We came then to the final day of this amazing rally and with almost 67 kilometres over four stages to run, what would they hold for the crews? Josh and Eoin would return to the action and open the road throughout the stages after the M-Sport Ford team completed rebuilding the Puma at around three o’clock. It was an amazing feat from the team.

First up was SS20 Vieira do Minho 1 and the rain which was expected had arrived making the stage super tricky. Elfyn would set the pace from Oliver and Thierry whilst rally leader Seb was fifth. The Frenchman saw his lead trimmed to just over fourteen seconds. It was a good start to the day from Elfyn who led the super Sunday standings from Oliver.

The first run of SS21 Fafe 1 saw the rain move through the stage changing the road surface. Josh set the pace from Martins for the Rally1 crews. However incredibly the later Rally2 crews came through with better road conditions and the Irishman’s time was beaten by Robert Virves by almost nine seconds in his Skoda Fabia. Interestingly Seb added a few seconds to his lead over Thierry as they set the sixth and twelfth fastest time respectively. Meanwhile, Elfyn continued to lead the super Sunday standings from Oliver.

Then it was back to SS22 Vieira do Minho 2 and there was more rain coming through the stage as the crews came through. Adrien was fastest of the crews from Takamoto and Oliver. Elfyn was fifth fastest and almost eighteen seconds slower than Adrien, but only around eight seconds slower than Oliver. This did mean that Oliver moved to the head of the super Sunday standings. There was drama for two of the Toyota crews though as both Seb and Sami suffered punctures and as it was early in the stage they both stopped to change the wheel over. This all meant that they dropped positions in the overall standings. Seb emerged in sixth place whilst Sami was seventh. The Frenchman’s hope for an eighth victory was gone.

We came then to the final stage, SS23 Fafe 2, the powerstage and again the rain was coming and going in the area as the crews made their way through. Adrien was set the pace from Thierry and Elfyn whilst Oliver was fourth and Seb fifth fastest. Thierry and Martijn took victory for Hyundai, their first of the year, whilst Oliver and Elliott were second and Elfyn and Scott were third.

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

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“What a weekend! It has been crazy out there, and we have faced all kinds of conditions and emotions, but we have been consistent, fighting with the fastest on every stage, never really losing a lot of time. I think that is what gave us the final victory, as well as making no mistakes. We know the rally is never over until it’s over; the stress was very high on the last stage, but we made it. This win feels very special; as a team, we have been chasing this result for a while, and haven’t been rewarded, and I let the team down in Croatia. We needed to fight back, and the rally gods were with us this weekend. I’m very happy to bring home the first victory of the year for the team.”

Adrien Fourmaux

“It has been a very positive weekend for the team here in Portugal, so we can be pleased to score 20 points as a crew and that Thierry and Martijn have taken the win. It’s a great result for the whole team, and with all the preparation we have done recently, I am pleased we are now enjoying some nice success. I’d like to say thank you to the team, and also thank you to the fans. It has been fantastic to see you all out in force even in the rain. Overall, it’s been a very challenging rally – but I think that’s why we love it.”

Dani Sordo

“I have to admit we are not very happy with our performance here in Portugal. It was a difficult rally with the weather, which made the conditions very slippery, and I didn’t feel good in the car. However, I am delighted for the team – everyone really deserves this victory, especially after what happened in Croatia, so very happy for this.”

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Oliver Solberg

“Firstly, I’m sorry to our team-mates who had been in front of us until the bad luck they had today. I think we all had our challenges this weekend. It’s been a tough event and a bit of a rollercoaster; we were up and down all weekend. After two tough rallies for me, and even if this one hasn’t been easy either, I’m very happy at least to finally be back on the podium with some good points. It’s a big relief. Thank you to the team for believing in me and our mechanics for always fixing the car.”

