WRC 2017, Round 6/13 – Rally de Portugal (May 18/21)
WRC 2017
Round 6, Rally de Portugal
LIVE text, results & split times
Red Bull TV – free-to-air broadcasting
Timetabe
Thursday, 18 May
8:00-13:30 Shakedown (6,01 km)
12:30 FIA Pre-event Press Conference, Media Center
17:25 Autograph session, Service Park
18:10 Start of Section 1
19:03 SS 1 Lousada (3,36 km)
Friday, 19 May
8:40 Service A (Exponor) – 15 min
10:09 SS 2 Viana do Castelo 1 (26,70 km)
11:06 SS 3 Caminha 1 (18,10 km)
11:46 SS 4 Ponte de Lima 1 (27,46 km)
x:x First car arrives for service and Technical Zone
14:25 Service B (Exponor) – 30 min
16:09 SS 5 Viana do Castelo 2 (26,70 km)
17:06 SS 6 Caminha 2 (18,10 km)
17:46 SS 7 Ponte de Lima 2 (27,46 km)
19:03 SS 8 Braga Street Stage 1 (1,90 km)
19:28 SS 9 Braga Street Stage 2 (1,90 km)
x:x First car arrives for final service and Technical Zone
20:40 Service C (Exponor) – 45 min
20:x ‘Meet the Crews’, Service Park, During the 45′ service
00:00 Parc Fermé IN (early check-in allowed)
Competitive distance: 151,68 km (Liaison x,x km, Total x,x km)
Saturday, 20 May
7:15 Service D (Exponor) – x min
9:08 SS 10 Vieira do Minho 1 (17,43 km)
9:46 SS 11 Cabeceiras de Basto 1 (22,30 km)
11:04 SS 12 Amarante 1 (37,55 km)
x:x First car arrives for Regroup and Technical Zone
13:00 Service E (Exponor) – x min
15:08 SS 13 Vieira do Minho 2 (17,43 km)
15:46 SS 14 Cabeceiras de Basto 2 (22,30 km)
17:04 SS 15 Amarante 2 (37,55 km)
x:x First car arrives for Technical Zone
18:55 Service F (Exponor) – 45 min
x:x ‘Meet the Crews’, Service Park, During the 45′ service
00:00 Parc Fermé IN (Early Check-in permitted)
Competitive distance: 154,56 km (Liaison x,x km, Total x,x km)
Sunday, 21 May
7:35 Service G (Exponor) – x min
9:08 SS 16 Fafe 1 (11,18 km)
9:30 SS 17 Luílhas (11,91 km)
10:20 SS 18 Montim (8,66 km)
12:18 SS 19 Power Stage Fafe 2 (11,18 km)
x:x First car arrives for final service and Technical Zone
13:50 Service H (Exponor) – x min
15:45 Prize-Giving and podium ceremony, Matosinhos
16:30 FIA Press Conference, Media Center
Competitive distance: 42,93 km (Liaison 211,11 km, Total 254,04 km)
all times local
Rally total:
19 special stages
Special Stages total: 349,17 km (22,84%)
Liaison 1179,84 km
Route total: 1529,01 km
Testing
x
Preview
Rally de Portugal (18-21 May) marks the sixth round of the FIA World Rally Championship and the start of a string of European events. Based out of Matosinhos, near Porto, it is one of the founding events in the series; dating back to 1967 the rally celebrates its Portugal 50th anniversary this year and was included in the inaugural 1973 Championship.
It is the first traditional gravel round of the season and now, back in the north of the country since 2015, has one of the sport’s biggest fan bases. This hugely popular event delivers legendary stages and spectacular action over technical and tricky roads that vary in character with the passage of cars. For the first time this season, Citroën, Hyundai, M-Sport and Toyota will all field three-car teams, Toyota adding a third Yaris WRC for Finland’s Esapekka Lappi. Rally de Portugal is also one of the mandatory events in the FIA WRC 2 Championship and an impressively strong field will take the start in Guimarães on Thursday evening. With additional drivers registered in the FIA WRC 3 Championship category and WRC Trophy for pre-2017 generation World Rally Cars, the 2017 Rally de Portugal looks set to be another fiercely contested event on the 13-round calendar.
Five stages will be broadcast live; the opening super special stage, the two Braga Street stages on Friday, SS13 (Vierra Do Minho) and the closing Power Stage on Sunday.
THE 2017 ROUTE
There are some changes to the 2017 route but much of the itinerary will be largely familiar. The event kicks off on Thursday in the historic World Heritage town of Guimarães and then takes in a super special stage at the Lousada rallycross circuit. Friday heads north towards the Spanish border for familiar stages, albeit run in different configurations this year. The day is then rounded off with the all-new 1.9 kilometre Braga street stage, which will be run twice. Saturday takes in one new stage – Cabeceiras de Basto – and includes the longest test of the event, the 37.55 kilometre Amarante stage. Fafe remains the centre of attention on Sunday, this legendary stage always drawing crowds in their thousands.
RALLY DATA
Total distance: 1,529.01 km
Stage distance: 349.17 km (22.84%)
Number of stages: 19
MANUFACTURER ENTRIES, RALLY DE PORTUGAL
M-Sport World Rally Team:
Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia (#1)
Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja (#2)
Elfyn Evans / Daniel Barritt (#3)
Hyundai Motorsport:
Hayden Paddon / John Kennard (#4)
Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul (#5)
Dani Sordo / Marc Marti (#6)
Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT:
Kris Meeke / Paul Nagle (#7)
Craig Breen / Scott Martin (#8)
Stéphane Lefebvre / Gabin Moreau (#9)
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT:
Jari-Matti Latvala / Miikka Anttila (#10)
Juho Hänninen / Kaj Lindström (#11)
Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferm (#12)
Team Previews
Manufacturers: M-Sport World Rally Team (GB) / Ford Fiesta WRC (Michelin, Evans: DMACK)
1 Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia (F)
2 Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja (EE)
3 Elfyn Evans / Daniel Barrit (GB)
M-Sport will be hoping to continue their strong performance next week when the FIA World Rally Championship returns to Europe for the popular Vodafone Rally de Portugal.
With Sébastien Ogier, Ott Tänak and Elfyn Evans all behind the wheel of the Ecoboost-powered Ford Fiesta WRC, the team have a strong chance of maintaining their immaculate run of podium finishes and the team are highly motivated to achieve that goal.
Having contested a five-day test in the north of Portugal, the team worked on perfecting set-up configurations as well as confirming a number of findings from last month’s extensive research and development test so as to be best placed for the challenges ahead.
Next week’s event also marks another landmark in the team’s customer programme with the international debut of the Ford Fiesta R5 Evo2. The latest evolution of M-Sport’s most-successful global rally car includes an engine upgrade with redesigns to the cylinder head and exhaust manifold.
Producing additional horsepower, the Fiesta R5 Evo2 will be entrusted to Éric Camilli, Teemu Suninen, Pierre-Louis Loubet, Gus Greensmith and Pedro Heller as they do battle in the highly-competitive WRC 2 category.
RALLY DE PORTUGAL
POPULARITY AND PASSION
Popularity and passion are two words that best describe the Vodafone Rally de Portugal. As the first gravel event on European soil, the Portuguese fixture has become a firm favourite amongst competitors and fans alike – the huge number of spectators mirrored in the impressive entry which the rally receives year after year.
Based in the coastal town of Porto, the crews will tackle 349.17 competitive kilometres across nineteen special stages. The sandy, clay-based terrain means that grip will be at a premium for the early runners. But the soft nature of the roads can also see the stages become more abrasive and hazardous over the second pass.
With deep ruts and the threat of rocks being dragged onto the racing line, survival is a key concern and the team must prepare for the rough conditions.
Tyre selection could also prove pivotal and the crews will need to find the right balance between their soft and hard compounds – the first offering more grip through the soft gravel and the latter proving more durable for the longer loop of stages.
If that weren’t enough, the Portuguese weather can also be somewhat unpredictable. The event has been subject to both glorious sunshine and torrential rain in previous years and the team must be prepared for all conditions.
Whatever the outcome, Rally de Portugal never fails to impress and the closing run through the legendary Fafe stage is a sight to behold with thousands of rally fans lining the hillside.
MALCOLM WILSON
THE TEAM PRINCIPAL
With M-Sport leading both the drivers’ and manufacturers’ championship standings, Team Principal Malcolm Wilson is keen to see the team continue their strong performance. Rally de Portugal also sees the international launch of the Ford Fiesta R5 Evo2 – and Wilson is equally as eager to see how the latest evolution performs.
Team Principal, Malcolm Wilson OBE, said:
“Rally de Portugal is an event that everyone looks forward to. There is a truly unique atmosphere there and the Portuguese rally fans are some of the most passionate and knowledgeable in the world – with a real enthusiasm for their motorsport.
“It will be a special event for us as we launch the new Ford Fiesta R5 Evo2. The team has been working extremely hard to extract even more from a car that was already very successful and I’m looking forward to seeing what our WRC 2 contenders can do against what will undoubtedly be some of the strongest competition of the year.
“In the top flight, our goal always has to be the podium. With Sébastien, Ott and Elfyn we have a good chance of maintaining our impressive run and the whole team will be working towards that end.
“Sébastien has a fantastic track record at this event, and Ott and Elfyn will be full of confidence following an impressive display in Argentina. The stage is set for a great event and, although the win is anyone’s for the taking, that’s where our eyes will be firmly fixed.”
OGIER AND INGRASSIA
THE CHAMPIONSHIP LEADERS
Rally de Portugal is arguably the spiritual home for Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia. The four-time World Champions secured their first victory at the event in 2010 and have since enjoyed much success on the Portuguese roads.
With four victories to their name, they are just one win away from matching the great Markku Alén who won the event a record five times. As such, the French pairing will be hoping to be in with a chance of challenging for the top-step of the podium next week.
They may find themselves at a disadvantage opening the road through the first day of competition, but the duo can never be discounted and another successful development test in the lead-up to the event sees their confidence back to full force.
Previous starts: 8
Best result: 1st (2010, 2011, 2013 and 2014)
Sébastien Ogier said:
“Rally de Portugal is an event that I look forward to every year. Julien and I have had a lot of success there and it was where we took our first victory so it holds a lot of special memories.
“It’s a country with a real passion and enthusiasm for motorsport, and the atmosphere that the fans generate is something quite unique. As a driver, you always want to do well in those conditions, and we will push the limits to challenge for the win.
“The competition is even closer this year and every team has a chance of victory. Opening the road on the first day will probably make it harder for us, but we come to Portugal with high objectives and a focus on increasing our championship lead once again.
“We’ve done a lot of testing in Portugal over the past couple of months and done some further development work on the car – that’s definitely a confidence booster ahead of this rally.”
TÄNAK AND JÄRVEOJA
FOURTH IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP
Having secured three podiums so far this year, Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja are enjoying their best ever start to an FIA World Rally Championship.
In what is arguably a break-through year for the Estonians, they now have the ability to challenge for the top results at all loose-surface events to come.
Having made his world-stage debut at Rally de Portugal in 2009, Tänak has contested the event on six previous occasions and always shown good speed at what is traditionally the first European gravel event of the season.
Having further developed their new partnership, Tänak and Järveoja will be hoping to challenge for a top result next week – and will be keen to add another podium to their ever-growing repertoire.
Previous starts: 6
Best result: 5th (2015)
Ott Tänak said:
“Rally de Portugal starts a series of gravel events that I’m really looking forward to. I’ve always enjoyed the Portuguese roads and we’ve shown good speed there in the past.
“I feel as though we’ve developed a lot recently and should be looking towards the podium at every gravel event to come. That has to be our goal in Portugal and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do.
“The stages are generally quite technical and twisty with a lot of blind corners and crests, but then there are stages like Fafe – a really enjoyable and fast stage where you can really feel the passion of the fans.
“With the competition so close at the moment, we’ll need to be fully focused and at the top of our game if we want to deliver another strong result. That’s certainly our aim and we’ll be giving it our all as always.”
EVANS AND BARRITT
SIXTH IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP
After coming so close to a maiden FIA World Rally Championship victory at last month’s Rally Argentina, Elfyn Evans and Daniel Barritt will be aiming for a similarly strong showing at next week’s Rally de Portugal.
The pairing missed out on victory by the cruellest of margins – just 0.7 seconds – but came away with renewed confidence which should hold them in good stead next week.
Having contested the Portuguese event on five previous occasions, Evans has good knowledge of the rally but it remains the chink in his armour having never secured a points-scoring finish.
This year the Welshman will be keen to put that right and, if his impressive performance in Argentina is anything to go by, another strong result could well be on the cards.
Previous starts: 5
Best result: 22nd (2014)
Elfyn Evans said:
“We’ve always had pretty good pace in Portugal, but for various reasons we’ve not been able to translate that into a strong result. After coming so close to victory in Argentina, our confidence is high and I think we’re in a good position to deliver a strong result next week.
“The whole package worked really well in Argentina and the hope will be to continue that in Portugal. A lot will depend on the weather, but the surface isn’t too dissimilar and the soft roads have the potential to become quite rough and rutted over the second pass.
“If we’re to challenge for another strong result we’re going to have to be at the top of our game. We’ll need to get into a good rhythm early on and find our confidence through the stages. If we can do that, anything is possible.”
WRC2
M-Sport World Rally Team / Ford Fiesta R5 (Michelin, Vatanen: DMACK)
33 Eric Camilli / Benjamin Veillas (F)
34 Teemu Suninen / Mikko Markkula (FIN)
40 Pedro Heller / Pablo Olmos (CHL/RA)
42 Gus Greensmith / Craig Parry (GB)
43 Pierre-Louis Loubet / Vincent Landais (F)
48 Max Vatanen / Jacques-Julien Renucci (FIN/F)
M-Sport will field six Ecoboost-powered Ford Fiesta R5s in the FIA World Rally Championship’s principal support series at next week’s Rally de Portugal.
The event marks the first of three compulsory events for all those looking to fight for the WRC 2 championship and M-Sport will debut five new upgrades with Fiesta R5 Evo2s for Camilli, Suninen, Loubet, Greensmith and Heller.
DRIVER QUOTES
Éric Camilli said:
“Rally de Portugal holds a lot of special memories for me. It’s where I secured my best WRC result and where I really got to grips with gravel.
“We know from the previous events that we have the speed to challenge for the top results, and I’m really looking forward to getting behind the wheel of the new Fiesta R5 Evo2.
“The team have worked really hard to extract even more from a car which was already giving us the performance to challenge for the highest positions – and next week we want to pull everything together to deliver a strong result.
“The full force of the WRC 2 championship will be in action, and everyone will want to show what they are capable of. The competition will be extremely tough, but we’re looking forward to the challenge.”
Teemu Suninen said:
“It will be a tough battle in Portugal as all of the serious contenders will be competing. It’s nice to be back on gravel, but I think that we still need to take a cautious start as this will be my first gravel action of the year.
“I get to drive the Fiesta R5 Evo2 for the first time on Monday, and that will be a big day. It’s really important that I find a good set-up on gravel so that we can be confident for the rally.”
Pierre-Louis Loubet said:
“Rally de Portugal will be my first gravel event with the Fiesta R5, and this time it’s an Evo2 so there will be a lot of new experiences. I’m still feeling quite confident though. I’ve always had good sensations on gravel and we have been watching a lot of onboards to be in the best possible position ahead of next week.
“I made my debut at this event when we finished on the Junior WRC podium. It remains a wonderful memory and I always look forward to coming back to Portugal. I think it’s one of my favourite events. The stages are amazing – especially Fafe – and there is a really special atmosphere.
“My goal will be to give my best through every stage so as to take the best possible result. I’ll have to be patient at times as I adapt to the new surroundings, but the hope is always to deliver a good rally and a good result.”
Gus Greensmith said:
“We’ve not been in competition since Sweden, but we’ve done all of the recces which has been really important for my experience. I have to admit though, it’s the worst feeling in the world going home before the rally has even begun!
“To say I’m exciting about getting back to competition is an understatement! And it’s even more exciting to think that I’ll be behind the wheel of the new Fiesta R5 Evo2. I had a one-day differential test with the car up at M-Sport and I can say that it looks really promising.
“Portugal has always felt like my spiritual home in rallying. I love the people, the city, the scenery and most of all the stages. The characteristics of the stages do vary, but I would say that they are some of the most enjoyable of the year – Viana do Castello, Amarante and Fafe especially.
“Because I enjoy this rally so much, and feel so comfortable in Portugal, the quality of my performances there seems to have followed suit and we’ll be aiming to keep that trend going next week.
“That said, this is my learning year in WRC 2 so we’ll stick to a pace that we feel comfortable with. We won’t be driving slowly, but we won’t be taking any risks and there will be more to come in the future.”
Max Vatanen said:
“I haven’t been rallying since last year and I can tell you that it has been far too long! I can’t wait to get back behind the wheel and it’s a big step in the right direction for me to be driving a Fiesta R5 in the WRC 2 category for the first time. It’s an opportunity that I want to make the most of.
“Rally de Portugal is an event that I really enjoy – and Portugal is a country that I love! When you are competing in Portugal, there is a very special atmosphere created by all the passionate rally fans. I made my world-stage debut there with M-Sport in 2014, and now I’m happy to be making my WRC 2 debut there with M-Sport too!
“It’s surprising to think that this will already by my fourth time at this event. The roads are quite different from day to day. On Friday we’ll see quite high grip on rough roads by the sea, then on Sunday we move to the faster, more flowing stages with thousands of spectators. I enjoy every variation and it provides a great challenge every year.
“As this is my first rally in WRC 2, the biggest aim is to learn and get valuable experience. That said, we will give the best of ourselves and myself and JJ [Renucci, co-driver] are ready for the challenge!”
Pedro Heller said:
“This will be my first event in Europe and I’m really looking forward to experiencing what I’ve heard is a fantastic event at Rally de Portugal. The competition will be very strong with all of the championship contenders in action, but we’ll focus on our own rally and on continuing to develop our skills at this level.”
Manufacturers: Hyundai Motorsport (D) / Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC (Michelin)
4 Hayden Paddon / John Kennard (NZ)
5 Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul (B)
6 Daniel Sordo / Marc Marti (E)
We can’t get enough of that winning feeling! Following our recent victories in Corsica and Argentina, the next stop on WRC’s global tour is Rally Portugal, where will be aiming to continue our run of success.
The performance of our Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC so far this season gives us plenty of confidence that we can fight at the front. We have never scored a podium in Portugal before, so that will be our first priority.
Confident but not complacent
“We have had a good run of results recently, which has given the team a morale boost,” explained our Team Principal Michel, “but it would be wrong of us to get complacent. The competition is immensely close this season so we cannot afford to rest on our laurels.”
