Day: 12 May 2024

The final day of round five for this season’s championship. Two Toyota’s returned to the startlist with Kalle and Takamoto rejoining following their problems on Saturday. The double world champion would open the road throughout the day.

First up was SS19 Cabeceiras de Basto 1 – 19.91 km and the fog had descended overnight causing a huge lack of visibility on the stage. Seb was fastest from Thierry and Ott, meaning that the Frenchman was opening up his lead a little bit more. There was a change further back in the positions with Adrien passing Dani for fourth position. In WRC2, Sami was fastest from Josh and Jan and the Irishman supported by Motorsport Ireland had reduced the gap to the category leader to just three seconds.

Into SS20 Fafe 1 – 11.18 km the stage which had a huge amount of fog throughout the stage and would be the power stage later and Ott was fastest from Thierry and Seb. Kalle was saving tyres for the power stage later and would set the 11^th best time in amongst the WRC2 leaders. In WRC2, Sami was fastest from Josh and Jan who dropped behind Josh, the gap just one tenth of a second between first and second place.

Time then for the penultimate stage, SS21 Cabeceiras de Basto 2 – 19.91 km and Ott set the pace from Thierry and Adrien. The Estonian took a few seconds out of Seb, but it was clear that the Frenchman was managing the gap by keeping a good, controlled pace. In WRC2 Jan was fastest from Yohan whilst Josh who was having problems with understeer in his Skoda fell behind the Spaniard into second position.

Time then for the final stage, SS22 Fafe 2[Power Stage] – 11.18 km and although Kalle was first into the stage a number of crews could not beat his time, until Thierry and then Ott came through pushing hard with the result that Thierry won the stage from Ott, Kalle third, Seb fourth and Takamoto fifth.

Seb won the rally from Ott in second and Thierry came in third. In WRC2, Jan Solans took victory with Josh taking second position and Lauri was third. Each crew in WRC2 took their best ever result in the category and this was also the first win in the category for the Yaris Rally2.

Let’s take a look at the finishing positions and hear from the drivers.

Final Overall Classification – Rally de Portugal

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sébastien Ogier

“To take another win feels great. It’s nice to achieve some more cool numbers and I have to enjoy and cherish these moments. I had nothing against being tied on five wins for a few years with Markku Alén because for me he’s a legend and I have huge respect for him, but I’ve been asked many times when I was going to take the record and now finally it happened. It was another intense fight for everyone to follow and for us in the car there was no moment to relax. I think the way we managed everything was close to perfect: we could always stay in contention for the win without taking maximum risk when it didn’t feel 100 per cent.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“A big thank you to the team for fixing the car after the disappointment of yesterday, and sorry to them for losing such important points. It was nice to be back out today, but it was not easy, cleaning the road was even tougher than we expected. On the Power Stage we really tried our best, I thought it was a good drive and a clean run, but the road was cleaning so much that the guys behind came a bit faster. Still, we got a few points so we did what we could to help the team. It was not the weekend we wanted but we will come back stronger.”

Elfyn Evans

“This morning things were going a bit better than yesterday, but in the third stage we had a rock impact on the underside of the car that damaged the radiator. After that we had to get the car through in EV mode, and we managed to make a repair to get to the finish but unfortunately, we didn’t get any extra points from the day. We definitely found a better feeling in the car but there are still a couple of areas to work on. At least we have some answers from the weekend. We’ll try to turn things around and have a stronger rally in Sardinia.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“Of course, it’s quite disappointing still that we retired yesterday because we could have had a much better result. But I had a very good feeling with the car here, it felt really good until that moment yesterday. Today was not so easy because we were without hybrid for some stages and the road position wasn’t good for us, but it was nice to at least get some points. I tried to keep pushing every stage as much as I can and learned a lot. There are some positives to take and now I focus on Sardinia, try to prepare well and keep pushing.”

Hyundai Motorsport

Ott Tänak

“The outcome is not too bad, it was just very unfortunate to pick up the slow puncture, but otherwise I would say very positive. Without the puncture, I think I could have gone for the win. On Friday I was struggling the most, but after I was slowly getting used to the car and that let me find a good rhythm. On Saturday the stages were very different, and overnight I was able to understand what I needed to do differently from Friday to make the most of the car. We are not far away from being in a place where I feel confident controlling the car, but it’s still a bit difficult to make the car match my driving style. I am looking forward to Sardinia, it’s a rally I usually enjoy and I’m hoping to take my performance one step further.”

Thierry Neuville

“It’s been a great Super Sunday for us once again after another positive day on Friday. A very challenging and difficult weekend but we finished with the result we needed, plus another five points in the Power Stage. We’ve increased the lead in the championship for us by 24 points, which is a strong lead to have before Sardinia where another challenging weekend is waiting for us. We want to continue to push and be consistent in the car; it wasn’t the greatest Saturday, but Friday and Sunday were really good, and the pace was right in the Power Stage, so that was promising. We will come back and fight for important points in Sardinia.”