Elfyn Evans

“This has been a long event with very tough conditions and a lot of ups and downs. There were some moments where we had good pace, and others where I wasn’t so proud of my driving. I think there was potential for more, but we didn’t quite get it right. Our team-mates Seb and Sami have been unlucky today and I feel for them. I never want to gain positions that way, but it’s part of the sport sometimes. We’ll take the points and aim for more in Japan.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“This was a difficult weekend for us. We took a bit of a risk with the car setup at the beginning of the rally to help with my road position, and it didn’t really work out. Together with the team were able to make improvements and the feeling got much better during the weekend, but it was difficult to catch up to those ahead of us. In the end, with the bad luck our team-mates had today, we could score some decent points. Now I’m really looking forward to my home event, Rally Japan.”

Sébastien Ogier

“We had some tough luck today. In the beginning of this penultimate stage, it was very rutted and there were some rocks in the line; I don’t think we could have done much differently. Everything that we could control this weekend, I think we did it pretty well, together with the team. I think we all deserved better, but that’s rallying sometimes. Of course, when you put in so much effort it’s frustrating, but we have to forget about it and go to Japan and look to get another win there.”

Sami Pajari

“It’s disappointing what happened today, as everything had been going really well until then. From what I could see, there was a huge loose stone in the line, and we hit it and got a puncture. There was nothing much I could do. Otherwise, though it has been a good event for us. The performance was really strong, one of the best we’ve had so far. It’s always a pity when the reward doesn’t come our way, but we just need to take the many positives from this weekend and be even stronger on the next rallies.”

M-Sport Ford WRT

Mārtiņš Sesks

“Looking back at the weekend, there are a lot of positives we can take from this rally. We showed consistent performance throughout the whole weekend, having some top three times each day, which demonstrates that we have a good base. Now it’s up to taking the knowledge from here and trying to put it into our next rally in Greece.”

Josh McErlean

“Rally Portugal is done and dusted. It’s been quite competitive this weekend with plenty of ups and downs. We nearly secured the stage win today in Fafe, which was special, but we were just edged out at the very last minute. We faced some issues along the way, and unfortunately hit the wall in Lousasa on Saturday night, probably the worst wall you could hit in rallying! I want to give big thanks to the whole team for their tremendous effort to get us back out today. They were up quite late last night, so thanks to all the lads and ladies for that. Japan is next, and we’re looking forward to it and getting back on Tarmac, before the summer gravel rallies.”

Jon Armstrong

“It’s disappointing to retire while we were fighting our way back into the points after the mechanical issues on Friday. The margins are fine at this level, and unfortunately this time it didn’t go our way. Portugal is a great event, but it hasn’t been my luckiest yet. I’m really looking forward to the upcoming rallies and coming back stronger.”

Mille Johansson

“We showed some really good pace in the dry conditions, but the rain made it very difficult to find a rhythm and build confidence. I think we exceeded our expectations for this rally, particularly in the dry, and I’m happy with that. There are still a few things we need to work on, but overall, it’s been a very positive rally for us.”

Romet Jürgenson

“We experienced an impact from a rock early on that broke the steering rack, leaving us without power steering. The wisest option was to retire to fix it for the next day, as there was no service available on days one and two.

“On Friday, I was able to demonstrate decent speed through the stages. Saturday was challenging with torrential rain affecting our road position, making it difficult to commit fully without risk. Sunday’s weather was more favourable, allowing us to achieve some good stage times.

“Overall, there’s still work to do in my driving, particularly on the sandy stages, to extract the best performance from the vehicle. Despite the challenges, this event was an improvement compared to last year. We’re now focused on moving forward to our next competition in Japan.”

Rally de Portugal Final Classification

Super Sunday Classification – Rally de Portugal

Summary

Well, what a rally we had and what a drive from Thierry and Martijn. They were there to benefit when Seb and Vincent had their puncture in the penultimate stage. The French crew in the Yaris on balance probably deserved victory but this is the way of rally and punctures are all part of the challenge.

Oliver and Elliott took a strong second position and also took the maximum points for super Sunday. This has given them a good boost of points in the championship, and they hold third in the championship.

Finally, Elfyn and Scott once again showed what a great partnership they have, taking third overall and good points as well to extend their championship lead over Takamoto and Aaron. It’s been a positive first half of the season for them and they’ll open the road next time in Japan.

