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 11th 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
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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.”
Round 05, Rally de Portugal
09-12 May 2024
Ott Tanak, Martin Jarveoja, Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid
Photographer: Dufour Fabien
Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
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 31st of May to the 2nd of June.
2024 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round five
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2024 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round five
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