Dani Sordo

“Today was a little bit difficult with the conditions we had in the morning, but the first two days were really promising. Of course, I’m happy to get to the end of the day with some really good points, and for my first weekend back with the team I think we have still managed to help them get back to the top of the manufacturers’ championship. It was a good gravel rally to start with, one that I know well, and it’s a good one to enter before Sardinia. I’m looking forward to seeing what I can do back in the car at the next event, and I want to thank the team again for helping me finish the weekend in the top five.”

M-Sport Ford WRT

Adrien Fourmaux

“I think we can be really happy, because it wasn’t so easy to be third on the road on the opening days! I think we have shown really good pace considering that, keeping close to the leaders and fighting today [Sunday] with the top guys who are fighting for the victory. It’s been a fantastic rally, a really good atmosphere with all the fans watching, it’s really nice. The car has been perfect, no issues at all and we’re pleased with our performance. It gives us confidence for the next rally in Sardinia.”

William Creighton

“It’s always a tricky weekend, we’ll have to come back again to get a full, clean Portugal rally. If you do that here, it gets you a good result. The stages weren’t as rough this year as previously, and that made Friday really enjoyable. After Friday, I think the stages were quite different, a lot more sand, and we struggled to get a nice feeling.

“But we’ve made good steps today [Sunday], we’re always learning, and we’ve got to keep working to improve. Sardinia is very like Portugal, so it’s a good practice for that. Thank you to everyone at M-Sport and the MI Rally Academy for keeping me and Liam right.”

Grégoire Munster

“Rally Portugal didn’t end well for us, we got hooked up in a cut and landed stuck on a ditch by the sump guard, and unfortunately, we couldn’t continue. All in all, we learned plenty during this rally. By opening the road on Saturday, we had to do a lot of cleaning; it wasn’t easy, but it was good learning for us. We also saw our times improve throughout the weekend on the second passes, on a rally that was basically new for us, we felt this was good practice and we had a good feeling in the car. We will carry the experience on to Sardinia in a couple of weeks.”

Summary

Well, what an amazing rally and what a victory for Seb, their second of the year and also in a row. It was also a record breaking sixth win for the Frenchman, moving him ahead of Markku Alén who won this rally five times.

It was a good rally for Ott who showed good pace, fighting for victory and taking a good points haul. It bodes well for the upcoming rallies.

Thierry made mistakes, but came through and took third place, increasing his championship lead over Elfyn.

Next rally is Rally Italia Sardinia, taking place from the 31^st of May to the 2^nd of June.

2024 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round five

2024 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round five

The second full day of this event would see the crews tackle 145km’s over nine stages. Gregoire Munster would open the road throughout the day.

First up was SS10 Felgueiras 1 – 8.81 km and Kalle was fastest from Ott and Thierry. The Estonian’s pace moved him into third place with Takamoto dropping behind from the podium. In WRC2, Sami found some good pace, winning the stage from Josh and Oliver. The Swede continued to lead the category from Yohan and Gus whilst Josh climbed the leaderboard into fourth place pushing Jan down to fifth in the category.

The was a twist in the tail in the following stage, SS11 Montim 1 – 8.69 km, a tricky stage for some. Elfyn, Thierry and Takamoto all had spins in the stage showing how tricky it was. Seb set the pace from Ott and Adrien, but it was happened after the Frenchman had finished the stage. Coming last on the road before the WRC2 crews, Kalle lost the rear of his Yaris and although he caught it the car hit the side of the road spinning and ending up on its side and with the underside against a tree. Next car through was Oliver and incredibly he also lost control of his car at the next corner, spinning and rolling his Fabia. In the space of just a few minutes both category leaders were out for the rest of the day. Kris Meeke set the pace in the WRC2 category from Sami and Jan.

Next up was the longest stage of the rally, SS12 Amarante 1 – 37.24 km, a really amazing stage with different road surfaces, some tarmac and cobbled road sections between the gravel sections. Ott was fastest from Seb and Dani and the Estonians time took him past Seb and into the lead, but just two tenths of a second separated them. In WRC2 Yohan was quickest from Gus and Sami and the Frenchman continued to lead the category.

Into SS13 Paredes 1 – 16.09 km and there was yet another stage win for Seb, from Adrien and Thierry. The Frenchman moved back into the lead as Ott was only sixth fastest in the stage. In WRC2 Josh was fastest from Jan and Georg and Yohan who had been leading suffered a puncture and fell from the lead to fourth place, now a minute and a quarter from the new category leader Gus with Josh up to second overall and Jan holding third.

Following service, the second run of SS14 Felgueiras 2 – 8.81 km saw Ott set the fastest time from Thierry and Dani. Seb was fourth in the stage and saw his lead trimmed by 3.2 seconds. However, the drama happened in WRC2 with Gus going wide and getting beached on the edge of the road. He was out sadly even though the car was not damaged. They could not get the car to move. Sami was fastest from Yohan and Georg. Meanwhile we had a new leader again in the category as Josh moved into the lead from Jan and Yohan.

Onwards to SS15 Montim 2 – 8.69 km and Ott was fastest from Adrien and Thierry. Seb continued to lead, showing the right level of pace to manage the gap to Ott, especially after what happened to Kalle earlier. It was another stage win in WRC2 for Sami from Yohan and Josh. The Irishman whose co-driver is James Fulton was still leading the category by 9.3 seconds with a charging Yohan now 22.5 back from the leader.