Our back-to-back wins in the past two rallies have allowed us to strengthen our positions in the Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ Championships. We are determined to build on this as we return to European gravel.
The first crew to win two rallies this season, Thierry and Nicolas, are certainly not taking it easy. “We know we have to stay focused and concentrated,” revealed Thierry. “Our winning margin in Argentina was one of the smallest in WRC history, so we can take nothing for granted. However, I am sure, with our recent confidence, that we can be fast.”
Changing places
There have been a few alterations to the Portuguese itinerary compared to last year’s event. We also have a change to our #4 crew line-up after Hayden’s co-driver John aggravated an existing hip condition in Argentina. Seb Marshall steps in to make an Anglo-Kiwi line-up in Portugal.
“We wish John a speedy recovery,” said Hayden. “He will still be with us in Portugal but thanks to Seb for standing in. Portugal has a special atmosphere and there are a lot of passionate people who love rallying. For us to be able to compete in front of those crowds is an incredible sensation.”
Crowd pleasers
Our Spaniards Dani and Marc will benefit from plenty of local support in an event they know well. “The support from the crowds gives us a real boost,” commented Dani. “We can really feel them cheering us on, especially through the famous Fafe jump. Hopefully we can give them something to celebrate.”
Fafe is one of the highlights of the 19-stage event, which covers 349.17km of competitive stages. Based out of the Matosinhos service park, the rally gets underway with a Super Special at the Lousada rallycross circuit on Thursday.
“Having won two rallies in a row, we want to continue that streak,” concludes Michel. “We know it will be another big fight. There’s a long way to go in this Championship and lots more we need to achieve.”
Manufacturers: Citroën Total Abu Dhabi W.R.T. (F) / Citroën C3 WRC (Michelin)
7 Kris Meeke / Paul Nagle (GB/IRL)
8 Craig Breen / Scott Martin (IRL/GB)
9 Stéphane Lefebvre / Gabin Moreau (F)
15 Khalid Al Qassimi / Chris Patterson (UAE/GB)
For the sixth round of the World Rally Championship, the Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT has entered four C3 WRCs.
Rally de Portugal is set to welcome an outstanding line-up for its fiftieth anniversary, with some fourteen new generation World Rally Cars taking part. Expected, as ever, to flock in large numbers to the Porto region – to which the event returned in 2015 – Portuguese fans are certain to be delighted by the show put on by the stunning new cars.
Like last year, the rally will kick off on Thursday evening in Guimarães, a city often referred to as being the “birthplace of the Portuguese nationality”. Following a super special stage held on the Lousada circuit and a night in parc ferme, the action will ramp up a notch on Friday. With adjustments to the route or run in the opposite direction to previous years, the leg’s three stages, each contested twice, will provide an initial challenge for the crews. In the evening, the competitors will head for Braga to contest a brand new street stage.
Saturday’s leg will be even longer, the highlight set to be the two passes on Amarante (37.55km). Sunday will see the remaining competitors tackle the Fafe stage twice, made famous by the huge jump located just a few hundred metres before the end of the stage. Gathered around this iconic point, tens of thousands of fans will serve up a uniquely impressive atmosphere!
The challenges: Mix it with leaders again
After a frustrating Rally Argentina for the Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT, the Portuguese round is eagerly anticipated. For the first time, the team has entered four Citroën C3 WRCs. Kris Meeke, Craig Breen and Stéphane Lefebvre will be nominated to score points for the Manufacturers’ World Championship, whilst Khalid Al Qassimi will be making his competitive debut in a new generation car.
Last year, the event was won by Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle, who had shown their speed and ability to manage a rally throughout the three days of competition. Quick in all conditions and surfaces – they have won stages in Mexico, Corsica and Argentina – the event is undoubtedly within the reach of the two men.
The 2016 rally also provided Stéphane Lefebvre and Gabin Moreau with the opportunity to show what they could do, the pair consistently setting times within 2/10ths per kilometre of their team-mates. Having missed Rally Argentina, the Frenchmen have worked tirelessly in order to prepare for one of their favourite events and try to secure a convincing result.
In contrast, this round will be a leap into the unknown for Craig Breen and Scott Martin. Having been let down by mechanical issues on the opening stage in 2015 and missed the event altogether in 2016, they’ll have it all to do as they learn about the stages! Learning will also be theme of the weekend for Khalid Al Qassimi and Chris Patterson. It will be the Abu Dhabi driver’s first rally since the 2016 Rally de Espana and he will also be making his first competitive outing in the Citroën C3 WRC. Khalid has competed seven times in Portugal, including three points finishes when the event was held in the Algarve.
Yves Matton, Citroën Racing Team Principal
“After entering three cars at the Tour de Corse, we’re taking another step forward here with a fourth Citroën C3 WRC at Rally de Portugal. It’s a great achievement, which is largely down to the work of our technical team. For various reasons, results at the last two rallies haven’t been as good as expected. At this sixth round, we will be asking our drivers to make it to the end of the rally and we hope to have two C3 WRCs finish in the top five overall.”
Laurent Fregosi, Technical Director
“The crash suffered by one of our cars in Argentina had no effect on our preparations for Portugal, because we’re not using the same chassis. To prepare both for this rally and the following one, our four drivers had a day’s testing in Sardinia. We then continued working on the usual development areas: suspension, mapping of the central diff, assessment of the tyres and so on.”
Kris Meeke
“Argentina was wild – nothing went as planned. It happens sometimes, you just have to put it behind you. I feel okay ahead of Portugal, although I can’t say I’m overflowing with confidence. I think that the work done in our recent test sessions will help us move in the right direction. I’m pleased to be competing at this rally. Obviously, I have some fond memories of winning here in 2016. And the enthusiasm of the fans here for our sport makes for a very special atmosphere. Quite a lot of changes have been made to the course, so in a lot of cases we’ll have to start from scratch with the pace notes. Concentration will therefore be key in recce, as well as in the rally.”
Number of appearances at the event: 3
Best result: 1st (2016)
Craig Breen
“Just like in Argentina, I’m venturing into something of the unknown here. I did recce here in 2016, but that’s no substitute for actual racing experience. I know that I have to improve on this kind of surface, where I’m a little be less at home than on the fast gravel roads you get in Poland or Finland. The testing done this week in Sardinia was positive. We kept working on certain points, taking into account the things we learned in Argentina. The Citroën C3 WRC will be even better in Portugal!”
Number of appearances at the event: 4
Best result: 25th (2009)
Stéphane Lefebvre
“Unlike the previous few rounds, I feel I know this rally pretty well. Having competed once here in an R5 and once in a WRC, I have good experience on these roads. When they are wide and fast, the stages are magnificent. I really like Amarante, the longest stage of the rally. I’m also almost certain to have a good position in the running order on day one and I’m hoping to make the most of it!”
Number of appearances at the event: 3
Best result: 15th (2015)
Khalid Al Qassimi
“After more than six months away from the WRC, I have to prepare very carefully for Rally de Portugal. It will be my first outing in the new Citroën C3 WRC and I know that it is a real step up compared with the cars used in previous seasons. My aim will be to build my confidence gradually, without taking any big risks. I’m delighted to be taking part in what is one of my favourite rallies. The atmosphere is always very special. The Portuguese fans are very loud and enthusiastic, especially next to the Fafe jump!”
Number of appearances at the event: 7
Best result: 8th (2009)
Manufacturers: TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRC (FIN) / Toyota Yaris WRC (Michelin)
10 Jari-Matti Latvala / Miikka Anttila (FIN)
11 Juho Hänninen / Kaj Lindström (FIN)
12 Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferm (FIN)
The TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team heads to Rally de Portugal (May 18-21) with hopes of accelerating the development of the Yaris WRC in its debut FIA World Rally Championship season. Thanks to some challenging and technical stages, Portugal will as usual be an extremely tough rally, but the Toyota squad will use it to learn more about what is needed to compete at the top and improve the Yaris WRC further, as has been the case on every event up to now. For the first time, a third car will be entered for testing purposes with Esapekka Lappi behind the wheel, joining Jari-Matti Latvala and Juho Hänninen in action on the gravel event, which serves as round six of the 2017 season.
Car 10（Jari-Matti Latvala, Miikka Anttila）
Rally de Portugal is based in Matosinhos near Porto in the north of the country, and features classic stages on sandy and rocky roads. Grip can be difficult to find on the soft roads during the first pass through the stages, while rocks can be exposed and deep ruts can form during the second pass, often forcing teams to raise the ride height of the cars. Tyre choice is frequently a difficult compromise.
The rally begins with a superspecial at the Lousada rallycross circuit on Thursday evening, while Friday ends with two runs of a new stage through the streets of Braga, following two loops of three gravel stages. Saturday provides the longest day at 154.56 kilometres, including two passes of the 37.55-kilometre Amarante stage and the new Cabeceiras de Basto test. Luilhas and Montim are also new additions on Sunday, with each of those stages run once between two passes over the classic Fafe, famed for its big jump. Fafe is also the rally-ending Power Stage, forming an unforgettable climax.
Latvala, who continues to hold second in the drivers’ standings, was the winner in Portugal in 2015.Hänninen has not competed on the event since the year before, 2014, but back then it was based in the south of Portugal: so the northern stages are all new to him. Lappi will be embarking on his first event at the top level of the WRC, but Portugal was the scene of his first win in the WRC2 category in 2013, before going onto claim the WRC2 title last year.
Quotes:
Tommi Mäkinen (Team Principal)
“We had a few new things to test for Portugal, with the suspension as well as some other components, but the weather was really bad so it’s hard to know how realistic our results were. Portugal is a tough event with some very technical stages but this is what makes it a classic event too. Although there are still a lot of unknowns – especially with the conditions – we hope to make another step forwards on gravel, improving the car step by step as we have been doing all year. For this we will be helped by our third test car in Portugal with Esapekka and Janne, which will definitely bring us some extra information.”
Jari-Matti Latvala (Driver car 10)
“What I learned in Argentina is that the first day is very important; you really want to try and be in the top five so that you can have a good road position for the following day. So that will be my objective in Portugal, and if the weather is bad on the first day, my position of second on the road could actually help me – as the road conditions behind might deteriorate. Before the rally, we tested a few things, trying out some dampers and also experimenting with the ride height, so that we can perform to the maximum of our potential in rough conditions as well.”
Juho Hänninen (Driver car 11)
“I tested when the weather was still OK: it was quite warm, and we were able to try a few new things with suspension and differentials. Although I’ve done Rally Portugal before, this is actually my first time on the stages in the north. I like these stages, but from what I can see there could be a lot of road cleaning, so hopefully my road position might help me. Portugal is a bit like Argentina, only not as rough, so I think we can use many of the lessons that we learned there to make more progress. The second run through the stages might be a bit tricky, so we will need to be careful.”
Esapekka Lappi (Driver car 12)
“I’ve been able to test before the rally in Portugal, which has given me a good taste of some future development directions, but these may not be the conditions we experience when it comes to the actual competition. It’s obviously very exciting for me to be starting my first rally in the Yaris WRC: the opportunity I’ve been waiting for all of my life. But this is team effort, and my role is to collect as much data as possible for the team to develop the car further. The most important thing is to finish: never easy on such a challenging event like Portugal. For my own experience too, I need to make sure that I do all the stages, so we’re going to take a very calm and focussed approach to the rally.”
ŠKODA Motorsport / ŠKODA Fabia R5 (Michelin)
31 Pontus Tidemand / Jonas Andersson (S)
32 Andreas Mikkelsen / Anders Jaeger (N)
Five rallies, five victories: ŠKODA is dominating the World Rally Championship (WRC 2) in 2017. Andreas Mikkelsen / Anders Jæger-Synnevaag won the Monte Carlo Rally and the Tour de Corse / Rally France. Pontus Tidemand / Jonas Andersson were unbeatable in Sweden, Mexico and Argentina. Looking ahead to Rally Portugal (18 to 21 May 2017), ŠKODA Motorsport boss Michal Hrabánek is expecting a tense battle.
“Five brands and 20 competitors in the fight for victory in WRC 2 – these numbers demonstrate not only the quantity, but as well the quality of this category. Our goal is to strengthen the championship lead for ŠKODA in WRC 2,” says ŠKODA Motorsport boss Michal Hrabánek.
The ŠKODA FABIA R5 returns to the event where the success story began two years ago. Esapekka Lappi and Pontus Tidemand proved right from the debut at Rally Portugal 2015, that the ŠKODA FABIA R5 will be the car to beat in WRC 2 category. Since then, the Czech rally car has been successful around the world and won the 2016 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC 2).
Andreas Mikkelsen has good memories of Rally Portugal as well: In 2015 he was third, in 2016 second in the overall classification, driving a Polo WRC. His 2017 teammate Pontus Tidemand won the WRC 2 category for ŠKODA last year. Now both are facing the competition of 18 teams and four additional brands. Due to a new regulation in 2017, Rally Portugal is the first of three mandantory events teams have to compete in order to be eligible to score points for the championship. In total, six ŠKODA FABIA R5 are registered to score points in WRC 2. Three more ŠKODA FABIA will compete in R2 class.
“I am happy that ŠKODA is offering me the opportunity to drive the FABIA for the third time this year. Now I am facing my first gravel rally with the ŠKODA FABIA R5. I have a very fast teammate and a lot of other strong competitors”, Andreas Mikkelsen is looking forward to Rally Portugal. Pontus Tidemand, who won on ice and snow in Sweden and the gravel events in Mexico and Argentina, has a clear target: “I want to get as much points as possible in order to increase my lead in WRC 2.”
In 2015 the Portuguese WRC round moved back to the north of the country to the region around Porto. Actually, it is one of the most spectator crowded events in World Rally Championship. The notorious Fafe jump alone attracts ten thousands of spectators every year. The atmosphere on the stages in the north comes close to being in a football stadium. The event starts on Thursday with a show stage on the rally cross circuit of Lousada.
The first full day of rallying on Friday features stages in the far north near the border to Spain. Saturday features the longest leg with a mixture of sandy roads, rocks and deep ruts especially during the second pass of the stages. On the long stages the right tyre choice is key to success, the alternatives being soft compound for more traction or hard compound in order to manage tyre wear. On Sunday the Fafe loop on fast and smooth gravel roads, including the famous jump, is the spectator highlight of the event. In total, the teams will face 19 special stages covering nearly 350 kilometres in total.
Recce
https://twitter.com/FanClubTNNG/status/864482938515329024
Service Park
https://twitter.com/LaTulaSport/status/864820298952187905
Thursday, 18 May
8:00-13:30 Shakedown (6,01 km)
12:30 FIA Pre-event Press Conference, Media Center
17:25 Autograph session, Service Park
18:10 Start of Section 1
19:03 SS 1 Lousada (3,36 km
https://twitter.com/EsapekkaLappi/status/865100093174755328
Shakedown results:
1. Daniel Sordo, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC, 3:06.9
2. Sébastien Ogier, Ford Fiesta WRC, 3:07.0
3. Jari-Matti Latvala, Toyota Yaris WRC, 3:07.1
4. Kris Meeke, Citroën C3 WRC, 3:07.2
5. Elfyn Evans, Ford Fiesta WRC, 3:07.5
6. Mads Østberg, Ford Fiesta WRC, 3:07.7
7. Ott Tänak, Ford Fiesta WRC, 3:07.8
8. Thierry Neuville, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC, 3:08.1
9. Juho Hänninen, Toyota Yaris WRC, 3:08.3
10.Hayden Paddon, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC, 3:08.7
11.Esapekka Lappi, Toyota Yaris WRC, 3:09.2
12.Stéphane Lefebvre, Citroën C3 WRC, 3:09.4
13.Craig Breen, Citroën C3 WRC, 3:09.5
14.Andreas Mikkelsen, SKODA Fabia R5, 3:13.6 (WRC2)
15.Eric Camilli, Ford Fiesta R5, 3:16.0 (WRC2)
16.Khalid Al Qassimi, Citroën C3 WRC, 3:16.3
17.Pontus Tidemand, SKODA Fabia R5, 3:16.5 (WRC2)
18.Martin Prokop, Ford Fiesta RS WRC, 3:17.4
19.Teemu Suninen, Ford Fiesta R5, 3:17.5 (WRC2)
20.Hubert Ptaszek, SKODA Fabia R5, 3:19.2 (WRC2)
21.Pierre-Louis Loubet, Ford Fiesta R5, 3:19.4 (WRC2)
22.Gus Greensmith, Ford Fiesta R5, 3:19.6 (WRC2)
23.Yohan Rossel, Citroën DS3 R5, 3:19.6 (WRC2)
24.Quentin Gilbert, SKODA Fabia R5, 3:19.7 (WRC2)
25.Emil Bergkvist, Citroën DS3 R5, 3:20.2 (WRC2)
26.Valeriy Gorban, MINI John Cooper Works WRC, 3:20.5
27.Hiroki Arai, Ford Fiesta R5, 3:20.7 (WRC2)
28.Miguel Campos, SKODA Fabia R5, 3:21.3 (WRC2)
29.Takamoto Katsuta, Ford Fiesta R5, 3:21.7 (WRC2)
30.Benito Guerra, SKODA Fabia R5, 3:22.5 (WRC2)
31.Yoann Bonato, Citroën DS3 R5, 3:22.9 (WRC2)
32.Simone Tempestini, Citroën DS3 R5, 3:22.9 (WRC2)
33.Max Vatanen, Ford Fiesta R5, 3:23.3 (WRC2)
Shakedown, FIA World Rally Championship
Shakedown, Michelin Motorsport
Shakedown, Hyundai Motorsport
Shakedown, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRC
Shakedown, rosmanao videos
Shakedown, WRCantabria
Shakedown, World Rally Media
Shakedown, D10M
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP
Rally de Portugal
Pre-event Press Conference
Thursday 18th May
Present:
Kris Meeke, Citroen Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team
Dani Sordo, Hyundai Motorsport
Ott Tanak, M-Sport World Rally Team
Esapekka Lappi, Toyota GAZOO Racing World Rally Team
Q: Dani, you were quickest on shakedown this morning. How confident are you feeling that maybe the next win in the championship may be yours this weekend?
DS: We have three really hard days in Portugal so the time in shakedown is not really important. But it is good for motivation – it is best to do the best time and not tenth. The car is good – I am happy with the performance of the car and everything so I am looking forward to the start.
Q: We have seen good pace from you on gravel on previous events. It was a shame what happened in Argentina and you lost so much time there. Are you happy with the pace you have had on gravel so far this year?
DS: To be honest, the car was better than last year and is much easier to drive and I have a lot of confidence with the car. In Mexico we had the problems and in Argentina, we broke the steering but the speed on the stages was good. So I am happy with that.
Q: Talk to me about strange goings-on happening today? You seem to have found clothing – underwear – in your car and everywhere you go. Tell me about this superstition you have.