2026 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round 6

2026 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round 6

Next up is Rally Japan which moves from November to May taking place over the weekend of 28 to 31 May.

Onto Saturday’s stages then which included the longest stage of the rally and the crews had seven stages over 146 kilometres ahead of them. Martins and Renars would open the road throughout the day. There was also the promise of rain at some point, but it was hard to predict when and where it would fall.

First up then was SS11 Felgueiras 1 and this stage was dry throughout. Sami would set the pace from Thierry and Elfyn, whilst Seb who held the overall lead was four and a half seconds back with the fourth fastest time. This meant that his lead over Thierry was reduced to just 1.7 seconds. Interestingly the Belgian had a stall in the stage meaning that he might have taken the lead without this problem.

Onwards then to SS12 Cabeceiras de Basto 1 and we had two Frenchman setting the pace with Adrien edging out Seb by half a second, whilst Takamoto was a further two seconds back with the third fastest time. Adrien had the best of the conditions, particularly near the end of the stage as it was clear that in this last section the road was getting really rough. There was no rain in this stage.

Next came SS13 Amarante 1, the longest stage of the day and again it remained dry for most. Oliver would set the pace from Seb and Elfyn and amazing less than one second covered the three of them. There were no position changes in this one and Seb’s lead actually grew over Thierry to just over eight seconds and this was due to the rain arriving during the Belgian’s run, yet Elfyn didn’t have any rain.

The final morning stage, SS14 Paredes 1 and the rain really arrived for everyone in this stage. It was hard for the crews to judge where the grip was. Incredibly Oliver was fastest from Elfyn and Jon who’d set the early pace only to see it beaten. It was a good drive from all three of them. The Swedes pace saw him leap from fourth overall into the rally lead by just half a second over Seb whilst Thierry remained close, just five and a half seconds further back. Unfortunately, we lost Jon and Shane in this one as they hit a bank on the left-hand side of the car and the car rolled. Both of them were okay, but they were out for the rest of the day.

After the service break came SS15 Felgueiras 2 and there was another lead change as Seb set the pace by just one tenth of a second from Sami with Elfyn a further almost three seconds back. Oliver set the seventh best time and fell to second overall, now four seconds from Seb.

Into SS16 Cabeceiras de Basto 2 and Adrien set the pace from Sami and Thierry. Oliver had a tyre off the rim on the front right-hand side near the end of the stage, ultimately holding him back to the eighth best time and fell to fifth overall. Seb continued to lead but after being fifth fastest would see some of his lead trimmed over Thierry to just under four seconds. The rain really arrived earlier in the day and changed the road surface quite a bit.

Next came SS17 Amarante 2 and every crew had some rain in this one as well as no rain. Martins time stayed unbeaten until the last Rally1 car came through, that being piloted by Seb. The Frenchman set the fastest time by over eleven seconds from the Latvian whilst Oliver was third. This was enough to allow the Swede to re-pass Elfyn for fourth place the gap almost twenty seconds between the teammates.

Onto the final proper stage of the day then, SS18 Paredes 2 and Seb again set the pace from Elfyn by almost four seconds, whilst Thierry was third. The Frenchman now had a lead of over twenty seconds from Thierry and Sami remained in third a further five seconds back. Oliver lost a lot of time and was almost passed by Elfyn, the gap at the end just half a second between them.

The final stage of the day then, SS19 SSS Lousada and Oliver was fastest from Seb and Sami. The short stage around the track was not without drama as very heavy rain turned the stage into a really tricky thing to navigate. The first two crews to start, Josh and Martins would see the young Irishman slip up on some very slippery mud and saw the Puma hit the stage side very heavily breaking the suspension on the left-hand side.

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

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sébastien Ogier

“It’s been a good day for us overall. The morning had been good until this last stage, where I didn’t take enough risk and we lost a lot of time. In midday service we switched to more of a rain setup and this worked much better for the afternoon. Coming to Amarante with crazy conditions, it was so close behind that I knew I had to drive well and take some risks. We’ve got a bit of a gap now but not enough to feel comfortable, because tomorrow the weather can still be tricky, and we’ll have to keep pushing.”

