SS14 Felgueiras 2 (8.81 km)
15:35 SS15 Montim 2 (8.69 km)
16:35 SS16 Amarante 2 (37.24 km)
18:05 SS17 Paredes 2 (16.09 km)
19:05 SS18 Lousada (3.36 km)
20:05 Arrival at the assistance area in Matosinhos (Exponor)
Leaders of the Vodafone Rally of Portugal
SS1-2 Thierry Neuville
SS3-5 Takamoto Katsuta
SS6-9 Kalle Rovanperä
Qualifier winners
SS1 Thierry Neuville
SS2 Thierry Neuville
SS3 Dani Sordo
SS4 Dani Sordo
SS5 Thierry Neuville
SS6 Sébastien Ogier
SS7 Dani Sordo
SS8 Kalle Rovanperä
SS9 Sébastien Ogier
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