DS: [Laughs] I always put the same underwear on when I drive in the rally car. I clean it every night though. So on the last day in Argentina, I cleaned but in the morning, it was still wet, so I put it in the car. After the rally, the mechanics found the underwear in the car, so I told them they need to bring to this rally. Because it is my lucky underwear. So the mechanics filled my car with girls’ underwear – it was everywhere. They must have bought this and spent a lot of money!
Q: We see a few changes to the route this year – a few new stages and some stages in reverse. What are your thoughts on the route this year?
DS: It is a little bit trickier this year in some places, as some stages are in reverse direction. So we needed to make new pace notes and in some places, it is a little difficult. Some places are a bit wider, a bit faster, as the organisers have worked a lot on the stages. Some stages are a little bit softer than last year so it might be difficult for the lines. But in general, the rally is nice as always. The last day, around Fafe, is different, a little bit more slippery, and a bit more difficult but it is a nice rally.
Q: Kris, moving to you. Any superstitions?
KM: I can confirm I definitely changed my underwear after Argentina!
Q: It was a heck of an accident on the last day. A testament to the strength of the car that you and Paul [Nagle, co-driver] walked away relatively unscathed.
KM: Yes, you don’t have to make a big mistake to have a big accident when you’re travelling at those speeds. I still don’t really understand what happened – we had a little bit of understeer when we turned-in and I still don’t understand for why. It put me a little bit towards the outside. I thought it was fine but then it touched the left rear [wheel] and after that, I was a passenger. The cars are designed very strong and if there is such a thing as a perfect accident, it was a perfect accident for a rally car, as it rolled and dissipated energy. So we were able to walk away, which is the main thing.
Q: I guess you are raring to get going here in Portugal. How is the feeling coming in to this event?
KM: The feeling is good. What can I say – it has been a really difficult start to the year. We have had lots of technical issues and I have made a few mistakes so to combine that all together, it has been difficult. For sure, in Argentina, we were caught by surprise on the first day. Hopefully, here we have made some steps to improve that and won’t get any surprises. Our simple goal this weekend is to try to get a clean run on all fronts – on the technical front and from my performance.
Q: What steps have you put in place?
KM: I think it’s obvious if anyone watched the on-board footage from Argentina on Friday that we were having some difficulty, so we have tried to rectify that.
Q: Looking back to last year, obviously great memories of a very successful event for you. Looking at the route, there isn’t a huge amount of change but there are changes and you did mention that on one of the stages, the trees are no longer there and that changed things for you when you went through on the recce?
KM: It’s all in the same region and more or less the same roads but some are reversed direction, so it means some new pace notes. They have also cut down some of the forests and the trees are missing in some places, so it feels like you are in a different part of Portugal, as you always remember those stages with trees there. It’s a bit like in Wales or Finland, where they cut down a lot of trees and everything looks so much different. But it’s still the same region, the same surface. The organisers have done a lot of work and they roads look good for the moment but I’m sure when you put some rally cars down them, they will get quite rutted for the second pass. So it will be a big challenge.
Q: Ott, let’s turn to you now. We have also seen some good pace from you on gravel this year. Things have happened, there have been some technical issues, a few little mistakes on the way and you are not quite there on the top step of the podium, where you should be. How are you feeling about this rally and the possibility of challenging for that win?
OT: Obviously the target is always to do well and to win the rally. Now the championship is very tight and many drivers are going fast, so you need to do a perfect rally to win. We need to try. I have done Portugal several times and we have already some experience, so the feeling so far on gravel has been good, so let’s see what happens.
Q: Everyone is working to improve what they have with the new cars now. What have you been testing to make the car more suited to you??
OT: I think the car has always been suited to me – that has not been the problem. But to improve the performance. As we are now linked between the rallies, we cannot change too much but inside the box, we try to improve everything and find some new bits. In Argentina, it was the first time we were at full power on gravel, so we got a lot of good feedback. So I will say we are still learning a lot more in the rallies than in testing, with so many different conditions – some extreme places you learn quite a bit and then, after the rally, you try to improve these areas and try to get a proper package.
Q: So the target, as always, is to go out and win. But as we have seen this year, you can’t predict what will happen next. How does it feel to be part of that kind of championship?
OT: It feels exciting. For a driver, you never know what’s going to happen. The aim is always to do our best, prepare as well as we can. The recce is important and on the rally, after a couple of stages, you start to understand where you are with the feeling and your pace and you can see what is possible but many drivers are pushing hard. So we need to do the same.
Q: Esapekka, welcome back to the WRC and to the WRC itself. You are making your competitive debut in a world rally car here in Portugal. I know you have been waiting for this for a while now. We are almost ready to go with the first stage – how is the feeling for you at this point? Are you excited?
EL: Yes, I am, to be honest. I am surprised that I am not nervous at all. Let’s say that it is a comfortable feeling. Maybe it will come – tomorrow perhaps.
Q: Tell us about your preparation before the event. How much testing have you done on gravel??
EL: I have done three days. Last week, we had a pre-event test here in Portugal but there was heavy rain for two days, so we couldn’t do any set-up for the dry and this morning, I was struggling a bit as the conditions were fully new for me. We made some big changes between the two runs and now it is getting better but I think we still need to work during the weekend to get it a bit more suitable for me. But generally, it is a question of fine-tuning – the big things are already correct. It’s just building up the confidence.
Q: Given that you are still working on the car set up, what are you hoping for this weekend and who will you be comparing yourself against– your team-mates only or the rest of the field?
EL: If I need to compare, I think the team-mates are always a fair guys to do that because it is always good if you can beat at least one of them. Maybe for Jari [Matti Latvala] it is a bit too much but Juho [Hanninen] is a good benchmark, I would say. If I can be behind Kris in the standings, it would be mind-blowing! The target for the results – let’s say I am open-minded. It takes time to understand the level of the competition, how hard you need to push all weekend and I just want to have a problem-free rally and the finish is what it is. The position should hopefully be OK but I need all the kilometres and the team needs them as well.
FIA WRC 2 CHAMPIONSHIP
Present:
Miguel Campos, FIA WRC 2 Championship
Max Vatanen, FIA WRC2 Championship
Gus Greensmith, FIA WRC 2 Championship
Q: Max, WRC2, we’ve seen success for you before in Portugal but in a very different vehicle. So tell us about the R5 and how you’re finding it?
MV: It feels good to be back. Especially here because it’s a country I really like. The fans are really passionate; when you’re out there you really feel it’s a special atmosphere. And this is where I started my WRC campaign four years ago in the R2. In 2015 I won the class and now to be here at the start of my WRC2 campaign it feels really special. We’ve done a few days testing with the car and I can tell you when you’ve driven the R5, you don’t want to go back!
Q: How are you finding the car? Is it set to your preferred settings?
MV: I feel it’s a car I enjoy a lot. I like how I can drive it, how we can push the limits much further than the R2, but of course it will take time to adapt to that. But of course, that’s the point of this weekend. To go step by step and to learn.
Q: It’s a huge field in WRC2 – it’s the first mandatory event for WRC2 registered competitors – so you have this huge wealth of competition to judge yourself against. What’s the plan from you, and who are you going to be comparing yourself to?
MV: Yes, there are a lot of people, but the point is really to get experience. The focus is only on myself. To give the best of myself and not take any pressure. We just want to learn as much as we can. We’ll be taking the rally stage by stage while trying to improve, so let’s see where we are at the end.
Q: How many more events are we going to see you on this year?
MV: Hopefully as many as we can, but it’s always a problem of budget! Hopefully we’ll be at Finland at least. We’ll just see with the other ones.
Q: Let’s turn to Gus Greensmith now. Tell us about the love for gravel here in Portugal, Gus. We saw you compete in Rally Sweden, a surface you were not used to at all. Yet you set very competitive times. Now you come to a surface you are familiar with, what can we expect from you?
GG: I think at the start of the year we all made the plan that this year would be a learning year for me. I’m just approaching each rally at whatever speed I decide is safe, so that I don’t make a mistake and don’t lose experience by spending it in a ditch. I’m just driving at a pace I feel comfortable at. Obviously gravel is something I’m familiar with and Portugal is my favourite rally. I don’t know why I like it here so much, but everything just seems to click. I think my pace will be a lot closer to the front. Maybe not looking at Andreas [Mikkelsen] but we’ll just see how it goes.
Q: What about the test before the event? It was quite extensive. Are you now familiar with the car and the set-up?
GG: We are, we spent a day testing on Monday with Pierre [Loubet] and Teemu [Suninen] and it all went very well. We tried quite a few changes on the car and we found something that I think is probably the best set-up I’ve driven on since I’ve started rallying, so it’s gone really well for me. Obviously we’re in the new Evo 2 R5 Fiesta, which is another step forward. I think it will make a difference here in some of the medium-speed, technical stages.
Q: You said you’re going to be comparing yourself to the guys at the front, which is always a good thing to do. With the pace that we’ve seen from you, what are you hoping for? Are you hoping to fit into that top five?
GG: I don’t really have a place I’m looking at. I’m more focused on comparing my times. Obviously I’m driving against people with a lot more experience than me. Teemu has been doing this for a couple of years, Eric [Camilli] has been in WRC so he’s a very experienced, fast driver. At the end of the day, this is only my second event in WRC2, so to be consistently comparing myself against them is possible optimistic, but I have a strong belief in myself and my capabilities. I think we’ll be able to produce some good times.
Q: Now to Miguel. Tell us about your plan for this weekend. What are your hopes this time around?
MC: I hope to have better luck than last year, when I had some problems. This year is the first race that I compete, and it’s very special for me because it’s in my country. I would like to take the first place in the Portuguese drivers and get a better position in WRC2.
Q: There’s a strong field of drivers here. What have you been doing to get yourself ready to compete?
MC: This is the race that I’m competing. But of course I would like the better position. The competition is very hard, Every driver has lots of experience. But we’ve done a lot of kilometres in test. I will do my best to take the best place for my country.
Q: So have you done any testing before the event?
MC: Yes of course, but only for this event. I’ve been driving every week, every month.
Q: What about the route? This is your home event. We have some new stages, some are in reverse. What are your thoughts?
MC: For me, I like the rally too much! The roads, in my opinion, are very good. We have one or two that have had some work. So we might have more gravel for the second pass. But in general the stages are very, very good.
FIA WRC3 CHAMPIONSHIP
Present:
Nils Solans, FIA WRC3 Championship
Enrico Brazzoli, FIA WRC3 Championship
Q: Nils, great to see you here in WRC3. You’ve competed here before, once in the north, once in the south. What do you think of the stages up here in the north?
NS: Well, here in the north stages are a bit more difficult, more broken. But at the same time it’s more technical and more difficult to go fast. But we will see what happens with the new WRC in the front because we don’t know yet what the road will be like – destroyed or not. It looked good in the shakedown so we’ll see in the stages.
Q: What’s the objective for you here this weekend? There aren’t a lot of WRC3 drivers here, but there are enough to go out there and compare yourself against. What are you hoping for? Do you think you can get the win in WRC3?
NS: For sure, we’ll try it like everybody. We know it’s a difficult rally. We’ll see what happens on the road with conditions and the car. But yes, we will for fight for the WRC3 win when we know we can push, but where we can’t we’ll take more care.
Q: In terms of getting ready and preparing for this event, what have you been doing?
NS: Not too much. We had the Corsica rally that was very good for us. And we did 20 or 30km with our new car, so not so much. But we know that car from last season and it’s quite the same.
Q: Now to Enrico. What do you think of this event?
EB: It’s a fantastic rally. The spectators are very warm and for me, I enjoy it. I’ve been here three times. The special stages are very difficult, but the rally is very important. Tomorrow for us it is important to have maximum concentration. The target is to enjoy it, and to get on the podium for WRC3.
Q: What do you think of the new stages?
EB: Very difficult, but the rally of Portugal is – for WRC3 – very tough because of the big ruts. But that’s the rally!
SS 1: Hubert Ptaszek crashes on the very first corner and rips off both left-hand wheels. Retired -> Rally 2
Friday, 19 May
8:40 Service A (Exponor) – 15 min
10:09 SS 2 Viana do Castelo 1 (26,70 km)
11:06 SS 3 Caminha 1 (18,10 km)
11:46 SS 4 Ponte de Lima 1 (27,46 km)
x:x First car arrives for service and Technical Zone
14:25 Service B (Exponor) – 30 min
16:09 SS 5 Viana do Castelo 2 (26,70 km)
17:06 SS 6 Caminha 2 (18,10 km)
17:46 SS 7 Ponte de Lima 2 (27,46 km)
19:03 SS 8 Braga Street Stage 1 (1,90 km)
19:28 SS 9 Braga Street Stage 2 (1,90 km)
x:x First car arrives for final service and Technical Zone
20:40 Service C (Exponor) – 45 min
20:x ‘Meet the Crews’, Service Park, During the 45′ service
00:00 Parc Fermé IN (early check-in allowed)
Competitive distance: 151,68 km (Liaison x,x km, Total x,x km)
The starting order:
| ORD | ENTRANT (TEAM) | DRIVER/CODRIVER | NAT. | NR | CAR | GR | CL | SEED PR | |
| 1 | M-Sport World Rally Team | Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia | F | 1 | Ford Fiesta WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | M |
| 2 | TOYOTA GAZOO Racing W.R.T. | Jari-Matti Latvala / Miikka Anttila | FIN | 10 | Toyota Yaris WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | M |
| 3 | Hyundai Motorsport | Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul | B | 5 | Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | M |
| 4 | M-Sport World Rally Team | Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja | EE | 2 | Ford Fiesta WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | M |
| 5 | Hyundai Motorsport | Daniel Sordo / Marc Marti | E | 6 | Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | M |
| 6 | M-Sport World Rally Team | Elfyn Evans / Daniel Barrit | GB | 3 | Ford Fiesta WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | M |
| 7 | Citroën Total Abu Dhabi W.R.T. | Craig Breen / Scott Martin | IRL/GB | 8 | Citroën C3 WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | M |
| 8 | Hyundai Motorsport | Hayden Paddon / Sebastian Marshall | NZ/GB | 4 | Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | M |
| 9 | Citroën Total Abu Dhabi W.R.T. | Kris Meeke / Paul Nagle | GB/IRL | 7 | Citroën C3 WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | M |
| 10 | TOYOTA GAZOO Racing W.R.T. | Juho Hänninen / Kaj Lindström | FIN | 11 | Toyota Yaris WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | M |
| 11 | Citroën Total Abu Dhabi W.R.T. | Stéphane Lefebvre / Gabin Moreau | F | 9 | Citroën C3 WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | M |
| 12 | M-Sport World Rally Team (One Bet Jipocar W.R.T.) | Mads Østberg / Ola Fløene | N | 14 | Ford Fiesta WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | |
| 13 | TOYOTA GAZOO Racing W.R.T. | Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferm | FIN | 12 | Toyota Yaris WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | M |
| 14 | Citroën Total Abu Dhabi W.R.T. | Khalid Al Qassimi / Chris Patterson | UAE/GB | 15 | Citroën C3 WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | |
| 15 | Eurolamp World Rally Team | Valeriy Gorban / Sergei Larens | UA/EE | 22 | MINI John Cooper Works WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | WRC Trophy |
| 16 | Onebet Jipocar W.R.T. | Martin Prokop / Jan Tománek | CZ | 21 | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | WRC Trophy |
| 17 | Jean-Michel Raoux / Thomas Escartefigue | F | 23 | Citroën DS3 WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | WRC Trophy | |
| 18 | ŠKODA Motorsport | Pontus Tidemand / Jonas Andersson | S | 31 | ŠKODA Fabia R5 | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 19 | ŠKODA Motorsport | Andreas Mikkelsen / Anders Jaeger | N | 32 | ŠKODA Fabia R5 | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 20 | M-Sport World Rally Team | Eric Camilli / Benjamin Veillas | F | 33 | Ford Fiesta R5 (Evo 2) | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 21 | M-Sport World Rally Team | Teemu Suninen / Mikko Markkula | FIN | 34 | Ford Fiesta R5 (Evo 2) | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 22 | Motorsport Italia srl | Benito Guerra / Daniel Cué | MEX/E | 38 | ŠKODA Fabia R5 | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 23 | (J-Motorsport) | Emil Bergkvist / Joakim Sjöberg | S | 35 | Citroën DS3 R5 | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 24 | (Équipe de France FFSA Rallye – Saintéloc Racing) | Yohan Rossel / Benoît Fulcrand | F | 36 | Citroën DS3 R5 | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 25 | Gekon Racing | Simone Tempestini / Giovanni Bernacchini | RO/I | 39 | Citroën DS3 R5 | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 26 | (M-Sport) | Pedro Heller / Pablo Olmos | CHL/RA | 40 | Ford Fiesta R5 (Evo 2) | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 27 | (Tagai Rally Technology) | Quentin Gilbert / Renaud Jamoul | F/B | 41 | ŠKODA Fabia R5 | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 28 | Orlen Team (Tagai Racing Technology) | Hubert Ptaszek / Maciej Szczepaniak | PL | 51 | ŠKODA Fabia R5 | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 29 | (M-Sport) | Gus Greensmith / Craig Parry | GB | 42 | Ford Fiesta R5 (Evo 2) | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 30 | (Équipe de France FFSA Rallye – M-Sport) | Pierre-Louis Loubet / Vincent Landais | F | 43 | Ford Fiesta R5 (Evo 2) | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 31 | Tommi Mäkinen Racing (MM-Motorsport) | Hiroki Arai / Glenn Macneall | J/AUS | 44 | Ford Fiesta R5 | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 32 | Tommi Mäkinen Racing (MM-Motorsport) | Takamoto Katsuta / Marko Salminen | J/FIN | 45 | Ford Fiesta R5 | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 33 | TRT Peugeot WRT | Łukasz Pieniążek / Przemysław Mazur | PL | 46 | Peugeot 208 T16 R5 | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 34 | Miguel Campos / António Costa | P | 47 | ŠKODA Fabia R5 | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 | |
| 35 | Drive DMACK Trophy Team (M-Sport) | Max Vatanen / Jacques-Julien Renucci | FIN/F | 48 | Ford Fiesta R5 | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 36 | (CHL Sport Auto) | Yoann Bonato / Benjamin Boulloud | F | 49 | Citroën DS3 R5 | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 37 | ACI Team Italia | Fabio Andolfi / Manuel Fenoli | I | 50 | Hyundai i20 R5 | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 38 | Citroën Vodafone Team | José Pedro Fontes / Inês Ponte | P | 80 | Citroën DS3 R5 | RC2 | R5 | ||
| 39 | BP Ultimate Vodafone ŠKODA Team | Miguel Barbosa / Miguel Ramalho | P | 82 | ŠKODA Fabia R5 | RC2 | R5 | ||
| 40 | (AR Vidal Racing) | Pedro Meireles / Mário Castro | P | 81 | ŠKODA Fabia R5 | RC2 | R5 | ||
| 41 | Joaquim Alves / Luís Ramalho | P | 83 | Ford Fiesta R5 | RC2 | R5 | |||
| 42 | Elias Barros / Paulo Babo | P | 84 | Ford Fiesta R5 | RC2 | R5 | |||
| 43 | Veloso Motorsport | Manuel Castro / Luís Costa | P | 86 | Hyundai i20 R5 | RC2 | R5 | ||
| 44 | Diogo Salvi / Carlos Magalhães | P | 85 | ŠKODA Fabia R5 | RC2 | R5 | |||
| 45 | (CHL Sport Auto) | Raphaël Astier / Frédéric Vauclare | F | 61 | Peugeot 208 R2 | RC4 | R2 | P3 | WRC3 |
| 46 | Nil Solans / Miquel Ibáñez Sotos | E | 62 | Ford Fiesta R2T | RC4 | R2 | P3 | WRC3 | |
| 47 | Nicolas Ciamin / Thibault de la Haye | F | 63 | Ford Fiesta R2T | RC4 | R2 | P3 | WRC3 | |
| 48 | Go+Cars | Jakub Brzeziński / Robert Hundla | PL | 64 | Citroën DS3 R3T Max | RC3 | R3T | P3 | WRC3 |
| 49 | Enrico Brazzoli / Maurizio Barone | I | 65 | Peugeot 208 R2 | RC4 | R2 | P3 | WRC3 | |
| 50 | Name Rua Racing | Francisco Name / Armando Zapata | MEX | 66 | Citroën DS3 R3T Max | RC3 | R3T | P3 | WRC3 |
| 51 | Hugo Mesquita / Valter Cardoso | P | 87 | Škoda Fabia Super 2000 | RC2 | S2000 2.0A | |||
| 52 | Ricardo Marques / Paulo Marques | P | 88 | Škoda Fabia Super 2000 | RC2 | S2000 2.0A | |||
| 53 | Ricardo Teodósio / José Teixeira | P | 101 | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X | RC2 | NAT | |||
| 54 | Pedro Antunes / Paulo Leones | P | 89 | Peugeot 208 R2 | RC4 | R2 | |||
| 55 | Gil Antunes / Diogo Correia | P | 90 | Renault Clio RS R3T | RC3 | R3T | |||
| 56 | Paulo Neto / Vítor Hugo Oliveira | P | 91 | Citroën DS3 R3T Max | RC3 | R3T | |||
| 57 | João Fernando Ramos / Jorge Manuel Carvalho | P | 92 | Ford Fiesta R5 | RC2 | R5 | |||
| 58 | José Barbosa / Ricardo Barbosa | P | 93 | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X | RC2 | NR4 | |||
| 59 | Pedro Rodrigues / Daniel Araújo | P | 103 | Subaru Impreza STi R4 | RC2 | NAT | |||
| 60 | Hélder Miranda / Rui Teixeira | P | 94 | Citroën C2 R2 | RC4 | R2 | |||
| 61 | Paulo Moreira / Marco Macedo | P | 95 | Peugeot 208 R2 | RC4 | R2 | |||
| 62 | Marco Reis / Nuno Carvalhosa | P | 96 | Škoda Fabia R2 | RC4 | R2 | |||
| 63 | Joana Barbosa / Sofia Mouta | P | 97 | Ford Fiesta R2T | RC4 | R2 | |||
| 64 | Edith Weiss / Jeannette Kvick | D/DK | 98 | Peugeot 208 R2 | RC4 | R2 | |||
| Carlos Martins / Daniel Amaral | P | 102 | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X | RC2 | NAT | cancelled entry |
SS 2: Benito Guerra had a broken gas pedal. The pedal went to the metal, full throttle and they almost crashed. Stopped and was able to repair it. Lost almost 7 minutes.