Sami Pajari

“Today started really well with a stage win, and the morning generally was quite nice with fairly steady conditions. Then this afternoon the conditions were much more intense with a lot of rain and super slippery stages. Still, we managed to stay out of trouble and have consistent speed. I think we can be really happy to finish a day like this cleanly and in third place, and to even be a little bit closer to second, and tomorrow we’ll try to catch Thierry.”

Oliver Solberg

“It’s been a very tricky day. This morning was great, going from fourth to the lead, and then in the afternoon we went back from first to fourth again. It was disappointing to get the puncture in the second stage this afternoon and after that it was tough, with a half spin in a very narrow place where we had to reverse. There’s still a long day to come tomorrow and the weather can be tricky again, and we’ll keep trying until the end to take as many points as possible.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“Today was overall better than yesterday for me but the conditions have been totally different. Still, I was much happier with the feeling in the car and the times were much better. I just tried to be clever, and tried to find something more that can work even better for me for tomorrow. It was a bit like Kenya in places with the mud and the standing water, but we made it through quite cleanly. Tomorrow the conditions could be just as tricky, but I’ll try to catch Fourmaux if I can.”

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“Another tough day for us – the conditions were very rough, with a lot of rain on the last two stages, but we made it back to service. I’m pretty satisfied with my driving today and the speed we were able to go. It seems the Toyotas are a little faster still, but we are still in the middle of the fight, and as long as we can stay there, we are in a good position. Generally, I was missing a bit of traction in the wet, but the performance is good, and we kept Pajari behind. We need to make the best out of Sunday and defend our second place, which is what I intend to do.”

Adrien Fourmaux

“The conditions this afternoon were incredible with the rain it was very muddy and tricky with the grip – sometimes you had it, and sometimes you didn’t, and it would have been very easy to make a mistake. It was certainly not easy to manage. However, we are here at the end of the day, and that is the main thing. Our plan for tomorrow is to try and get the maximum points; the only other thing we can do is see if something happens to the cars in front of us.”

Dani Sordo

“It has been a really challenging day; the rain made conditions tricky and difficult. I tried my best, but I was struggling to find grip with the soft tyres. We were sliding around everywhere, and now we are in the middle of nowhere in the classification. The positive thing is that we are safely here at the end of the day, but we wanted to perform better this weekend. We will try our best to finish in a good way tomorrow.”

Classification after Day Three

Sunday

The final full day will see the crews face four stages over almost sixty-six kilometres and there is more rain predicted as well. Let’s wait and see what happens! The M-Sport squad confirmed that Jon and Shane would not return to the action due to the damage sustained in their crash.

The first full day of action followed three stages run on Thursday evening. After those three stages Oliver held the lead from Adrien and Seb, whilst Elfyn was close to the leaders and holding fifth overall.

Into the action then with SS4 Mortágua 1 and Sami set the pace from Adrien and Seb. Adrien moved into the lead from Seb and Elfyn who’d driven well despite the fact he was opening the road whilst former leader Oliver fell to fourth position.

Next up came the middle morning stage, SS5 Arganil 1 and Sami was again the fastest driver from Adrien and Thierry. Elfyn lost a bit of time in this one as the road sweeper and was sixth fastest and fell to sixth overall as Sami gained three positions and moved into second overall, Oliver moved past Seb and into third overall and Thierry also gained one position moving into fifth place.

Onto the final morning stage then, SS6 Lousã 1 and Thierry was setting the pace from Seb and rally leader Adrien. The Belgian passed Oliver for fourth overall, now just over eight seconds from his teammate.

After the remote service came SS7 Arganil 2 and whilst it was normal for everyone else Elfyn and Scott had a crazy moment near the end of the stage, as they came across dust hanging in the air. Given that they were the first car into the stage courtesy of being the championship leaders who could possibly be ahead on the road. Well, the vehicle turned off the stage and it was clearly a recovery vehicle. What a shocking situation and this will require investigations by the organisers and the FIA. Elfyn was given back the time he lost. In terms of the stage though Seb was fastest from Thierry and Oliver. The young Swede passed Sami for fourth overall. Meanwhile Jon struggled through the stage after his powersteering failed and lost a minute and forty seconds.

