Kalle Rovanpera does not want to take prisoners. In the first stage of Sunday at the Rally of Portugal, the PS17 Felgueiras 1 of 8.91 kilometers, the leader of the World Championship and of the fourth event of the WRC 2022 took yet another special success.
This meant that the 21-year-old was able to stretch against his only rival for success, Elfyn Evams, bringing his margin to 8 “4 when there are now 4 specials left at the end of the event.
The two Toyota drivers pushed hard to try to beat the opponent, but Rovanpera seems to be unbeatable right now. In fact, we recall that in 2021 it was Evans who won on the Lusitanian dirt roads, so it is a race with which he has a particular feeling, but the Rovanpera of this beginning of the season resembles in a sinister way – for the opponents – to the Sébastien Ogier of the last decade.
The fight for third place unexpectedly reopens, with Dani Sordo good at signing a time trial that led him to gnaw almost all the disadvantage he had against Takamoto Katsuta. The Japanese was perhaps too cautious in facing the test, aware of having a great opportunity and being able to take home the second podium of his career after the one obtained last year at Safari.
Sordo, on the other hand, pushed just enough to bring himself back under. Now the Japanese has an advantage over the Hyundai Motorsport driver of just 1 “2. Thierry Neuville has done much better than Sordo and also Katsuta, but he is still far, too far from the two (27” 9) to be able to think about re-entering the fight for the podium.
Rally of Portugal – Ranking after SS17
Pos. | Pilot / navigator | Car | Time / posting |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Rovanpera / Halttunen | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 | 3h19’43 “7 |
2 | Evans / Martin | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 | +8 “4 |
3 | Katsuta / Johnston | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 | + 2’03 “3 |
4 | Sordo / Carrera | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 | + 2’04 “5 |
5 | Neuville / Wydaeghe | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 | + 2’32 “4 |
6 | Breen / Nagle | Ford Puma Rally1 | + 4’13 “2 |
7 | Loubet / Landais | Ford Puma Rally1 | + 4’33 “5 |
8 | Tanak / Jarveoja | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 | + 4’45 “8 |
9 | Fourmaux / Coria | Ford Puma Rally1 | + 7’21 “1 |
10 | Suninen / Markkula | Hyundai i20 N Rally2 | + 10’35 “9 |
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