SS 2: José Pedro Fontes went off the road 500 m after the start and hit a tree. Retired
Both José Pedro Fontes and Inês Ponte were taken to hospital for medical checks.
SS 3: Hayden Paddon stopped 2 km before the finish. Lost all the power, had to stop, reset, and start again. Lost almost 10 seconds.
SS 3: Stéphane Lefebvre stopped at 15.6 km. Lost the rear of the car and touched a bank. Make one roll. Had two punctures and only one spare. Lost over 2 minutes.
SS 3: Jean-Michel Raoux lost the power steering at the end of the stage.
SS 3: Yohan Rossel went off the road. Retired -> Rally 2
SS 3: Hiroki Arai had a puncture and broke a wheel, which was nearly impossible to remove. Lost over 12 minutes.
SS 4: Elfyn Evans had a right-hand rear puncture. Didn’t notice hitting anything. Lost 15 seconds.
SS 4: Stéphane Lefebvre was driving through with the punctured right-rear tyre worn down to the rim. Lost over 4 minutes. Was able to reach the Service and got a 20 sec penalty.
SS 4: Esapekka Lappi was stuck behind Lefebvre’s damaged car for the last 6 km.
SS 4: Pierre-Louis Loubet had problems with the turbo pop-off valve – leading to a lack of engine power.
SS 4: Gus Greensmith stopped at 5 km. Had a read differential exploded. Lost over 6 minutes.
https://twitter.com/GreensmithGus/status/865542982476288000
SS 4: Takamoto Katsuta a broken steering rack. Retired -> Rally 2
SS 5: Mads Østberg had a slow puncture. Did 1 km on the rim. Thought could make it to the end, but had a broken rim so had to stop and change it. Lost over 3 minutes.
SS 5: Gus Greensmith had a front right puncture. Lost at least 1.40 minutes.
https://twitter.com/GreensmithGus/status/865609788104822784
SS 6: Esapekka Lappi got a hole in the intercooler on the previous stage. Tried to fix it, but not possible and was missing some boost.
SS 6: Eric Camilli had a broken power steering and the anti-roll bar in the rear. After that lost at least 1 minute on the every stage.
SS 7: Jari-Matti Latvala hit a bank, went onto two wheels and rolled. Damaged the exhaust and had to use road mode. Lost almost 5 minutes.
SS 7: Thierry Neuville was stuck behind Latvala for more than 5 km and almost went off three times. Lost about 20 seconds.
SS 7: Craig Breen hit a rock about 3 or 4 km into the stage and got a broken damper on the front right. Lost 10 seconds.
SS 7: Hayden Paddon had an intermittent electrical problem. The car just stopped at 16 km and couldn’t start it. Checked every wire and then it started. Lost almost 11 minutes.
SS 7: Kris Meeke stopped with a puncture at 12 km. Was able to continue, but hit a concrete block and the rear suspension was broken. Retired -> Rally 2
SS 7: Emil Bergkvist got a puncture after 3 km. Also a faulty sensor means down on power.
SS 7: Benito Guerra got a puncture 3 km from the finish line.
SS 9: Emil Bergkvist had a water leak. Retired -> Rally 2
SS 9: Raphaël Astier retired -> Rally 2
After nine stages at the 2017 Rally Portugal, six drivers have held the rally lead and nine have claimed stage wins in a remarkable day of the FIA World Rally Championship.
It was the M-Sport Ford Fiesta WRC driver Ott Tanak that took the lead after consistent runs on SS5 (Viana do Castelo 2) and SS6 (Caminha 2).
At that point, the top eight crews were covered by just 8.9s, with Jari Matti Latvala trailing Tanak by just 0.1s, followed by Hayden Paddon, Craig Breen, Kris Meeke, Sébastien Ogier, Dani Sordo and Thierry Neuville.
However, SS7 (Ponte de Lima 2) would see chaos ensue, as three of the top five crews encountered major problems.
Firstly, second-placed Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT’s Latvala had a problem and rolled early in the stage. The Finn would limp to the end of the stage in road mode, losing almost five minutes in the process. Hyundai Motorsport’s Thierry Neuville would also lose time in Latvala’s dust as he caught and passed the Yaris WRC in stage.
Then at 12 kilometres, Kris Meeke’s fifth-placed Citroën C3 WRC broke its suspension, leading to his retirement from the day.
Finally, it was third-placed New Zealander Hayden Paddon – who had just set two blistering split times to start the stage – that ground to a halt with a repeat of the electrical issue that saw his car shut down in SS3. This time, it would take a lot longer for Paddon to restart his i20 WRC, eventually losing almost 11 minutes.
After showing potential rally-winning pace, Paddon was philosophical. “The car just stopped again and we couldn’t start it. We did everything we could, checked every wire – then it started,” he said. “That’s our rally ruined now… We have to stay positive and make the most of the opportunity to test. I can’t buy any good luck at the moment.”
Following the drama of SS7, the surviving WRC crews enjoyed a relatively drama-free two runs through the amazingly tight 1.9-kilometre Braga Street Stage.
World Champion Sébastien Ogier took his first stage win on the first run on the city streets, before Mads Ostberg – who dropped significant time with a puncture in SS5 – was the winner of the day’s final stage, SS9.
Tanak would end the day on top of the standings, 4.3s ahead of the ever-consistent Hyundai of Dani Sordo, and 5.2s ahead of his M-Sport Ford team mate Sébastien Ogier. Craig Breen finished the day as the leading Citroën (+12.9s), despite breaking a damper on SS7, with the third Ford Fiesta WRC of Elfyn Evans in fifth (+18.3s).
“I’m really happy with the day,” said Tanak at the end of SS9. “The car has been behaving well. “
Dani Sordo was also pleased with his Friday, “of course it’s good to finish like this. It’s very important for tomorrow’s road position. It’s been a good fight with everyone today.”
Sébastien Ogier had one eye on a better road position for the second day after spending today sweeping. “I’m happy with my day. I didn’t do any mistakes and I tried as hard as I could… It will be a different story tomorrow.”
Andreas Mikkelsen had a trouble-free day at the front of the WRC2 field, winning every stage and taking a stunning fifth outright on the 1.9-kilometre Braga Street Stage in his Skoda Fabia R5.
Mikkelsen ultimately established an impressive lead of 1m4.5s over Teemu Suninen in the Ford Fiesta R5 and his Skoda team mate Pontus Tidemand, just 2.3s further back.
In WRC3, Poland’s Jakub Brzezinski leads after seven stages in his Citroën DS3 R3T, 2m12.3s ahead of Frenchman Raphaël Astier’s Peugeot 208 R2.
SS 1-4, FIA World Rally Championship
SS 5-6, FIA World Rally Championship
WRC2 / Day 1, FIA World Rally Championship
Day 1, Michelin Motorsport
Day 1, Hyundai Motorsport
Day 1, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRC
Day 1, rosmanao videos
Day 1, World Rally Media
Day 1, D10M
Day 1, MAT Rally Video
Saturday, 20 May
7:15 Service D (Exponor) – x min
9:08 SS 10 Vieira do Minho 1 (17,43 km)
9:46 SS 11 Cabeceiras de Basto 1 (22,30 km)
11:04 SS 12 Amarante 1 (37,55 km)
x:x First car arrives for Regroup and Technical Zone
13:00 Service E (Exponor) – x min
15:08 SS 13 Vieira do Minho 2 (17,43 km)
15:46 SS 14 Cabeceiras de Basto 2 (22,30 km)
17:04 SS 15 Amarante 2 (37,55 km)
x:x First car arrives for Technical Zone
18:55 Service F (Exponor) – 45 min
x:x ‘Meet the Crews’, Service Park, During the 45′ service
00:00 Parc Fermé IN (Early Check-in permitted)
Competitive distance: 154,56 km (Liaison x,x km, Total x,x km)
The starting order:
| ORD | ENTRANT (TEAM) | DRIVER/CODRIVER | NAT. | NR | CAR | GR | CL | SEED PR | |
| 1 | Eurolamp World Rally Team | Valeriy Gorban / Sergei Larens | UA/EE | 22 | MINI John Cooper Works WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | WRC Trophy |
| 2 | Hyundai Motorsport | Hayden Paddon / Sebastian Marshall | NZ/GB | 4 | Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | M |
| 3 | Citroën Total Abu Dhabi W.R.T. | Khalid Al Qassimi / Chris Patterson | UAE/GB | 15 | Citroën C3 WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | |
| 4 | Citroën Total Abu Dhabi W.R.T. | Stéphane Lefebvre / Gabin Moreau | F | 9 | Citroën C3 WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | M |
| 5 | Onebet Jipocar W.R.T. | Martin Prokop / Jan Tománek | CZ | 21 | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | WRC Trophy |
| 6 | TOYOTA GAZOO Racing W.R.T. | Jari-Matti Latvala / Miikka Anttila | FIN | 10 | Toyota Yaris WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | M |
| 7 | M-Sport World Rally Team (One Bet Jipocar W.R.T.) | Mads Østberg / Ola Fløene | N | 14 | Ford Fiesta WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | |
| 8 | TOYOTA GAZOO Racing W.R.T. | Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferm | FIN | 12 | Toyota Yaris WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | M |
| 9 | TOYOTA GAZOO Racing W.R.T. | Juho Hänninen / Kaj Lindström | FIN | 11 | Toyota Yaris WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | M |
| 10 | M-Sport World Rally Team | Elfyn Evans / Daniel Barrit | GB | 3 | Ford Fiesta WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | M |
| 11 | Citroën Total Abu Dhabi W.R.T. | Craig Breen / Scott Martin | IRL/GB | 8 | Citroën C3 WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | M |
| 12 | Hyundai Motorsport | Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul | B | 5 | Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | M |
| 13 | M-Sport World Rally Team | Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia | F | 1 | Ford Fiesta WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | M |
| 14 | Hyundai Motorsport | Daniel Sordo / Marc Marti | E | 6 | Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | M |
| 15 | M-Sport World Rally Team | Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja | EE | 2 | Ford Fiesta WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | M |
| 16 | Citroën Total Abu Dhabi W.R.T. | Kris Meeke / Paul Nagle | GB/IRL | 7 | Citroën C3 WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | M |
| 17 | Jean-Michel Raoux / Thomas Escartefigue | F | 23 | Citroën DS3 WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | WRC Trophy | |
| 18 | ŠKODA Motorsport | Andreas Mikkelsen / Anders Jaeger | N | 32 | ŠKODA Fabia R5 | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 19 | M-Sport World Rally Team | Teemu Suninen / Mikko Markkula | FIN | 34 | Ford Fiesta R5 (Evo 2) | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 20 | ŠKODA Motorsport | Pontus Tidemand / Jonas Andersson | S | 31 | ŠKODA Fabia R5 | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 21 | (Tagai Rally Technology) | Quentin Gilbert / Renaud Jamoul | F/B | 41 | ŠKODA Fabia R5 | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 22 | (Équipe de France FFSA Rallye – M-Sport) | Pierre-Louis Loubet / Vincent Landais | F | 43 | Ford Fiesta R5 (Evo 2) | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 23 | M-Sport World Rally Team | Eric Camilli / Benjamin Veillas | F | 33 | Ford Fiesta R5 (Evo 2) | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 24 | Gekon Racing | Simone Tempestini / Giovanni Bernacchini | RO/I | 39 | Citroën DS3 R5 | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 25 | Drive DMACK Trophy Team (M-Sport) | Max Vatanen / Jacques-Julien Renucci | FIN/F | 48 | Ford Fiesta R5 | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 26 | Miguel Campos / António Costa | P | 47 | ŠKODA Fabia R5 | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 | |
| 27 | TRT Peugeot WRT | Łukasz Pieniążek / Przemysław Mazur | PL | 46 | Peugeot 208 T16 R5 | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 28 | (AR Vidal Racing) | Pedro Meireles / Mário Castro | P | 81 | ŠKODA Fabia R5 | RC2 | R5 | ||
| 29 | (M-Sport) | Gus Greensmith / Craig Parry | GB | 42 | Ford Fiesta R5 (Evo 2) | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 30 | (M-Sport) | Pedro Heller / Pablo Olmos | CHL/RA | 40 | Ford Fiesta R5 (Evo 2) | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 31 | Motorsport Italia srl | Benito Guerra / Daniel Cué | MEX/E | 38 | ŠKODA Fabia R5 | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 32 | Orlen Team (Tagai Racing Technology) | Hubert Ptaszek / Maciej Szczepaniak | PL | 51 | ŠKODA Fabia R5 | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 33 | Go+Cars | Jakub Brzeziński / Robert Hundla | PL | 64 | Citroën DS3 R3T Max | RC3 | R3T | P3 | WRC3 |
| 34 | Joaquim Alves / Luís Ramalho | P | 83 | Ford Fiesta R5 | RC2 | R5 | |||
| 35 | Tommi Mäkinen Racing (MM-Motorsport) | Hiroki Arai / Glenn Macneall | J/AUS | 44 | Ford Fiesta R5 | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 36 | (J-Motorsport) | Emil Bergkvist / Joakim Sjöberg | S | 35 | Citroën DS3 R5 | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 37 | Pedro Rodrigues / Daniel Araújo | P | 103 | Subaru Impreza STi R4 | RC2 | NAT | |||
| 38 | Pedro Antunes / Paulo Leones | P | 89 | Peugeot 208 R2 | RC4 | R2 | |||
| 39 | José Barbosa / Ricardo Barbosa | P | 93 | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X | RC2 | NR4 | |||
| 40 | Ricardo Teodósio / José Teixeira | P | 101 | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X | RC2 | NAT | |||
| 41 | Name Rua Racing | Francisco Name / Armando Zapata | MEX | 66 | Citroën DS3 R3T Max | RC3 | R3T | P3 | WRC3 |
| 42 | Enrico Brazzoli / Maurizio Barone | I | 65 | Peugeot 208 R2 | RC4 | R2 | P3 | WRC3 | |
| 43 | Ricardo Marques / Paulo Marques | P | 88 | Škoda Fabia Super 2000 | RC2 | S2000 2.0A | |||
| 44 | Nil Solans / Miquel Ibáñez Sotos | E | 62 | Ford Fiesta R2T | RC4 | R2 | P3 | WRC3 | |
| 45 | (CHL Sport Auto) | Raphaël Astier / Frédéric Vauclare | F | 61 | Peugeot 208 R2 | RC4 | R2 | P3 | WRC3 |
| 46 | Nicolas Ciamin / Thibault de la Haye | F | 63 | Ford Fiesta R2T | RC4 | R2 | P3 | WRC3 | |
| 47 | Hélder Miranda / Rui Teixeira | P | 94 | Citroën C2 R2 | RC4 | R2 | |||
| 48 | Elias Barros / Paulo Babo | P | 84 | Ford Fiesta R5 | RC2 | R5 | |||
| 49 | ACI Team Italia | Fabio Andolfi / Manuel Fenoli | I | 50 | Hyundai i20 R5 | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 50 | Tommi Mäkinen Racing (MM-Motorsport) | Takamoto Katsuta / Marko Salminen | J/FIN | 45 | Ford Fiesta R5 | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 51 | (CHL Sport Auto) | Yoann Bonato / Benjamin Boulloud | F | 49 | Citroën DS3 R5 | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 52 | (Équipe de France FFSA Rallye – Saintéloc Racing) | Yohan Rossel / Benoît Fulcrand | F | 36 | Citroën DS3 R5 | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 53 | Marco Reis / Nuno Carvalhosa | P | 96 | Škoda Fabia R2 | RC4 | R2 | |||
| 54 | Paulo Neto / Vítor Hugo Oliveira | P | 91 | Citroën DS3 R3T Max | RC3 | R3T | |||
| 55 | Hugo Mesquita / Valter Cardoso | P | 87 | Škoda Fabia Super 2000 | RC2 | S2000 2.0A | |||
| 56 | João Fernando Ramos / Jorge Manuel Carvalho | P | 92 | Ford Fiesta R5 | RC2 | R5 | |||
| 57 | Gil Antunes / Diogo Correia | P | 90 | Renault Clio RS R3T | RC3 | R3T | |||
| 58 | Veloso Motorsport | Manuel Castro / Luís Costa | P | 86 | Hyundai i20 R5 | RC2 | R5 |
SS 10: Max Vatanen had a radiator leak. There was not a scratch and did not touch anything. Lost almost 5 minutes. Retired -> Rally 2
SS 11: Esapekka Lappi stalled the car in a tight corner and could not restart. Had to undo my belts. It took time to get it running, and then do up belts again. Lost almost 50 seconds.