Into the single run stage, SS8 Góis and it was an interesting stage as Elfyn’s time remained the benchmark for quite a while. His time was beaten in the end by Seb, Sami, Thierry and Martins, but there was drama for both Adrien and Oliver near the end of the stage as they came down from the top of the stage, first to go off was the Swede and he managed to get back onto the road and finish the stage, albeit losing almost nine seconds. It was worse for the Frenchman though who went off at the same place but lost almost thirty seconds and fall from the lead to sixth overall. He crossed the line with two punctures on the right-hand side of his car. Seb moved into the lead with Thierry now second overall and Sami was now third.

Time then for the final stage, SS10 Mortágua 2 and Thierry was fastest from Oliver and Seb. This meant that the Belgian closed a little more to Seb, bringing his lead down to just under four seconds. Meanwhile Jon made it to the end of the day despite the problem with the lack of powersteering and his teammate Josh was holding ninth overall. Their teammate Martins suffered a double puncture and fell nine positions to eighteenth position.

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

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sébastien Ogier

“I’m happy to be leading at the end of the day. It had been a difficult start to the rally for us. Like yesterday, I was struggling with the balance this morning and couldn’t really drive as I wanted, but we managed to change the setup during the remote service, making some adjustments with the suspension, and that helped us find better pace. We can be happy with that but it’s only a small lead and from tomorrow the weather can change and become trickier, so there are still two big days ahead of us.”

Sami Pajari

“It has been quite a nice day for us. I’m especially happy with how the morning went. The feeling in the car was much better than yesterday, the driving felt more natural, and the times were good. Conditions were drier on the second pass so there was more cleaning, and a couple of incidents lost us a few seconds. Still, we are in the fight with two days to go and only 15s from the lead, so we can be happy for the moment.”

Oliver Solberg

“Today has been a tricky day. It wasn’t easy to find the right feeling with the car. When the road was slippery I struggled to find confidence, but when there was more grip it was better. We also made a small mistake that led to quite a big moment: the front of the car bottomed out on some bedrock and that launched us off the road. We could have been closer to the lead without that, but we just need to keep going.”

Elfyn Evans

“It’s been an OK day today. We weren’t especially fast, but that was to be expected with our road position. The order had more of an effect in some stages than others. This morning it wasn’t so bad, but it was a bit worse this afternoon as some places dried out more. Still, we had a clean drive with no mistakes and let’s see what the weather’s like tomorrow. There’s a chance of rain which could help keep things open, but our road position should also be better even if it’s dry.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“This morning I was still struggling with the feeling. Of course, our road position was not ideal but Elfyn was able to do a good job in front of us and we couldn’t match his pace. We tried to change what we could on the car setup in the remote service and the afternoon was better, and I know how we can improve things further for tomorrow. The weather conditions could be tricky, but I’m hoping that can help us too.”

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“It’s been a while since we were last in this position, fighting for the lead of the rally with good speed in the car, and it feels great. It was a good day, although not easy, but the performance was there, and we were quite consistent. We were able to increase our speed throughout the day, so we’re working in a good direction, and we can be happy. Tomorrow, we expect new conditions, with a mix of sandy and abrasive stages. It’s hard to make any predictions, but I hope we will be able to be up to speed like today, and maybe a little more comfortable in the car.”

Adrien Fourmaux

“It was a very good two days until SS8, but I am very pleased with my pace and how we managed the tyres across yesterday and today. A mistake on SS8 meant I struggled with the brakes, and then we had to battle to the end with a double puncture. While we lost a lot of time, this rally is very long, and I won’t give up – the finish line is on Sunday. I really like the stages we will tackle tomorrow, which will be very different set-up wise, especially if it rains; it’s tricky to know whether our road position will be advantageous, but we will hope for a little luck.”