Just three stages remained and first of these was the run of SS16 Amarante 2 – 37.24 km. Ott as usual set the pace before Seb came through and went 4.1 seconds faster and Adrien was third. The Frenchman in his Puma was having an excellent rally. Meanwhile in the Hyundai camp, Dani was actually faster than Thierry and now just 1.5 seconds separated the pair and a possible third position for the Spaniard. In WRC2 Josh saw his lead trimmed to just 1.3 seconds as he saw Jan go a full eight seconds faster. Top three fastest times in the category were set by Sami, Jan and Kris.

The final proper stage of the day then, SS17 Paredes 2 – 16.09 km and the top three times were set by Seb, Thierry and Adrien. There was drama for Kris in WRC2, as he rolled his Hyundai out of the rally. Such a shame for the former winner of this event. There was a change in the lead again in WRC2, as Jan passed Josh. They were both being closed down by a charging Yohan though in his Citroen.

The short run of SS18 SSS Lousada – 3.36 km, the spectator special was taken by Adrien, with Ott and Thierry going second and third. There were no changes in either category for position.

Let’s take a look at the top positions and hear from the drivers.

Classification after Day Two

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sébastien Ogier

“It’s been a good day for us. It was a tricky one: we didn’t expect so many things to happen this morning, and unfortunately for our team we lost two cars. But I was happy with my consistency and I was able to push in some key moments to make a bit of a difference. This afternoon was very demanding. In the first two stages I lost a bit of ground but I planned to push on Amarante and luckily it worked well for us and we managed to create a bit more of a gap again. Now we have to finish the job tomorrow: the gap is not enough for us to relax. There are still a lot of kilometres and some new sections.”

Elfyn Evans

“Today was always going to be difficult with our road position. It was tricky to make up any places on pace alone, so we were mainly trying to learn and find a better feeling with the car, playing with a few things in the setup and trying to put something better together for tomorrow. Some things were improved, some things not so much and we were still struggling with the balance. Our road position should at least be a bit better tomorrow so there’s an opportunity there and we need to try our best.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“This morning started well. We definitely had a better feeling today with the car setup and could do a good time in the first stage. But then in the second one I just missed my braking point in a fairly straightforward place, and we went off. There was a bit of confusion with the pacenote in the previous corner and I was maybe still thinking about that and missed the braking, point. But it was my mistake in the end and it’s a big disappointment – especially when we started strongly, and I think it could have been a good day for us. Now we’ll try to do our best for the team tomorrow.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“Today’s stages were a bit more sandy like we expected. Still, the car was working well, and it was very nice to drive. I tried to manage the pace in the first two stages but was not really in a good rhythm. Then in the third stage I pushed from the beginning, I felt very good and like everything was under control. But in one place I slightly lost the line and went a bit wide and hit the bank on the outside. Right now, it’s very disappointing because I had the pace, it was looking good, and I still had room to push more. It’s hard to accept but this is rallying, so I just need to understand what I did wrong and then move on. We still have tomorrow, and we will keep pushing.”

Hyundai Motorsport

Ott Tänak

“Altogether it was a solid day. The car in the afternoon was working quite well for us, not too bad in the ruts, but the long stage didn’t quite work out and it was difficult to go smoothly so we couldn’t build as good of a run as we wanted. Aside from that, it was quite a good day. Tomorrow’s new stage will make our job a bit trickier; because it’s narrow and slow, the characteristics are very unusual for Portugal. It’s a different game tomorrow but it’s still going to be super tight. We need to gain as many points as possible, so let’s see how the conditions and road position help us as well.”

Thierry Neuville

“We are happy being in third place overnight – if someone had told us we would be here yesterday we wouldn’t have believed them. Today was both challenging and long, and not necessarily the best day for us, but nonetheless we are happy to be taking this many points home. Tomorrow we need to be to be on top of our game; we will push over all four stages and see what happens. We have the advantage of a good road position and there are still good points on offer, but we know the competition is still strong so we will work hard to make the most of it.”

Dani Sordo

“It was up and down today; in some stages I was feeling confident, in others less so. The first few stages in the morning were great for me, so it was a clear opportunity to take home some good points. At the end of the day, we are in fourth place, and I want to say a big thanks to the team for helping us get there. Making sure I could help get them as many points as possible was an important part of my Saturday. I will get back together with the team to work out tomorrow’s plans, we want to maximise our takings from the new points system but overall, I am feeling confident for a good final day.”

WRC2

Oliver Solberg

“We had a very good feeling in the car on the opening stage of the day, setting a third fastest time after the team did a fantastic job resolving the issues from yesterday.

“During SS11, we came across Kalle [Rovanperä] and Jonne [Halttunen] off the road and I became distracted, missing the next note. We ran off [the] line and clipped the bank on the outside of the next corner, where we rolled the car.

“Elliott and I are completely fine, but due to the condition of the car we have decided that we will not continue tomorrow (Sunday).”

Summary

One final day beckons for the crews and with 62km’s over just four stages, will there be one final twist in the rally?