SS 11: Elfyn Evans had a moment on a right-hander where had to avoid a rock on the line. Missed the next corner and went off. Got a front-left puncture. Lost over 1.10 minutes.
SS 11: Pierre-Louis Loubet hit a cow at the start of the stage.
SS 11: Eric Camilli stuck in Loubet’s dust and another puncture at the front too.
SS 11: Benito Guerra stopped. Retired
SS 11: Gus Greensmith had a broken power steering at the end of the stage.
SS 12: Elfyn Evans had a broken damper.
SS 12: Ott Tänak touched a bank on the outside under braking 20 km before the end. The left-rear wheel was running out of alignment. Lost over 1.20 minutes.
SS 12: Quentin Gilbert missed a junction and had to reverse.
SS 12: Emil Bergkvist had some mechanical problem. Retired
SS 13: Hayden Paddon had a power steering problem. Retired -> Rally 2
SS 13: Pierre-Louis Loubet broke the steering rack and weren’t able to make a repair in the stage. Retired -> Rally 2
SS 13: Jakub Brzeziński had a broken engine. Retired
SS 14: Juho Hänninen stopped at 17.9 km. Some problems with the fuel pressure. Lost over 1 minute.
SS 14: Martin Prokop had a puncture on the front left, but managed to get to the finish without stopping.
SS 15: Dani Sordo had bent left rear axle. Didn’t hit anything.
SS 15: Craig Breen had a spin on the tarmac section.
ss 15: Esapekka Lappi got caught out on loose gravel and hit a wall. Some rear right damages. Lost 5 minutes.
SS 15: Jean-Michel Raoux stopped in stage at 5.3 km. Got a puncture on the front-right. Touched a stone in the braking zone. Lost almost 5 minutes.
SS 15: Teemu Suninen stopped at 18.8 km. Got a front-right puncture – hit a big, big stone on the line. Lost over 2 minutes.
SS 15: Pontus Tidemand stopped at 14.4 km. Got a puncture. Lost almost 2 minutes.
SS 15: Eric Camilli had to stop to remove, when a big rock got stuck in front-right wheel. Lost almost 5 minutes.
SS 15: Hiroki Arai went off the road and the car caught fire burning out completely before the crew had a chance to extinguish the blaze. Retired
Sébastien Ogier remains in the lead of Rally Portugal following the final three stages on Saturday.
The Frenchman entered the final loop of the day – a repeat of the morning’s stages – 19.5s ahead of Hyundai Motorsport’s Thierry Neuville.
While the Belgian would take two out of three stage wins to reduce the margin to 16.8s, Ogier took the other stage victory, managed his tyres and kept his Ford Fiesta WRC clean to take the advantage going into the final day.
After losing 6.2s to Neuville in the 37.55 kilometre Amarante 2 (SS15), Ogier remained pleased with his afternoon’s work.
“Not bad, I am happy with that on this one,” said the defending World Champion. “I didn’t push hard because it was a bit rough at the end.”
“Thierry has a good run… I managed my tyres a bit too much – too cautious maybe. Now we have to finish the job tomorrow.”
While Ogier looked in command, Neuville showed he was not content to simply accept second place.
“An okay stage for me, with hards at the front and softs at the rear,” said the i20 Coupe WRC pilot after finishing the day’s action. “Can I win this rally? It will be difficult…”
Behind the battle at the front, the second Hyundai of Sordo had a steady and untroubled day – until the final stage when he suffered damage to his rear wheel and lost 22.0s to his team mate Neuville.
“I don’t know what happened – I promise you I didn’t hit anything,” said the Spaniard. “We are lucky to arrive here at the stage end.”
Behind the top three, overnight leader Ott Tanak recovered from his difficult morning – where he hit a bank and broke his Ford Fiesta WRC’s suspension – to overtake Craig Breen for fourth overall. The Irishman making “a mistake” with his tyre choice, destroying the rears on his Citroën C3 WRC, and spinning on the long SS15.
Dominant overnight leader in WRC2, Skoda Motorsport’s Andreas Mikkelsen didn’t have everything his own way today, with Teemu Suninen winning four out of the six stages as Mikkelsen remained safe at the front.
The Norwegian still entered SS15 with a 1m09.3s lead over the Ford Fiesta R5 driver, who was busy holding off the other Skoda of Pontus Tidemand. That gap would grow substantially in the day’s final stage as, first, Tidemand stopped with a puncture, then Suninen also suffered a puncture. The Swede would ultimately lose less time, taking second place by 19.1s – though he now sits a full 3m07.1s behind Mikkelsen.
Jakub Brzezinski arrived into the midday service with a massive ten-plus minute lead in the WRC3 Championship. However, he would fail to complete the first stage of the afternoon loop, allowing Citroën driver Francisco Name to take the lead over Rally 2 driver Nil Solans in a Fiesta.
Crews will complete Rally Portugal tomorrow with four stages comprising roughly 43 kilometres.
SS 10-12, FIA World Rally Championship
SS 13, FIA World Rally Championship
WRC2 / Day 2, FIA World Rally Championship
Day 2, Michelin Motorsport
Day 2, Hyundai Motorsport
Day 2, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRC
Day 2, rosmanao videos
Day 2, MAT Rally Video
Day 2, WRCatedral_Fafe
Sunday, 21 May
7:35 Service G (Exponor) – 19 min
9:08 SS 16 Fafe 1 (11,18 km)
9:30 SS 17 Luílhas (11,91 km)
10:20 SS 18 Montim (8,66 km)
10:40 Regroup
12:18 SS 19 Power Stage Fafe 2 (11,18 km)
x:x First car arrives for final service and Technical Zone
13:50 Service H (Exponor) – 14 min
15:45 Prize-Giving and podium ceremony, Matosinhos
16:30 FIA Press Conference, Media Center
Competitive distance: 42,93 km (Liaison 211,11 km, Total 254,04 km)
The starting order:
| ORD | ENTRANT (TEAM) | DRIVER/CODRIVER | NAT. | NR | CAR | GR | CL | SEED PR | |
| 1 | Eurolamp World Rally Team | Valeriy Gorban / Sergei Larens | UA/EE | 22 | MINI John Cooper Works WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | WRC Trophy |
| 2 | Citroën Total Abu Dhabi W.R.T. | Khalid Al Qassimi / Chris Patterson | UAE/GB | 15 | Citroën C3 WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | |
| 3 | Onebet Jipocar W.R.T. | Martin Prokop / Jan Tománek | CZ | 21 | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | WRC Trophy |
| 4 | Citroën Total Abu Dhabi W.R.T. | Stéphane Lefebvre / Gabin Moreau | F | 9 | Citroën C3 WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | M |
| 5 | TOYOTA GAZOO Racing W.R.T. | Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferm | FIN | 12 | Toyota Yaris WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | M |
| 6 | TOYOTA GAZOO Racing W.R.T. | Jari-Matti Latvala / Miikka Anttila | FIN | 10 | Toyota Yaris WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | M |
| 7 | M-Sport World Rally Team (One Bet Jipocar W.R.T.) | Mads Østberg / Ola Fløene | N | 14 | Ford Fiesta WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | |
| 8 | TOYOTA GAZOO Racing W.R.T. | Juho Hänninen / Kaj Lindström | FIN | 11 | Toyota Yaris WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | M |
| 9 | M-Sport World Rally Team | Elfyn Evans / Daniel Barrit | GB | 3 | Ford Fiesta WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | M |
| 10 | Citroën Total Abu Dhabi W.R.T. | Craig Breen / Scott Martin | IRL/GB | 8 | Citroën C3 WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | M |
| 11 | M-Sport World Rally Team | Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja | EE | 2 | Ford Fiesta WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | M |
| 12 | Hyundai Motorsport | Daniel Sordo / Marc Marti | E | 6 | Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | M |
| 13 | Hyundai Motorsport | Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul | B | 5 | Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | M |
| 14 | M-Sport World Rally Team | Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia | F | 1 | Ford Fiesta WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | M |
| 15 | Citroën Total Abu Dhabi W.R.T. | Kris Meeke / Paul Nagle | GB/IRL | 7 | Citroën C3 WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | M |
| 16 | Hyundai Motorsport | Hayden Paddon / Sebastian Marshall | NZ/GB | 4 | Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | M |
| 17 | Jean-Michel Raoux / Thomas Escartefigue | F | 23 | Citroën DS3 WRC | RC1 | WRC | P1 | WRC Trophy | |
| 18 | ŠKODA Motorsport | Andreas Mikkelsen / Anders Jaeger | N | 32 | ŠKODA Fabia R5 | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 19 | ŠKODA Motorsport | Pontus Tidemand / Jonas Andersson | S | 31 | ŠKODA Fabia R5 | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 20 | M-Sport World Rally Team | Teemu Suninen / Mikko Markkula | FIN | 34 | Ford Fiesta R5 (Evo 2) | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 21 | (Tagai Rally Technology) | Quentin Gilbert / Renaud Jamoul | F/B | 41 | ŠKODA Fabia R5 | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 22 | Gekon Racing | Simone Tempestini / Giovanni Bernacchini | RO/I | 39 | Citroën DS3 R5 | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 23 | Miguel Campos / António Costa | P | 47 | ŠKODA Fabia R5 | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 | |
| 24 | TRT Peugeot WRT | Łukasz Pieniążek / Przemysław Mazur | PL | 46 | Peugeot 208 T16 R5 | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 25 | (M-Sport) | Gus Greensmith / Craig Parry | GB | 42 | Ford Fiesta R5 (Evo 2) | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 26 | M-Sport World Rally Team | Eric Camilli / Benjamin Veillas | F | 33 | Ford Fiesta R5 (Evo 2) | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 27 | (AR Vidal Racing) | Pedro Meireles / Mário Castro | P | 81 | ŠKODA Fabia R5 | RC2 | R5 | ||
| 28 | (M-Sport) | Pedro Heller / Pablo Olmos | CHL/RA | 40 | Ford Fiesta R5 (Evo 2) | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 29 | Orlen Team (Tagai Racing Technology) | Hubert Ptaszek / Maciej Szczepaniak | PL | 51 | ŠKODA Fabia R5 | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 30 | Joaquim Alves / Luís Ramalho | P | 83 | Ford Fiesta R5 | RC2 | R5 | |||
| 31 | (Équipe de France FFSA Rallye – M-Sport) | Pierre-Louis Loubet / Vincent Landais | F | 43 | Ford Fiesta R5 (Evo 2) | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 32 | Pedro Rodrigues / Daniel Araújo | P | 103 | Subaru Impreza STi R4 | RC2 | NAT | |||
| 33 | Name Rua Racing | Francisco Name / Armando Zapata | MEX | 66 | Citroën DS3 R3T Max | RC3 | R3T | P3 | WRC3 |
| 34 | (CHL Sport Auto) | Raphaël Astier / Frédéric Vauclare | F | 61 | Peugeot 208 R2 | RC4 | R2 | P3 | WRC3 |
| 35 | Nil Solans / Miquel Ibáñez Sotos | E | 62 | Ford Fiesta R2T | RC4 | R2 | P3 | WRC3 | |
| 36 | Ricardo Marques / Paulo Marques | P | 88 | Škoda Fabia Super 2000 | RC2 | S2000 2.0A | |||
| 37 | Enrico Brazzoli / Maurizio Barone | I | 65 | Peugeot 208 R2 | RC4 | R2 | P3 | WRC3 | |
| 38 | Motorsport Italia srl | Benito Guerra / Daniel Cué | MEX/E | 38 | ŠKODA Fabia R5 | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 39 | Tommi Mäkinen Racing (MM-Motorsport) | Takamoto Katsuta / Marko Salminen | J/FIN | 45 | Ford Fiesta R5 | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 40 | Drive DMACK Trophy Team (M-Sport) | Max Vatanen / Jacques-Julien Renucci | FIN/F | 48 | Ford Fiesta R5 | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 41 | José Barbosa / Ricardo Barbosa | P | 93 | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X | RC2 | NR4 | |||
| 42 | ACI Team Italia | Fabio Andolfi / Manuel Fenoli | I | 50 | Hyundai i20 R5 | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 43 | (CHL Sport Auto) | Yoann Bonato / Benjamin Boulloud | F | 49 | Citroën DS3 R5 | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 44 | (Équipe de France FFSA Rallye – Saintéloc Racing) | Yohan Rossel / Benoît Fulcrand | F | 36 | Citroën DS3 R5 | RC2 | R5 | P2 | WRC2 |
| 45 | Hélder Miranda / Rui Teixeira | P | 94 | Citroën C2 R2 | RC4 | R2 | |||
| 46 | Hugo Mesquita / Valter Cardoso | P | 87 | Škoda Fabia Super 2000 | RC2 | S2000 2.0A | |||
| 47 | Elias Barros / Paulo Babo | P | 84 | Ford Fiesta R5 | RC2 | R5 | |||
| 48 | João Fernando Ramos / Jorge Manuel Carvalho | P | 92 | Ford Fiesta R5 | RC2 | R5 | |||
| 49 | Joana Barbosa / Sofia Mouta | P | 97 | Ford Fiesta R2T | RC4 | R2 | |||
| 50 | Marco Reis / Nuno Carvalhosa | P | 96 | Škoda Fabia R2 | RC4 | R2 | |||
| 51 | Paulo Moreira / Marco Macedo | P | 95 | Peugeot 208 R2 | RC4 | R2 | |||
| 52 | Nicolas Ciamin / Thibault de la Haye | F | 63 | Ford Fiesta R2T | RC4 | R2 | P3 | WRC3 |
SS 16: Quentin Gilbert rolled at the Fafe jump! Retired
SS 17: Hayden Paddon spun two or three kilometres before the finish.
SS 17: Kris Meeke spun on a slow corner, lost maybe five seconds.
SS 17: Jari-Matti Latvala had half a spin.
SS 19: Andreas Mikkelsen rolled at 2 km. Continued, but stopped. Retired
SS 19: Pontus Tidemand hit a rock, thought he had a puncture and slowed down. Therefore, lost nearly 15 seconds.
Defending FIA World Rally Champion Sébastien Ogier has won Rally Portugal, strengthening his grip on the first season of the new era of the sport.
The M-Sport Ford driver entered the final four stages today 16.8s ahead of Hyundai Motorsport’s Thierry Neuville. He would go on to win one more stage (SS17), before setting the fifth fastest time on the Power Stage to deliver his second victory for his new team, after taking out Rallye Monte-Carlo at the start of the season.
It was a comfortable final day for the Frenchman, who tied Markku Alén for most victories in Rally Portugal with five in the event’s 50th running.
He now leads the 2017 championship by 22 points over Neuville.
“It feels great for sure,” said the three-time champion. “It’s fantastic to be back on the top of the podium again.
“Thanks to the team – the new car was perfect… Amazing! A new car in Monte and we won – a new car here too!”
For Thierry Neuville, second place continued to show him as a force to be reckoned with in the championship. The Belgian closed on Ogier marginally on the final loop of the rally, but had too much work to do, eventually coming home comfortably ahead of his Hyundai team mate Dani Sordo.
“A good stage for me, I tried my best but it wasn’t enough. Ott was faster,” said Neuville after being pipped by Tanak for the Power Stage win by 0.4s.
“I struggled this weekend with the rear of the car. The Fiestas were quicker – we couldn’t catch them.”
In contrast to the first day of the rally, Sunday saw comparatively little change among the WRC crews, Dani Sordo finishing third ahead of Friday’s overnight leader Ott Tanak’s Ford Fiesta WRC. Citroën’s Craig Breen completed the top five with a solid performance ahead of Elfyn Evans, sixth in the third Fiesta and another one ruing something of a missed opportunity.
The only change among the top ten overall runners saw impressive WRC rookie Esapekka Lappi charge home to claim the final point, setting a series of eye-catching stage times in his Toyota Yaris WRC – including fourth in the Power Stage, just 0.2s behind Evans in third.
The Finn combined flashes of immense speed with some rookie mistakes over the course of the rally, but certainly showed something special for the future.
The other notable driver on the final day was New Zealand’s Hayden Paddon, who took two stage wins to give him a total of four for the event. It was a case of ‘what might have been’ for the Hyundai Motorsport driver, who showed excellent pace in between the electrical and power steering problems that cruelled his rally.
The drama of the day, however, was in WRC2 as Skoda Motorsport’s Andreas Mikkelsen started Sunday three minutes ahead of team mate Pontus Tidemand and Ford driver Teemu Suninen after dominating the class all event (both Tidemand and Suninen also suffered punctures in the final stage on Saturday).
The Norwegian entered the last stage, still with over three minutes in hand – until he sensationally rolled the Fabia R5 one kilometre in, gifting the win to Tidemand with Suninen closing on the Swede by almost 15 seconds in the last stage to ultimately fall 11.2s short. Simone Tempestini was third in the Citroën DS3 R5.
On the day’s first stage, Quentin Gilbert, who would have been in line to complete the WRC2 podium after the Mikkelsen incident, ended his rally in spectacular fashion at the famous Fafe jump. The French former WRC3 champion landed heavily on the nose of his Skoda Fabia R5, before flipping and coming to rest across the road. Both driver and co-driver were unhurt, however the stage was interrupted for all remaining drivers.
