Rovanperä emerges in a very open challenge
First day of Rally of Portugal nothing short of spectacular for WRC enthusiasts, who witnessed an unpredictable and uncertain first half of the Portuguese Friday, at least as regards the name of the leader of the general classification. In the first five of the eight total races, as many as four different riders took the lead in the standings, at least before the breakaway of Kalle Rovanperä. The Toyota driver has in fact put the arrow in the direct challenge against an excellent one Dani Deaf, with the podium completed by the other Hyundai of Thierry Neuville. Disappointment, however, for the winner of the last Rally of Croatia, Elfyn Evanswho went off the road on the occasion of the penultimate stage.
Four different winners
Rally of Portugal which, after the best time of Evans in the shakedown on Thursday evening, immediately begins with the great surprise of Pierre-Louis Loubet, author of the best time in the first stage and three tenths ahead of an excellent Dani Sordo. For the Frenchman of the M-Sport team, able to exploit the cleanest surface at the start, this is the first success in a special stage of this season, but already in the second round he loses the leadership to the other Ford of Ott Tanak. The Estonian, third in SS1, in fact manages to leap to the lead ahead of Sordo, once again in the role of direct follower also in SS2. Loubet, moreover, further distances the hopes of climbing back to the top of the standings also due to a fire in his Puma (a few meters from the finish line of the SS3), just as Takamoto Katsuta is also forced to retire, also betrayed from technical problem. The reigning world champion takes advantage of all this Kalle Rovanperä, winner of the third stage and immediately behind Tänak in the general standings. The Finn then gives the SS4 winner’s ‘trophy’ to his compatriot Esapekka Lappi, in a disastrous stage for Tänak, only 10th due to a problem with the front right tyre. Still impeccable, at the same time, Dani Sordo, who thanks to his second time (in front of a Loubet of applause) takes advantage of the Estonian’s misstep to return to the lead of the general standings.
Four different winners in the first four stages of the Lusitanian rally: an alternation of results and an uncertainty about the leader which is however interrupted by Rovanperä in the SS5, with the 22-year-old replicating his success in SS3 and becoming the fourth different rider to lead the standings in the first five rounds. The performance of is also good Thierry Neuville, who momentarily enters the podium area behind Sordo, still second and less than a second behind the Finnish Toyota driver. A classification situation, at least for the first two, which does not change even in the SS6 and in the SS7, despite the return to success of Lappi in the latter, during which there is also the Evans road exit. Friday then concluded with the mini-stage on the asphalt of Figueira da Foz, won by Sordo but not enough for the Spaniard to catch up with the reigning world champion, who heads into Saturday’s practice at the top of the standings at almost 11 seconds ahead of his pursuer and 26 from the second Hyundai of Neuville.
WRC | Rally de Portugal: standings after SS8 – Top 10
POS. | PILOT | CAR | TIME/GAP |
1 | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | 1:22:27.7 |
2 | Dani Deaf | Hyundai | +10.8 |
3 | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +26.0 |
4 | Pierre-Louis Loubet | Ford | +26.9 |
5 | Esapekka Lappi | Hyundai | +27.3 |
6 | Ott Tanak | Ford | +1:04.7 |
7 | Oliver Solberg | Skoda (WRC2) | +3:48.2 |
8 | Gus Greensmith | Skoda (WRC2) | +4:38.4 |
9 | Andreas Mikkelsen | Skoda (WRC2) | +5:29.3 |
10 | Teemu Suninen | Hyundai (WRC2) | +7:00.4 |
The next steps
The second day of the Rally of Portugal will start tomorrow morning with the first stage of Viera do Minho, scheduled at 8:35 Italian and also broadcast live on Sky Sports F1 (channel 207). Moreover, the ninth round of the Lusitanian round will not be the only one on Saturday to be available to enthusiasts, with the latter also being able to attend the SS15, the last of tomorrow’s day, starting at 20:05, again on the same channel.
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