Dani Sordo

“Today has been pretty complicated. We really pushed to be in the fight, but we weren’t on the pace. We lost time this morning with the tyre choice, but in the afternoon loop we weren’t as fast as we expected – we couldn’t do any more. I was driving more carefully on the final stage because there was a lot of ruts. But let’s see, tomorrow is a new day. It looks like the weather will get a little bit more difficult, but our early road position could mean it is a little bit better than for others.”

Classification after Day Two

Saturday

There are almost 146 kilometres of action on the second full day of the rally over nine stages and the weather is set to change with predictions of rain. Where and when it will arrive is unknown and this will make things interesting for sure.

After a couple of tarmac sealed surface rounds following the Safari Rally, the teams and crews head to the gravel stages of Portugal. As championship leaders Elfyn and Scott will open the road throughout Friday’s stages with former championship leaders Takamoto and Aaron second on the road.

Once again we’ll see five Toyota’s out there with Seb and Vincent joining the usual crews from the Finnish based team. At Hyundai they’ll have Dani and Carrera competing at the second rally in a row. They’ll have a good road position and perhaps will be able to battle for victory. For M-Sport they will look to Josh and Eoin to lead the team as Josh and Shane make their first start in the top class in Portugal. Also competing for Malcolm’s team is Martins and Renars. The Latvian crew has shown pace on gravel in past events. What could they do this weekend?

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

Twenty-three stages over almost 345 kilometres lie ahead for them all with the first action on Thursday evening with three stages and 37 kilometres, then Friday has eight stages over 96 kilometres and includes one stage only run once as part of the afternoon loop. Saturday is the longest day with nine stages over almost 146 kilometres and the last day has four stages over just under 66 kilometres.

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“We took a good haul of points away from the end of Rally Islas Canarias which was positive for the championship, even if it does mean we need to open the road again in Portugal this year. Usually, it’s an event where the road position is a factor, but we’ve run first there a few times now over recent years, so it’s nothing we’re not used to or prepared for. We also know that the weather in Portugal can be changeable, as it was for our pre-event test this week. Regardless of the conditions, we will just focus on trying to do the best job we can and keep trying to score good points.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“Portugal is a rally I really like: the atmosphere is always amazing; the stages suit me quite well and we’ve had some good results there in the past. This year, I think it’s going to be a very tough event as well. Even though I will not be running first on the road this time, to be second can still be quite tricky, and this year’s route could be quite demanding in this respect, with proper gravel stages already on Thursday as well as Friday. Depending on the weather, it may not be an easy rally, but I will try my best like always to get a good result.”

Sami Pajari

“I’m looking forward to being back on gravel in Portugal: it feels a long time since we had a traditional gravel rally like this – not considering Kenya or Saudi Arabia which were more extreme and specialised. For the first time, we will be running near the front of the road on gravel, but I can’t complain too much, because I’m happy to be in the fight and I’m not the only one who may suffer. There will be some strong drivers starting behind us – like Seb for example – who could be tough to beat, but I’m hoping we can continue the strong run we’re on.”

Oliver Solberg

“The last rally didn’t end the way that we wanted it to, but we just need to try to take the positives forward on to Portugal. It’s a great event with a really cool atmosphere and so many passionate fans, so it’s one I always look forward to competing on. We had a great run last year with the Rally2 car, but this will be the first time I’ve done this kind of rough European gravel rally with this Rally1 car. There will be some more learning to do, but hopefully we can continue the great feeling and great speed we’ve had so far this season and finish with a good solid result.”

Sébastien Ogier

“It was a great feeling to win in the Canaries and a result like that is always bringing a bit of extra confidence for the next rally. Portugal has been a special place in my career and it’s always a rally that I enjoy. The fans create a really nice atmosphere, and it will be a pleasure to go back there once again. We have enjoyed a great record on this event and the target will of course be to try to carry on the winning run we have there. Our road position could be beneficial, but this is a rally where you can never be certain about the conditions, and we have also faced heavy rain there before.”