In WRC3, Mexican Francisco Name (Citroën DS3 R3T) prevailed over Spain’s Nil Solans (Ford Fiesta R2) and Italy’s Enrico Brazzoli (Peugeot 208 R2).
FINAL STANDINGS:
1. Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia, Ford Fiesta WRC 3:24:55.7
2. Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC +17.5
3. Dani Sordo / Marc Marti, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC +1:00.1
4. Ott Tanak / Martin Järveoja, Ford Fiesta WRC +1:32.5
5. Craig Breen / Scott Martin, Citroën C3 WRC +1:54.7
6. Elfyn Evans / Daniel Barritt, Ford Fiesta WRC +3:10.6
7. Juho Hänninen / Kaj Lindström, Toyota Yaris WRC +3:48.9
8. Mads Ostberg / Ola Floene, Ford Fiesta WRC +5:29.7
9. Jari-Matti Latvala / Miikka Anttila, Toyota Yaris WRC +5:43.6
10. Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferm, Toyota Yaris WRC +8:13.4
RESULTS
| ENTRANT (TEAM) | DRIVER/CODRIVER | NAT. | NR | CAR | GR | TIME | |||
| 1 | M-Sport World Rally Team | Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia | F | 1 | Ford Fiesta WRC | RC1 | WRC | 3:42:55.7 | M |
| 2 | Hyundai Motorsport | Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul | B | 5 | Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC | RC1 | WRC | 3:43:11.3 | M |
| 3 | Hyundai Motorsport | Daniel Sordo / Marc Marti | E | 6 | Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC | RC1 | WRC | 3:43:57.4 | M |
| 4 | M-Sport World Rally Team | Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja | EE | 2 | Ford Fiesta WRC | RC1 | WRC | 3:44:25.9 | M |
| 5 | Citroën Total Abu Dhabi W.R.T. | Craig Breen / Scott Martin | IRL/GB | 8 | Citroën C3 WRC | RC1 | WRC | 3:44:53.1 | M |
| 6 | M-Sport World Rally Team | Elfyn Evans / Daniel Barrit | GB | 3 | Ford Fiesta WRC | RC1 | WRC | 3:46:06.3 | M |
| 7 | TOYOTA GAZOO Racing W.R.T. | Juho Hänninen / Kaj Lindström | FIN | 11 | Toyota Yaris WRC | RC1 | WRC | 3:46:44.6 | M |
| 8 | M-Sport World Rally Team (One Bet Jipocar W.R.T.) | Mads Østberg / Ola Fløene | N | 14 | Ford Fiesta WRC | RC1 | WRC | 3:48:25.4 | |
| 9 | TOYOTA GAZOO Racing W.R.T. | Jari-Matti Latvala / Miikka Anttila | FIN | 10 | Toyota Yaris WRC | RC1 | WRC | 3:48:39.3 | M |
| 10 | TOYOTA GAZOO Racing W.R.T. | Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferm | FIN | 12 | Toyota Yaris WRC | RC1 | WRC | 3:51:09.0 | M |
| 11 | ŠKODA Motorsport | Pontus Tidemand / Jonas Andersson | S | 32 | ŠKODA Fabia R5 | RC2 | R5 | 3:54:17.6 | WRC2 |
| 12 | M-Sport World Rally Team | Teemu Suninen / Mikko Markkula | FIN | 34 | Ford Fiesta R5 (Evo 2) | RC2 | R5 | 3:54:28.8 | WRC2 |
| 13 | Citroën Total Abu Dhabi W.R.T. | Stéphane Lefebvre / Gabin Moreau | F | 9 | Citroën C3 WRC | RC1 | WRC | 3:54:58.0 | M |
| 14 | Onebet Jipocar W.R.T. | Martin Prokop / Jan Tománek | CZ | 21 | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | RC1 | WRC | 3:58:12.0 | WRC Trophy |
| 15 | Gekon Racing | Simone Tempestini / Giovanni Bernacchini | RO/I | 39 | Citroën DS3 R5 | RC2 | R5 | 4:01:18.2 | WRC2 |
| 16 | Miguel Campos / António Costa | P | 47 | ŠKODA Fabia R5 | RC2 | R5 | 4:03:36.9 | WRC2 | |
| 17 | Citroën Total Abu Dhabi W.R.T. | Khalid Al Qassimi / Chris Patterson | UAE/GB | 15 | Citroën C3 WRC | RC1 | WRC | 4:04:06.9 | |
| 18 | Citroën Total Abu Dhabi W.R.T. | Kris Meeke / Paul Nagle | GB/IRL | 7 | Citroën C3 WRC | RC1 | WRC | 4:05:14.8 | M |
| 19 | TRT Peugeot WRT | Łukasz Pieniążek / Przemysław Mazur | PL | 46 | Peugeot 208 T16 R5 | RC2 | R5 | 4:05:17.1 | WRC2 |
| 20 | (M-Sport) | Gus Greensmith / Craig Parry | GB | 42 | Ford Fiesta R5 (Evo 2) | RC2 | R5 | 4:05:54.9 | WRC2 |
| 21 | M-Sport World Rally Team | Eric Camilli / Benjamin Veillas | F | 33 | Ford Fiesta R5 (Evo 2) | RC2 | R5 | 4:05:59.3 | WRC2 |
| 22 | (AR Vidal Racing) | Pedro Meireles / Mário Castro | P | 81 | ŠKODA Fabia R5 | RC2 | R5 | 4:09:10.6 | |
| 23 | (M-Sport) | Pedro Heller / Pablo Olmos | CHL/RA | 40 | Ford Fiesta R5 (Evo 2) | RC2 | R5 | 4:12:05.9 | WRC2 |
| 24 | Orlen Team (Tagai Racing Technology) | Hubert Ptaszek / Maciej Szczepaniak | PL | 51 | ŠKODA Fabia R5 | RC2 | R5 | 4:14:38.9 | WRC2 |
| 25 | (Équipe de France FFSA Rallye – M-Sport) | Pierre-Louis Loubet / Vincent Landais | F | 43 | Ford Fiesta R5 (Evo 2) | RC2 | R5 | 4:20:24.6 SR | WRC2 |
| 26 | Joaquim Alves / Luís Ramalho | P | 83 | Ford Fiesta R5 | RC2 | R5 | 4:20:45.6 | ||
| 27 | Jean-Michel Raoux / Thomas Escartefigue | F | 23 | Citroën DS3 WRC | RC1 | WRC | 4:22:04.8 | WRC Trophy | |
| 28 | Pedro Rodrigues / Daniel Araújo | P | 103 | Subaru Impreza STi R4 | RC2 | NAT | 4:30:38.8 | ||
| 29 | Name Rua Racing | Francisco Name / Armando Zapata | MEX | 66 | Citroën DS3 R3T Max | RC3 | R3T | 4:37:20.7 | WRC3 |
| 30 | Nil Solans / Miquel Ibáñez Sotos | F | 62 | Ford Fiesta R2T | RC4 | R2 | 4:38:05.5 | WRC3 | |
| 31 | Ricardo Marques / Paulo Marques | P | 88 | Škoda Fabia Super 2000 | RC2 | S2000 2.0A | 4:38:22.1 | ||
| 32 | Motorsport Italia srl | Benito Guerra / Daniel Cué | MEX/E | 38 | ŠKODA Fabia R5 | RC2 | R5 | 4:39:25.5 SR | WRC2 |
| 33 | Drive DMACK Trophy Team (M-Sport) | Max Vatanen / Jacques-Julien Renucci | FIN/F | 48 | Ford Fiesta R5 | RC2 | R5 | 4:41:52.0 SR | WRC2 |
| 34 | Enrico Brazzoli / Maurizio Barone | I | 65 | Peugeot 208 R2 | RC4 | R2 | 4:43:13.2 | WRC3 | |
| 35 | ACI Team Italia | Fabio Andolfi / Manuel Fenoli | I | 50 | Hyundai i20 R5 | RC2 | R5 | 4:43:30.0 SR | WRC2 |
| 36 | Tommi Mäkinen Racing (MM-Motorsport) | Takamoto Katsuta / Marko Salminen | J/FIN | 45 | Ford Fiesta R5 | RC2 | R5 | 4:45:33.8 SR | WRC2 |
| 37 | (CHL Sport Auto) | Yoann Bonato / Benjamin Boulloud | F | 49 | Citroën DS3 R5 | RC2 | R5 | 4:46:28.1 SR | WRC2 |
| 38 | (Équipe de France FFSA Rallye – Saintéloc Racing) | Yohan Rossel / Benoît Fulcrand | F | 36 | Citroën DS3 R5 | RC2 | R5 | 4:49:06.7 SR | WRC2 |
| 39 | Hugo Mesquita / Valter Cardoso | P | 87 | Škoda Fabia Super 2000 | RC2 | S2000 2.0A | 4:51:15.8 SR | ||
| 40 | Hélder Miranda / Rui Teixeira | P | 94 | Citroën C2 R2 | RC4 | R2 | 4:54:00.6 | ||
| 41 | João Fernando Ramos / Jorge Manuel Carvalho | P | 92 | Ford Fiesta R5 | RC2 | R5 | 5:31:29.1 SR | ||
| LEADING RETIREMENTS | SS=Special Stage | ||||||||
| SS | ENTRANT (TEAM) | DRIVER/CODRIVER | NAT. | NR | CAR | GR | CAUSE | ||
| 13,19 | Hyundai Motorsport | Hayden Paddon / Sebastian Marshall | NZ/GB | 4 | Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC | RC1 | WRC | power steering,withdrawn | M |
| 7 | Citroën Total Abu Dhabi W.R.T. | Kris Meeke / Paul Nagle | GB/IRL | 7 | Citroën C3 WRC | RC1 | WRC | suspension | M |
| 19 | Eurolamp World Rally Team | Valeriy Gorban / Sergei Larens | UA/EE | 22 | MINI John Cooper Works WRC | RC1 | WRC | mechanical | WRC Trophy |
| 19 | ŠKODA Motorsport | Andreas Mikkelsen / Anders Jaeger | N | 31 | ŠKODA Fabia R5 | RC2 | R5 | accident | WRC2 |
| 9 | (J-Motorsport) | Emil Bergkvist / Joakim Sjöberg | S | 35 | Citroën DS3 R5 | RC2 | R5 | water leak | WRC2 |
| 3 | (Équipe de France FFSA Rallye – Saintéloc Racing) | Yohan Rossel / Benoît Fulcrand | F | 36 | Citroën DS3 R5 | RC2 | R5 | accident | WRC2 |
| Motorsport Italia srl | Benito Guerra / Daniel Cué | MEX/E | 38 | ŠKODA Fabia R5 | RC2 | R5 | WRC2 | ||
| 16 | (Tagai Rally Technology) | Quentin Gilbert / Renaud Jamoul | F/B | 41 | ŠKODA Fabia R5 | RC2 | R5 | accident | WRC2 |
| (Équipe de France FFSA Rallye – M-Sport) | Pierre-Louis Loubet / Vincent Landais | F | 43 | Ford Fiesta R5 (Evo 2) | RC2 | R5 | WRC2 | ||
| 15 | Tommi Mäkinen Racing (MM-Motorsport) | Hiroki Arai / Glenn Macneall | J/AUS | 44 | Ford Fiesta R5 | RC2 | R5 | accident -> car caught fire | WRC2 |
| 4 | Tommi Mäkinen Racing (MM-Motorsport) | Takamoto Katsuta / Marko Salminen | J/FIN | 45 | Ford Fiesta R5 | RC2 | R5 | steering rack | WRC2 |
| Drive DMACK Trophy Team (M-Sport) | Max Vatanen / Jacques-Julien Renucci | FIN/F | 48 | Ford Fiesta R5 | RC2 | R5 | radiator leak | WRC2 | |
| 3 | (CHL Sport Auto) | Yoann Bonato / Benjamin Boulloud | F | 49 | Citroën DS3 R5 | RC2 | R5 | water leak | WRC2 |
| 5 | ACI Team Italia | Fabio Andolfi / Manuel Fenoli | I | 50 | Hyundai i20 R5 | RC2 | R5 | WRC2 | |
| 1 | Orlen Team (Tagai Racing Technology) | Hubert Ptaszek / Maciej Szczepaniak | PL | 51 | ŠKODA Fabia R5 | RC2 | R5 | lost a wheel | WRC2 |
| 9,17 | (CHL Sport Auto) | Raphaël Astier / Frédéric Vauclare | F | 61 | Peugeot 208 R2 | RC4 | R2 | mechanical | WRC3 |
| 1 | Nil Solans / Miquel Ibáñez Sotos | F | 62 | Ford Fiesta R2T | RC4 | R2 | WRC3 | ||
| 5,19 | Nicolas Ciamin / Thibault de la Haye | F | 63 | Ford Fiesta R2T | RC4 | R2 | mechanical | WRC3 | |
| 13 | Go+Cars | Jakub Brzeziński / Robert Hundla | PL | 64 | Citroën DS3 R3T Max | RC3 | R3T | engine | WRC3 |
| 2 | Citroën Vodafone Team | José Pedro Fontes / Inês Ponte | P | 80 | Citroën DS3 R5 | RC2 | R5 | accident | |
| 6 | BP Ultimate Vodafone ŠKODA Team | Miguel Barbosa / Miguel Ramalho | P | 82 | ŠKODA Fabia R5 | RC2 | R5 | ||
| 17 | Elias Barros / Paulo Babo | P | 84 | Ford Fiesta R5 | RC2 | R5 | mechanical | ||
| 5 | Diogo Salvi / Carlos Magalhães | P | 85 | ŠKODA Fabia R5 | RC2 | R5 | |||
| 4 | Veloso Motorsport | Manuel Castro / Luís Costa | P | 86 | Hyundai i20 R5 | RC2 | R5 | mechanical | |
| 6 | Hugo Mesquita / Valter Cardoso | P | 87 | Škoda Fabia Super 2000 | RC2 | S2000 2.0A | |||
| 8,13 | Pedro Antunes / Paulo Leones | P | 89 | Peugeot 208 R2 | RC4 | R2 | |||
| 8 | Gil Antunes / Diogo Correia | P | 90 | Renault Clio RS R3T | RC3 | R3T | |||
| 13 | Paulo Neto / Vítor Hugo Oliveira | P | 91 | Citroën DS3 R3T Max | RC3 | R3T | |||
| 7 | João Fernando Ramos / Jorge Manuel Carvalho | P | 92 | Ford Fiesta R5 | RC2 | R5 | |||
| 19 | José Barbosa / Ricardo Barbosa | P | 93 | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X | RC2 | NR4 | mechanical | ||
| 16 | Paulo Moreira / Marco Macedo | P | 95 | Peugeot 208 R2 | RC4 | R2 | |||
| 16 | Marco Reis / Nuno Carvalhosa | P | 96 | Škoda Fabia R2 | RC4 | R2 | lost a wheel | ||
| 16 | Joana Barbosa / Sofia Mouta | P | 97 | Ford Fiesta R2T | RC4 | R2 | |||
| 0 | Edith Weiss / Jeannette Kvick | D/DK | 98 | Peugeot 208 R2 | RC4 | R2 | withdrawn | ||
| 13 | Ricardo Teodósio / José Teixeira | P | 101 | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X | RC2 | NAT | |||
| STARTERS 64 (3 WRC-T, 20 WRC2, 6 WRC3) | FINISHERS 41 (2 WRC-T, 16 WRC2, 3 WRC3) | WINNER´S AVER. SPEED | kph | ||||||
| RALLY LEADERS | SS 1 Neuville & Østberg, 2 Paddon, 3-4 Latvala, 5 Meeke, 6-11 Tänak, 12-19 Ogier | ||||||||
| WRC Trophy | SS 1-19 Prokop | ||||||||
| WRC2 & RC2 | SS 1-18 Mikkelsen, 19 Tidemand | ||||||||
| WRC3 | SS 1-5 Brzeziński, 6 Astier, 7-12 Brzeziński, 13-19 Name | ||||||||
| RC3 | SS 1-12 Brzeziński, 13-19 Name | ||||||||
| RC4 | SS 1-2 Ciamin, 3-8 Astier, 9-11 Antunes, 12-14 Solans, 15-16 Astier, Solans 17-19 | ||||||||
| STAGE POSITIONS | 1 2 3 4 5 6 | THE ROUTE | SS | DISTANCE, km | |||||
| Sébastien Ogier | 5 4 1 2 2 2 | ||||||||
| Thierry Neuville | 4 5 3 1 2 2 | ||||||||
| Hayden Paddon | 4 1 2 0 2 0 | ||||||||
| Ott Tänak | 3 1 5 6 1 0 | ||||||||
| Mads Østberg | 2 0 0 0 0 3 | ||||||||
| Daniel Sordo | 1 2 1 2 3 3 | ||||||||
| Kris Meeke | 1 1 2 0 1 2 | ||||||||
| Jari-Matti Latvala | 1 1 1 4 2 0 | ||||||||
| Craig Breen | 1 0 0 1 2 3 | ||||||||
| Elfyn Evans | 0 3 3 2 1 2 | ||||||||
| Esapekka Lappi | 0 0 0 2 1 1 | ||||||||
| Juho Hänninen | 0 0 0 0 1 0 | ||||||||
| Andreas Mikkelsen | 0 0 0 0 1 0 | ||||||||
| WRC2 & RC2 | |||||||||
| STAGE POSITIONS | 1 2 3 4 5 6 | ||||||||
| Andreas Mikkelsen | 12 3 2 1 0 0 | ||||||||
| Teemu Suninen | 5 6 5 0 1 0 | ||||||||
| Eric Camilli | 2 1 2 6 2 0 | ||||||||
| Pontus Tidemand | 1 7 6 2 2 0 | ||||||||
| Gus Greensmith | 0 1 3 6 4 0 | ||||||||
| Quentin Gilbert | 0 0 2 0 3 2 | ||||||||
| Simone Tempestini | 0 0 1 1 1 3 | ||||||||
| Hubert Ptaszek | 0 0 0 2 2 2 | ||||||||
| Pierre-Louis Loubet | 0 0 0 2 1 6 | ||||||||
| Benito Guerra | 0 0 0 2 0 0 | ||||||||
| Yoann Bonato | 0 0 0 2 0 0 | ||||||||
| Fabio Andolfi | 0 0 0 1 0 4 | ||||||||
| Miguel Campos | 0 0 0 1 0 1 | ||||||||
| Pedro Heller | 0 0 0 1 0 0 | ||||||||
| Takamoto Katsuta | 0 0 0 1 0 0 | ||||||||
| Max Vatanen | 0 0 0 1 0 0 | ||||||||
| Emil Bergkvist | 0 0 0 1 0 0 | ||||||||
| Yohan Rossel | 0 0 0 1 0 0 | ||||||||
| Łukasz Pieniążek | 0 0 0 1 0 0 | ||||||||
| WRC3 | |||||||||
| STAGE POSITIONS | 1 2 3 4 5 6 | ||||||||
| Nil Solans | 13 1 1 1 2 0 | ||||||||
| Jakub Brzeziński | 4 6 2 0 0 0 | ||||||||
| Nicolas Ciamin | 4 6 1 1 0 2 | ||||||||
| Raphaël Astier | 3 5 5 1 1 0 | ||||||||
| Francisco Name | 2 0 7 6 4 0 | ||||||||
| Enrico Brazzoli | 2 0 0 8 6 3 | ||||||||
| RC3 | |||||||||
| STAGE POSITIONS | 1 2 3 4 5 6 | ||||||||
| Jakub Brzeziński | 12 0 0 0 0 0 | ||||||||
| Francisco Name | 8 9 1 1 0 0 | ||||||||
| Paulo Neto | 1 1 8 2 0 0 | ||||||||
| Gil Antunes | 1 1 2 3 0 0 | ||||||||
| RC4 | |||||||||
| STAGE POSITIONS | 1 2 3 4 5 6 | ||||||||
| Nil Solans | 13 2 2 0 0 1 | ||||||||
| Nicolas Ciamin | 6 5 1 0 0 0 | ||||||||
| Raphaël Astier | 4 7 3 1 0 0 | ||||||||
| Enrico Brazzoli | 2 1 5 8 2 1 | ||||||||
| Hélder Miranda | 2 0 1 4 7 5 | ||||||||
| Pedro Antunes | 1 2 5 1 2 0 | ||||||||
| Paulo Moreira | 1 0 0 2 2 1 | ||||||||
| Marco Reis | 1 0 0 1 0 4 | ||||||||
| Joana Barbosa | 1 0 0 0 1 0 |
SS 16-17, FIA World Rally Championship
SS 18-19, FIA World Rally Championship
WRC2 / Highlights, FIA World Rally Championship
Highlights, Michelin Motorsport
Highlights, Citroën Racing
Day 3, Hyundai Motorsport
Day 3, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRC
Highlights, ŠKODA Motorsport
Day 3, rosmanao videos
Day 3, World Rally Media
Day 3, D10M
Day 3, MAT Rally Video
Day 3, WRCantabria
Day 3, WRCatedral_Fafe
2017 FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP FOR DRIVERS AFTER ROUND SIX:
1 Sebastien Ogier 128
2 Thierry Neuville 106
3 Jari-Matti Latvala 88
4 Ott Tanak 83
5 Dani Sordo 66
6 Elfyn Evans 53
7 Craig Breen 43
8 Hayden Paddon 33
9 Kris Meeke 27
10 Juho Hänninen 21
11 Andreas Mikkelsen 13
12 Stéphane Lefebvre 10
13 Mads Østberg 6
14 Teemu Suninen 5
15 Jan Kopecký 4
16 Pontus Tidemand 4
17 Esapekka Lappi 3
18 Stéphane Sarrazin 2
19 Bryan Bouffier 1
20 Yohan Rossel 1
2017 FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP FOR MANUFACTURERS AFTER ROUND SIX:
1 M-Sport World Rally Team 199
2 Hyundai Motorsport 173
3 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT 113
4 Citroen Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team 85
Team Reviews
Manufacturers: M-Sport World Rally Team (GB) / Ford Fiesta WRC (Michelin, Evans: DMACK)
1 Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia (F)
2 Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja (EE)
3 Elfyn Evans / Daniel Barrit (GB)
Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia secured their second victory of the year at this weekend’s Rally de Portugal – powering to the top step of the podium with a faultless drive behind the wheel of their Ecoboost-powered Ford Fiesta WRC.
