WRC | Rally Portugal, PS3: Evans repeats itself. Tanak second

Elfyn Evans repeated herself in Special Stage 3 of the Rally of Portugal, the Gois 1 of 19.33 kilometers, the second of the day, winning one of the stages in which the first 7 were closed in just 7 tenths of a second.

The Welsh Toyota driver stopped the clock in 13’12 “7, just 1 tenth of a second faster than Ott Tanak and Martin Jarveoja. The Estonian Hyundai Motorsport test was excellent, who continues to tail Evans despite having a position of worst start.

Behind them here is the real surprise of the test: Takamoto Katsuta. The Japanese Toyota driver signed the third time trial just 2 tenths from Evans, in cohabitation with the leader of the World Championship Kalle Rovanpera. In this test the Finn managed to overtake the first of his rivals in the Drivers’ World Championship, Thierry Neuville.

The Belgian did not go beyond the ninth time, 5 “1 behind the top of the test. It seems that the Belgian tried to manage his Soft tires and then make the most of them in the next one and get to the Tire Fitting Zone for the following tests in good position in the standings, but now he has dropped to eighth place, although he is not too far behind the leaders.

Fifth place special for Craig Breen, 3 tenths behind Evans and ahead of Dani Sordo. The Spaniard from Hyundai did well to take advantage of the Hard tires on a very treacherous stage, but in the last intermediate he perhaps lost more time than expected, thus not being able to fight for the victory in the special.

Good performance for Sébastien Loeb, seventh at 7 tenths from Evans, while Sébastien Ogier is eighth and 1 “1 slower than his former teammate in Citroen Racing. Very difficult test for Gus Greensmith: the dust raised by the passage of the cars it crept copiously into the cockpit of his Ford Puma and forced the Brit to slow down and lose positions in the overall standings.

Rally of Portugal – Ranking after PS3