Yuki Yamamoto (Driver WRC Challenge Program GEN2)

“Portugal will be the first gravel rally for me this year so I’m really looking forward to it. For me, it’s quite a challenging rally; a bit different from the other rough gravel events as the surface is quite slippery and there’s a narrow line that you need to follow. It’s going to be a challenge, but one I’m happy to take on. I’m hoping to have a good pre-event test and good feeling in the rally so that we can be in the fight. Even if we’re not scoring WRC2 points this time, I’m sure we can do well.”

Hyundai Motorsport

Adrien Fourmaux

“The season really starts now in Portugal, because it’s a different surface to everything that has come before. Testing has been good, and we are much more comfortable and confident with the pace on gravel. I like Rally de Portugal, and I’ve always been competitive here. I’ve been unlucky with some punctures or technical issues in the past, but we go to Portugal with the motivation to push and get the best result possible. The fans are some of the best in the world at Rally de Portugal, I’m looking forward to seeing them.”

Thierry Neuville

“I have lots of great memories of Rally de Portugal – including it being one of my first events in Junior WRC in 2010 – and a couple of podiums and a win too. It’s a tough event; the most difficult thing is managing the differences in stage profiles across the three or four days. You have the more abrasive and rough stages, but also the smooth and sandy ones. This year, there will be a complete mix of both on every single day, which is something new to the itinerary. We’ve set our targets high, our car should also be more competitive on gravel, so we’re looking forward to it.”

Dani Sordo

“My goal is clear:  to bring home a good result to the team and fight for the podium at a minimum. It’s difficult to switch from tarmac to gravel, especially because my recent rallies in the Portuguese Championship, plus Canarias and La Llana, were all on tarmac. We did one day of gravel testing before Rally de Portugal and the feeling is completely different. It was hard at the beginning, but it’s getting easier. We’re confident we have a good car for gravel, and we’ll be much more competitive than we were in Canarias. I want to do well in front of the Portuguese fans.”

M-Sport Ford WRT

Josh McErlean

“I’m excited to be back on gravel in Portugal – it’s an event I’ve always enjoyed and have good memories from. The stages are tough and can get very rough, so it’s about being smart, getting comfortable quickly and showing speed through the weekend. I can’t wait to get going!”

Jon Armstrong

“Looking forward to the first proper gravel rally of the year. I’ve done the rally a couple of times in the past and it’s always a big challenge; some rough action, some very soft sand, and I’m sure after our preparation that it’ll be really fun with the Puma. Hopefully we can make use of a good start position to try and have a solid run.”

Mārtiņš Sesks

“Last year’s Portugal was quite a tough exam as it was a long and tricky rally. There were a lot of things we didn’t get right, and I think it will be interesting to see how we will do this year. Because this is one of the rallies I like quite a lot, it is very important to get things right. So yes, I guess it will be quite a long week again, one of the longest weeks of the season for me. This will be an interesting experience.”

Romet Jürgenson (WRC2)

“It’ll be nice to be back on gravel in Portugal, which is a more natural surface for me. Even though in Portugal we don’t have a huge amount of experience, obviously we did it last year so that at least gives us some patch notes to work on and use this year as well. We definitely want to do a step up in terms of performance compared to last year. We weren’t really showing good pace there last year, so that’s the aim; to step the game up and show some speed whenever possible.”

Mille Johansson (WRC2)

”Portugal is going to be a big challenge with a lot of stages and changing grip levels, but I’m really looking forward to it. Feels good to finally be back on gravel again since Finland last year. The goal is to keep learning, stay consistent and build confidence from the start. We’ve had good preparation with the team, so now I just want to get out there and enjoy the rally.”

Summary

Last year Seb took victory from Ott and Kalle and it’s very likely that he could win again this year given his road position throughout Friday. However, the question is could Thierry who will start in seventh just one position behind the Frenchman in the start list.

What kind of result could Elfyn and Scott take? Well, after opening the road on Friday last year they would take a sixth-place finish, and this will make this a tricky rally for them. Their only hope is that it rains on the first full day of action, particularly given the single run stage on Friday.

Oliver and Elliott will want to get to the finish this time and perhaps they could take a podium finish this weekend and improve their position in the championship standings.