Despite a brush with the Portuguese scenery, Ott Tänak and Elfyn Evans ensured that all three of M-Sport’s top-specification Fiestas finished inside the top-six.
Proving to have the performance as well as the strength, the Fiesta led for 14 of the 19 stages and secured 10 stage victories courtesy of Ogier, Tänak, and privateer Mads Østberg.
Ogier, Tänak and Evans all secured points in the Power Stage and the team have increased their lead at the head of both FIA World Rally Championships.
With six events now under their belt, M-Sport has never failed to miss out on a podium result – Ogier, Tänak and Evans all contributing to the nine top-three results secured thus far.
Team Principal, Malcolm Wilson OBE, said:
“It’s been a fantastic weekend for the team. It’s great to secure the win, but it’s also great to see another strong performance from the entire team. All three of our crews have finished inside the top six, we’ve kept our clean-sweep of podiums intact, and we’ve also increased our lead at the head of both championships.
“You can image the team’s disappointment after losing the victory in Argentina, so to come here and take the win is fantastic. There’s been quite a bit of emotion in the service park, but we’ve got a great team of people and it’s because of their commitment that we’re in this position.
“There has been a lot of hard work over the past couple of weeks and I think we’ve taken a big step towards getting the Fiesta more to Sébastien’s liking. He and Julien felt really confident this weekend and they delivered an incredible drive to limit the time loss on Friday. From my point of view, that was their best drive of the year and where they made the difference.
“They have driven faultlessly all weekend and I know that this win means as much to them as it does to the team. We’ve still got some work to do, but we know that we can achieve success and we want more of it. The hard work doesn’t stop here, that is for sure.”
OGIER AND INGRASSIA
WINNERS OF RALLY DE PORTUGAL
Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia may have secured their fifth Rally de Portugal victory this weekend, but this one carries special significance as their first in the north and their first behind the wheel of the Ford Fiesta WRC.
The victory also carries historic weight as the Frenchmen equal Markku Alén’s long-held record for the number of wins on Portuguese soil. Coincidentally, Alén secured his fifth victory on the 20th anniversary of this ever-popular event, Ogier securing his on the 50th.
Delivering a faultless drive, Ogier put in a sensational performance – limiting the time loss whilst opening the road and making a move with impressive pace through the cleaner conditions.
Securing five stage victories over the course of the weekend, the four-time World Champion took confidence from a good feeling with the Fiesta and secured victory with an advantage of 15.6 seconds.
With maximum points for the win and an additional point through the Power Stage, the Frenchman has also extended his lead at the head of the drivers’ standings.
Stage performances:
SS16: 4th (+3.5)
SS17: 1st
SS18: 9th (+5.9)
SS19: 4th (+3.5)
Sébastien Ogier (1st) said:
“I’m delighted with this result. It’s been a hard fight until the end but I think everyone always enjoys winning like that. Honestly, when we did the recce, I didn’t think we would have a chance to challenge for the victory – and that makes this result an even prouder and happier one.
“Opening the road is always a challenge, but we had a really good run through Friday’s stages and that gave us a much better road position for the rest of the rally. On Saturday, I was back where I always prefer to be and posted the first or second fastest time though every stage.
“It was an intense fight with Ott through the first half of the rally. He had great pace all weekend and, even after his mistake, managed to score good points for the team.
“Everything feels good and I really must thank the team for all of their hard work. I’ve always said that rallying is a team effort and the car has been perfect all weekend. Everyone is putting in the maximum and they really deserve this victory.
“I’m happy that we could give back from our side with a strong performance. Actually, my number one mechanic and my engineer are Portuguese so I’m sure they are very proud to secure this one too!”
TÄNAK AND JÄRVEOJA
FOURTH OVERALL AT RALLY DE PORTUGAL
Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja showed strong speed at this weekend’s Rally de Portugal – proving once again that a maiden FIA World Rally Championship victory is not far away.
Claiming three stage victories and posting top-five times through 16 of the event’s 19 stages, Tänak led the way at the mid-point – establishing a 6.5 second advantage before his hard work was undone through the first pass of Amarante (SS12).
Getting caught out under braking, the 29-year-old ran wide and impacted with a bank – damaging the suspension and losing the brakes.
The slightest of mistakes cost Tänak more than a minute to the leading pack and he fell to fifth where he was left with no option but to forgo his chance of challenging for the victory this weekend.
Back on the pace for the remaining speed tests, the Estonian soon climbed to fourth and took maximum points from the Power Stage to secure a strong haul of points for his championship campaign.
Stage performances:
SS16: 2nd (+2.6)
SS17: 4th (+3.6)
SS18: 10th (+6.1)
SS19: 1st
Ott Tänak (4th) said:
“Generally, I think we can be pleased with our weekend. We made a mistake on Saturday which meant that we lost the chance to battle Seb for the victory, but we had good pace, good speed and a good feeling with the car.
“I think this was probably the best set-up that I have had all year. After every test we keep improving and we’ll have a two-day test next week to prepare for Sardinia where we hope to challenge for another strong result.
“This is traditionally the event where you see the true potential of the cars and, at the moment, it looks like we have a good package. For sure there are still some small improvements to be made, but it’s certainly looking promising.”
EVANS AND BARRITT
SIXTH OVERALL AT RALLY DE PORTUGAL
Elfyn Evans and Daniel Barritt secured their best result at Rally de Portugal this weekend, but the challenging terrain delivered something of a mixed bag for the British pairing – flashes of speed offset with challenges.
When feeling comfortable behind the wheel of his DMACK-shod Fiesta, Evans hinted at what was achievable – less than a second adrift of the stage victory on a number of occasions.
A puncture, an off-road excursion and a struggle with inconsistent grip levels dropped him down the order, but he regrouped to take sixth place and an additional three points from the Power Stage at the end of the rally.
Stage performances:
SS16: 6th (+6.0)
SS17: 11th (+9.6)
SS18: 3rd (+3.4)
SS19: 3rd (+1.5)
Elfyn Evans (6th) said:
“It’s been a rally of ups and downs. It’s not been the perfect weekend, but there are plenty of good things to take away. It wasn’t ideal that we made the mistake on Saturday, but when the going was good, so was the speed and we have to take that positive forward.”
WRC2
M-Sport World Rally Team / Ford Fiesta R5 (Michelin)
33 Eric Camilli / Benjamin Veillas (F)
34 Teemu Suninen / Mikko Markkula (FIN)
40 Pedro Heller / Pablo Olmos (CHL/RA)
42 Gus Greensmith / Craig Parry (GB)
43 Pierre-Louis Loubet / Vincent Landais (F)
Teemu Suninen and Mikko Markkula delivered an impressive FIA World Rally Championship debut for the Ecoboost-powered Ford Fiesta R5 Evo2 at this weekend’s Rally de Portugal.
The Finns showed strong pace through the challenging terrain – setting five stage victories on their way to second position.
Locked in an intense battle with Pontus Tidemand – which turned into a battle for the win when Andreas Mikkelsen failed to finish the final speed test – Suninen had the better of his rival on the stages but victory came down to who could deliver the fastest wheel change.
When both crews picked up a puncture through the second pass of Amarante (SS15) – Tidemand had the upper hand and Suninen had to forgo victory by just 11.2 seconds.
Teemu Suninen (2nd) said:
“Unfortunately, we lost this rally by changing a tyre just slightly slower than Pontus [Tidemand]! We might have missed out on the victory, but I think we can still be really happy with our performance this weekend.
“This was our first time here with the Fiesta and I think we showed good pace. There are still some aspects that we can improve with the driving, but it’s all going in the right direction and I’m looking forward to the next challenge.”
Gus Greensmith (6th) said:
“The way I look at it, it’s been a really positive rally for us. If you compare our pace to last time out in Sweden we’ve made a huge step forward – I certainly didn’t expect to be consistently trading times with the likes of Teemu, Éric and Pontus this year!
“I’ve gained lots of experience – understood where the mistakes have come from and learnt what we need to improve on. It’s been a fantastic effort from all of the team on our car, and, all in all, a pretty good weekend.”
Éric Camilli (7th) said:
“We know that the speed is there, but this rally didn’t work out so well for us. We wanted to enjoy a good battle, but it wasn’t to be. It was a tough event for us, but it got better today with a couple of stage wins and that’s the positive we need to take away.”
Pedro Heller (8th) said:
“Our aim was to complete the rally and to take as much experience as we could. We’ve done that and I’m happy.
“This wasn’t just my first time rallying in Portugal, it was my first time rallying in Europe. We know that the learning curve will be a steep one – and the rhythm is so fast – but we’ll reach our goal kilometre by kilometre and we’ve made a good start to that this weekend.”
Pierre-Louis Loubet (10th) said:
“We’ve taken good experience for the future and now we need to focus on the next event in Sardinia. This was our first time with the Fiesta on gravel and we had to build our confidence throughout the weekend.
“To challenge for the top results, I know that I need more kilometres in the car but we’re learning all the time. I’m sure that in Sardinia we will be better as I learnt a lot this weekend – especially about the set-up.”
Max Vatanen (13th) said:
“It’s been a difficult rally and it was a shame not to get all of the kilometres after we damaged the radiator yesterday morning. This was my first time with the Fiesta R5 and the step-up from R2 is quite big. I wasn’t so confident in the beginning, but we learnt a lot and will focus on making an improvement at the next one.”
Manufacturers: Hyundai Motorsport (D) / Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC (Michelin)
4 Hayden Paddon / John Kennard (NZ)
5 Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul (B)
6 Daniel Sordo / Marc Marti (E)
There’s nothing quite like the famous Fafe jump to bring Rally Portugal to a thrilling finale – and it certainly delivered on its promise!
After 19 competitive stages, we landed our best-ever Portugal result with Thierry and Nicolas finishing second, just 15.6s behind rally winner Sébastien Ogier.
Dani and Marc made it a double podium celebration by securing third place. What a way to achieve our first-ever Portuguese podium result!
“We achieved our objectives,” summarised our Team Principal Michel. “When Ogier has a 16-second lead on the final day, you know it’s going to be tough. But our crews did a good job, while also putting on an exciting show in front of thousands of spectators.”
Flying through Fafe
The stages were lined with cheering crowds throughout the day but especially watching in awe as the cars launched over the iconic Fafe jump.
Thierry and Nicolas were one of the quickest crews through the Power Stage, adding four valuable points to their season total. Their performance continued an unbroken run of Power Stage points.
“We struggled with the rear of the car a bit this weekend,” admitted Thierry, “but I am pleased with second place. We just couldn’t match M-Sport and Ogier this time. We have taken another good haul of points, which is very important for both Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ Championships.”
Podium present
Our Spaniards Dani and Marc received plenty of support in Portugal and rewarded their fans with a second podium finish of the season.
“I’m delighted with this podium,” said Dani. “I was a bit disappointed on Saturday not to be closer to the front, so I just focused on Sunday morning to secure third place. It was a fun and enjoyable weekend; the support of the spectators was incredible.”
True colours
Hayden and Seb were determined to show their true pace after a weekend beset by problems. Two stage wins on Sunday morning sent a strong message. For the first time this season, all three of our crews registered stage wins over the weekend. Our #4 crew’s successes on Sunday brought the team’s Portugal total to an impressive nine.
“The team has never given up all weekend,” said Hayden. “They seem to dig deeper with each rally. The fact we won two stages on Sunday morning reinforced what might have been without our troubles. The Power Stage was fun and Seb did an amazing job. There are encouraging signs for the future.”
Every second counts
The Portugal podiums mean we strengthen our second place in the Manufacturers’ Championship with 173 points, 26 behind M-Sport.
Thierry has moved up to second in the Drivers’ Championship closing the gap to Ogier. Our Belgian has 106 points compared to the Frenchman’s 128 after six rounds of 13.
As we approach the halfway point of the season, we will head to Sardinia for round seven in high spirits. “Sardinia will offer another challenge,” added Michel. “We have happy memories from last season’s win, which we will definitely want to repeat.”
Manufacturers: Citroën Total Abu Dhabi W.R.T. (F) / Citroën C3 WRC (Michelin)
7 Kris Meeke / Paul Nagle (GB/IRL)
8 Craig Breen / Scott Martin (IRL/GB)
9 Stéphane Lefebvre / Gabin Moreau (F)
15 Khalid Al Qassimi / Chris Patterson (UAE/GB)
Contested on roads around Fafe, Rally de Portugal’s short final leg had no bearing on the overall standings. Craig Breen and Scott Martin ended the event as the Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT’s highest-placed crew, finishing fifth overall. All four of the team’s Citroën C3 WRCs made it to the end of the season’s sixth round.
Following two long days, the third and final leg was more like a sprint finish, featuring four short stages contested without a service break. The famous Fafe stage was contested twice, the second pass serving as the Power Stage.
The Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT crews went into the final day with different goals. Craig Breen/Scott Martin were looking to hold onto their place in the top five, whilst Stéphane Lefebvre/Gabin Moreau, Khalid Al Qassimi/Chris Patterson and Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle were more interested in using the remaining kilometres to increase their experience and gather data.
Once again, Craig Breen’s lack of experience in Portugal showed. Unlike his direct rivals, the Irishman was competing on these stages for the first time. Since he held a healthy lead over his nearest challenger, he could afford to take his time in getting his bearings.
Kris Meeke was the quickest of the Citroën drivers during the morning. In particular, the British driver set the second fastest time on Montim (SS18).
Fourth on the road, Stéphane Lefebvre had to cope with sweeping the loose gravel off the surface. Constantly looking for grip, the young Frenchman focused on keeping his car on the road.
Equally hampered by his starting position, Khalid Al Qassimi caused a real stir on the Power Stage. The Abu Dhabi produced the most spectacular jump, only just managing to pull his C3 WRC out of the ditch and make it to the finishing line!
After this final stage, Craig Breen and Scott Martin claimed yet another fifth place, just as they did in Monte-Carlo, Sweden and at the Tour de Corse. The Anglo-Irish crew lie seventh in the Drivers’ World Championship.
QUOTE, UNQUOTE
Yves Matton, Citroën Racing Team Principal: “With the fifth place of Craig and Scott, who were contesting this rally properly for the first time, we have secured a decent result. We can also be pleased with our level of performance on the opening day, when we had two crews challenging for the lead. We are now going to turn our attention to the next event.”
Craig Breen: “It looks like I’ve signed up for fifth place for the season! It’s been another good weekend for us. We were one of the fastest on Friday and in all likelihood, we would have led the overall standings had we not hit a rock and broken a damper on SS7. We had a little bit more difficulty matching the pace of the leading cars on the next two days. I think there were several factors at play, but it was mainly down to my lack of knowledge of the stages and not having such a good starting position. We’ll keep working and try to do even better in Sardinia.”
Stéphane Lefebvre: “The result obviously falls way short of what we were looking for when we came here. We had worked particularly hard to prepare for this rally, but our race changed shape dramatically on Friday morning. After our roll, we tried to improve as we completed more stages. Our starting position certainly didn’t help us to show what we can do.”
Kris Meeke: “We ended the rally today having got back to a rhythm closer to that of the leading crews. It seems that our level of performance wasn’t as good after the first leg, and we’ll need to work out why. We must all keep working and, on my side of things, I have to cut out these minor mistakes.”
Khalid Al Qassimi: “We had quite a scare on the second run over the Fafe jump! I wanted to go faster than on the first pass, but it was clearly a bit too much… In any case, I’m pleased to make it to the end of my first rally in the Citroën C3 WRC. I need to get more kilometres under my belt to come to terms with its potential.”
Manufacturers: TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRC (FIN) / Toyota Yaris WRC (Michelin)
10 Jari-Matti Latvala / Miikka Anttila (FIN)
11 Juho Hänninen / Kaj Lindström (FIN)
12 Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferm (FIN)
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team has finished one of the most demanding rallies of the year with all three cars in the top 10, after entering a trio of drivers for the first time. Making his debut was Esapekka Lappi, who claimed two points by setting fourth-fastest time on the Power Stage. Juho Hänninen was seventh, Jari-Matti Latvala was ninth despite not feeling well, and Lappi was 10th.
The final day of Rally Portugal consisted of four stages run consecutively without service, including two passes on the famous Fafe stage. After encountering varied issues over the previous two days, the Toyota drivers concentrated on bringing all three cars safely home to consolidate the team’s third spot in the manufacturers’ standings. An unexpected bonus was Lappi’s driver points on the Power Stage.
Quotes:
Tommi Mäkinen (Team Principal)
“This was another very difficult rally from which we will learn a lot from the future. I’m particularly happy about the way it finished, with Esapekka doing a fantastic job to score three driver points on his debut. The way that he quickly came up to speed was very impressive and I am sure he has a strong future. But I would like to thank all of our drivers, co-drivers and team. Juho did a very solid job to score more driver points and without a couple of small issues he could have been even higher. He proved again how important he is to our programme. We were actually very worried about Jari-Matti’s physical condition yesterday, but he overcame that to finish the rally strongly. The team has put into place everything we have learned so far very effectively. Now we will continue working in this way.”
Jari-Matti Latvala (Driver car 10)
“Physically, this is the hardest rally I have ever done in my career. I was feeling terrible yesterday, but I spent the night in hospital to rehydrate and as a result I felt a lot better today and we were able to finish in the points, which I am very happy about. There’s no test before Sardinia, so I have a chance to rest properly – I think I could sleep now for the next two days! – and come back even stronger for the next rally.”
Juho Hänninen (Driver car 11)
“I’m happy to end another rally in a points-scoring place, especially because we didn’t have much experience here and conditions were quite tricky, although not quite as bad as Argentina. The most important thing is that we learned a lot and generally had a clean run: this helps the confidence. Today we were trying a couple of different things for the future, and I had a lot of fun on the Fafe stage: the crowds were amazing and it was a fantastic experience, so thank you to them as well.”
Esapekka Lappi (Driver car 12)
“To be honest, before the rally I was hoping that we could score points in the overall classification, but I would never have dreamed of it happening on the Power Stage. So in many ways, this rally didn’t exactly go as I expected, but I’m happy: I think we found the right speed, which is very important. On the first two stages today I tried to save the tyres, then on the two final ones I could push harder. My landing after the jump on the Fafe Power Stage was interesting – but at least I could demonstrate how tough the suspension on the Yaris WRC is!”
ŠKODA Motorsport / ŠKODA Fabia R5 (Michelin)
31 Pontus Tidemand / Jonas Andersson (S)
32 Andreas Mikkelsen / Anders Jaeger (N)
Ups and downs for ŠKODA Motorsport at Rally Portugal: Andreas Mikkelsen / Anders Jæger were dominating the event in a ŠKODA FABIA R5 up to the last stage. A few kilometres into the Fafe Power Stage, they hit a stone and had to retire handing over the victory to teammates Pontus Tidemand / Jonas Andersson. The Swedish ŠKODA pairing won their fourth event in 2017 with a courageous and faultless drive and managed to enlarge their lead in the World Rally Championship (WRC 2).
The last and sunny day of Rally Portugal saw the continuation of the intense fight for second in WRC 2 right from the re-start. The smooth and fast gravel roads close to the village of Fafe in the northeast of Porto as always attracted thousands of enthusiastic rally fans.
The famous Fafe jump made up the background not only for the fierce battle for second place between ŠKODA factory driver Pontus Tidemand and Teemu Suninen in a private Ford. Fourth placed ŠKODA privateer Quentin Gilbert spectacularly crashed right after the jump. His ŠKODA FABIA R5 landed on its nose, rolled and-over-end and blocked the narrow road causing the interruption of the stage. Due to the safety package of the car, Gilbert and co-driver Renaud Jamoul went away without any injuries.
At the top of the WRC 2 category, Andreas Mikkelsen and co-driver Anders Jæger started the last day with a comfortable lead of more than three minutes and were facing a dominant victory in WRC 2. But on the last test, the Fafe Power Stage, Mikkelsen made a mistake, the ŠKODA hitting a stone and having to stop.
“I feel so disappointed for the whole team who gave me such a perfect car for this rally,” Mikkelsen commented his last minute drama.
On the first three stages of the morning, Pontus Tidemand with a controlled and fast drive managed to maintain the gap between him and Ford driver Teemu Suninen, who was no longer able to challenge for second in WRC 2. After he saw his teammate Mikkelsen stopped in the last stage, Tidemand realised that was in the lead. But he also had to fight in the stage to secure his win. Tidemand hit a rock too, thought he had a puncture and slowed down. Therefore, he lost nearly 15 seconds in the ultimate stage to Suninen. But Tidemand / Andersson kept a margin of eleven seconds over the Ford team finally securing victory.
“I am happy to win – but I feel really sorry for Andreas. Sometimes, our sport can be brutal. I am satisfied with my performance in Portugal and I got the maximum points for the championship,” Pontus Tidemand concluded.
Pontus Tidemand / Jonas Andersson, ŠKODA FABIA R5, ŠKODA Motorsport. Rally de Portugal 2017
Pontus Tidemand / Jonas Andersson, ŠKODA FABIA R5, ŠKODA Motorsport. Rally de Portugal 2017
ŠKODA Motorsport boss Michal Hrabánek had mixed emotions at the finish of Rally Portugal. “It could have been a fantastic weekend for ŠKODA Motorsport, but Andreas and Anders had bad luck. Things like this are a part of the sport – he showed a fantastic pace and deserved to win. Pontus and Jonas impressed me with a very smart and fast strategy. Now, they are clearly in the best position for the title fight. Our ŠKODA FABIA R5 proved again not only to be the fastest but also the most reliable car in the World Rally Championship’s category WRC 2.”
The victory in Portugal was the ninth success in a row for the Czech manufacturer. Out of the last 17 WRC 2 events, ŠKODA won 16.
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP
Rally de Portugal
Post-event Press Conference
Sunday 21st May
Present:
– Sebastien Ogier, M-Sport World Rally Team
– Julian Ingrassia, M-Sport World Rally Team
– Thierry Neuville, Hyundai Motorsport
– Nicolas Gilsoul, Hyundai Motorsport
– Dani Sordo, Hyundai Motorsport
– Marc Marti, Hyundai Motorsport
– Malcolm Wilson, Team Principal, M-Sport World Rally team
Q: Sebastien, congratulations on the win. It is win number 40 for you and as we have heard, you equal Marku Alen’s record of five wins. You have won it on the 50th anniversary of the rally and he won his fifth on the 20th anniversary. How are you feeling?
SO: Like you say, it is a great symbol today and I am delighted with this. It has been a hard fight to the end and I think you enjoy even more to win this way. To be honest, when I arrived there during the recce, I didn’t think I would have a real chance to fight for victory, so I think I can be even more happy and proud with this one. There was something hard to overcome. But we had a strong start in the rally and got a good start position or Saturday and Sunday. Then we had a tense fight, first with our team-mate Ott, who had very impressive speed over the weekend. Still he managed to score good points for the team, which is good.
Q: It was difficult for you sweeping the road clear on Friday but the lead changed around so much, everything was so close and you did such a good job of not losing too much time.
SO: For sure, I am glad the rules have changed – with two days of opening the roads, I would have been far away on Saturday night. On Friday, we knew it is always like this – you have to start the rally flat out immediately as you know the first day has a huge importance for the rest of the weekend. It happened a lot on the last three stages of the day. Like last year, Ponte de Lima is the turning point on this rally, as it is very rough and we ended up on the podium on Friday night and from this moment on, I enjoyed the rally much more. The pace was back in the position I like to be – in the top three and on Saturday, we were always first or second. It’s good and it’s a good sign for the rest of the season.
Q: I know you always love to win and the team always loves to win. Your No.1 technician is Portuguese so a win for him must be really special?
SO: Yes, I used to have a lot of Portuguese mechanics and engineers and this weekend, my No.1 and the engineer – and more in the team. It feels good, as I am sure they are really proud to have this one. I remember in the past I had a similar story – I think the Portuguese people are sometimes emotional so it is hard to find words. Everything is perfect so thank you to the whole team. I think everyone is putting their maximum effort to give me everything they have and I am happy we could give back with a strong performance this weekend.
Q: Julian, a challenging Rally Portugal. It has been a great event and you take away maximum points for the win. How are you feeling after it all?
JI: I really want to point out that the team has worked really hard for months now and this win is really welcome, as we knew we were going in the right direction after the last test we did in Portugal. So a big thanks for the team who didn’t have many rest days over the last few weeks. One of the engineers told me they didn’t expect to see me and Seb happy like babies, like the first win. We have a lot of work in front of us but this is a big accomplishment already.
Q: Was it a challenging weekend for you in the co-driver’s seat? How tough is this rally for you guys?
JI: I think my colleagues would agree that until the last Fafe jump, it’s a hard job. It shakes a lot. There are a lot of corners in the stages. It was quite demanding and I am happy we had a good test and a good recce and could avoid any mistakes on tyres or set-up. I am really happy tonight.
Q: Thierry, you take away second position here and move into second in the championship as well. Are you happy with the result?
TN: Considering our start position and for me, the first time I had these conditions, with cleaning the road, that’s why maybe I lost some time in the first stage. After that, I tried to change my driving style and get into a good rhythm. At the end, I think the improvements were straight away and from there on, we managed quite well. So I must be pleased with the result.
Q: What did you think this morning with the gap you had at the end of yesterday? Did you think there was a chance you could catch him [Ogier] or was it too much?
TN: To be honest, no, I didn’t think I could get him. I knew this weekend, it would be impossible to catch a lot of time. We tried several times in several stages to get some time back and we didn’t really succeed, except maybe on the stages yesterday, where I made a better tyre choice for the stage. I was able to catch more than six seconds but that was the only time there was a bigger gap than two or three seconds. It was a good move but not enough and I knew today that with Fafe already – everyone knows it very well – you can’t make a big difference.
Q: You made changes mid-way yesterday. Surely you aren’t putting the change in pace just down to tyre choice?
TN: We made a couple of changes and improved a bit but not as much as I would have liked. All three Hyundais were struggling a bit with the traction generally and I think that was where the Fords were stronger. But at the end, it was really close. If you see the times, it was amazing this weekend. And really challenging for us, as you have to give everything all the time. But I enjoyed it and finally, we have two cars on the podium, which is a really good result for the team. I get the 18 points plus the 4 Power Stage points so it is a really good result and well done to the guys who won because I remember talking to Seb in Argentina and we said maybe Portugal will be difficult but he said even in Argentina he could not have won, being first car on the road.
Q: Nicolas, it’s great points for the championship. It must give you good confidence moving forward to the next event?
NG: Yes, of course. I am happy because it is the first time I have been in the press conference for this rally. I think we are in a good mood. We are missing a little bit of traction but I am sure we will improve very soon and we will be ready to fight in front on the next event in Sardinia.
Q: Dani, third and good points for your championship as well. How would you assess your weekend’s performance?
DS: The first day was very nice – a good battle with everyone. OK, Saturday, Sebastien and Thierry were very fast in the morning and they made a bigger gap to me. In the afternoon, they pushed hard still and the gaps were close but at the end, we had a problem with the rear of the car. We lost a bit of time but we were already a bit far. I was trying hard but the rear of the car was moving a bit too much. I maybe lost some time in the exit of the corners but anyway, I was trying and today I pushed to keep Tanak behind. I really want to try to fight for the lead but third is not bad.
Q: You struggled a bit with the car this weekend. What can be done ahead of the next event?
DS: I don’t know. I think we need to work a bit more on the rear. Saturday was very slippery and we should improve the rear traction. For everyone it was slippery but for my driving style, it is a little more difficult. But it was a nice weekend and nice battles.
Q: Marc, congratulations on third place. We have seen a few changes to Rally Portugal – some new stages and some in reverse. What have you thought of the rally this year?
MM: The rally was very demanding for everyone. We had lots of new distance – new stages and reversed. At the end it was I think 75% of the rally was new. It means that it is easier to make a mistake. You must make good pace notes. At the end, you can see everyone is working very well. When you see the first service after the first loop, it was 7 cars in 10 seconds – now the performance is equal between the different cars. We need to keep this because it is really fantastic where everyone is fighting for the victory.
Q: It’s exciting to watch and it must be exciting for you guys to be part of it?
MM: Of course. It creates emotion. You would like to be in front with 30 or 40 seconds. OK, this is a dream we might get one day but it is nice to be in this fight with these guys.
Q: Malcolm, two wins for M-Sport this year and a good lead in the Manufacturer’s Championship as well. It’s been a great event for the team?
MW: Yes, it has been fantastic. After the disappointment of Argentina, it is great to have Seb happy with the work we did on the test. We made some big steps to make the car suit him. He did an incredible job on Friday. OK, he wasn’t leading but the time loss was fantastic. You can imagine the disappointment for the team in Argentina and then to come here, there has been a lot of emotion in the service park, as it has been great with such a competitive season. After the first, it was so close and I hope it can stay that way for the rest of the season. I don’t know if my nerves can take it but it is fantastic for the sport and the fans. In my time in the sport, there has never been anything like this
Q: After Argentina, I’m sure it was full heads-down back at Dovenby Hall [M-Sport HQ]. A huge amount of work gone in by everyone?
MW: Yes, I think our car is a different driving style to what Seb is used to and it is a case that we worked in one direction and now, we are working in a slightly different direction. I have a fantastic team of people and with them and their commitment, we won’t stop there. If these guys are going to improve, then we will continue to improve as well.
Q: Seb and Julian have been part of the team for six events now. What has it been like working with them?
MW: It’s fantastic. I have mentioned it before. There is one guy they can relate to and he’s on this event – Carlos [Sainz]. It is not just Seb, it’s Julian as well as they are so professional in their approach – every little detail has to be covered but I think what has come to the team is this incredible feeling of the commitment that everyone in the company is giving because they know we can achieve success. We just want more of it and everyone back at Dovenby wants more of it as well.
FIA WRC 2 CHAMPIONSHIP
Present:
Pontus Tidemand, Skoda Motorsport
Jonas Andersson, Skoda Motorsport
Q: Pontus, there was some final stage drama this afternoon with Mikkelsen. He had a big lead all weekend and then a mistake on the final stage promotes you to a win, and another 25 points. Has it been a great weekend for you?
PT: Yes, it’s been great, but I feel very sorry for Andreas. He was doing very well this weekend. But okay, we have won 25 points this weekend. That’s very good. It’s been a good rally for us. We had a good fight with Teemu Suninen. Friday we were struggling a bit with the speed on some stages. It’s quite a bit different from the previous rally we’ve been driving, so it’s not so easy to just change your mind and go a new speed. On Saturday I think we found it better, but we ended up with the puncture in the evening. But it was the same for Teemu. I think we did the tyre change a bit faster. Today it was an interesting day. To be honest we were a bit nervous, but we managed to finish as the winner. But again, I feel sorry for Andreas, but we need to be happy.
Q: It was strange to see you and Suninen stopped out on the stage on Saturday. There’s no communication out there, so you wouldn’t have known that he had a problem as well. Were you thinking, at that point, that it was all over for your second position?
PT: Yeah, for sure. But we did a good change of the tyre. Then we had to do our best, so that’s what we did. So yeah, the fight was on today. We really enjoyed this rally. It’s a good atmosphere, a lot of spectators. It’s well organised, it’s one of the highlights of the year.
Q: You seem to be a dominant force in WRC2 now, with all the wins you have. The points that you have must be giving you good confidence for that title.
PT: Yes, it’s the perfect storm for us and also the team. But it’s still a long way to go. But we can’t say anything other than it looks very good. We just need to enjoy it for the moment.
Q: Jonas, let’s turn to you now. Tell us about the event. You took the win, you were battling for second with Suninen this weekend. This result is better than expected.
JA: Yes, this was very unexpected. But like Pontus said, I think we had a good rally. We had some really good times on Friday, but we didn’t match them. We had a good fight with Suninen. At the end it maybe came down to this tyre change that we were quicker with. That gave us the advantage this morning, so we could be a bit relaxed today. It’s fantastic to have 100 points after four events. It’s a great, great start, so we’re really looking forward to the next one now.
Q: It’s been such a successful weekend. It must be good to be fighting at the top?
JA: It’s been a great weekend and a great battle with Suninen. And like the team said yesterday it was crazy because we more or less stopped at the same time to do the tyre change. It’s always good fun when it’s a good battle. And to come out on top of that is even better. I really like this rally. Nice stages, loads of support. It’s just fantastic.
FIA WRC 3 CHAMPIONSHIP
Present:
Francisco Name
Q: Francisco, what a weekend it’s been for you. How are you feeling?
FN: It’s amazing. For me it was my first time driving a front-wheel-drive car, so we knew it was going to be a learning rally, for the rest of the season. But we kept pushing, we kept the pace. I’m really glad. The Rally Portugal was a good experience for us. We didn’t make any mistakes and we got the result.
Q: How did you find the Citroen this weekend?
FN: It’s amazing. It’s the first time that I’ve raced in the WRC outside of Mexico. The support of the fans is amazing. I like the organisation. I really liked the stages, we had to get used to them and they’re so much different from Mexico. It’s very nice. I worked so hard for many years to be here and the result is first place in my first WRC3 event, so it’s good.
Q: What about today? Nils Solans wasn’t that far behind this morning. What did you think when you started this morning? Were you nervous at all?
FN: Yes of course. They are really fast drivers. When you’re learning how to use the car and go back to a front-wheel-drive car it was difficult. I also suffered a little bit with the tyres. On the longer stages I lost grip at the end. I thought if he catches me it’s okay. For me it was important to be on the podium and get the points and keep pushing like that. I hope for Poland and Italy to be on the times. We need to make tests on the car. I think the result will come.
Q: Were you happy with your pace this weekend?
FN: Yes. The result is good. I know I can push more. I need to get used to the car, that’s something important. The most important thing is that we were here, but we need more experience for sure.
Rally Paradise 