– Spectacular Friday at the Rally Portugal, the sixth round of the World Rally Championship (WRC) season: After an eventful day, Toyota driver Sebastien Ogier leads the field. The Frenchman benefited from the misfortune of his compatriot Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai), who lost the seemingly secure lead due to an off-road excursion.
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But the competition is not sleeping: Hyundai star Thierry Neuville lurks in second place with only 3.7 seconds behind. Sami Pajari (Toyota, +16.4 seconds) is in third place, followed by teammate Oliver Solberg, who was still leading on Thursday evening.
It was not expected on Friday morning that Ogier would take the lead by Friday evening. The Toyota driver struggled with the setup of his GR Yaris Rally1 and did not find the desired rhythm. “We made some changes during the midday service that paid off,” says Ogier.
With a win on the seventh special stage, the Toyota driver pushed past teammate Sami Pajari into second place. This stage also caused some frowns: after the Rally1 cars had passed the section, the stage was stopped for safety reasons.
Earlier, Toyota driver Elfyn Evans, who had to open the road as the “road sweeper,” collided near the end of the stage with a tow truck that was mistakenly on the course. Evans lost valuable time in the dust raised.
Drama around Fourmaux: Off-road and two tire damages
The decision for the day’s lead fell on the eighth special stage: Adrien Fourmaux, who had been leading confidently since the fourth stage on Friday morning, went off the ideal line on a hard rock section and flew off the track.
The Frenchman was able to push his Hyundai back onto the track but suffered two tire damages, front left and rear right. The consequence: 29.3 seconds lost and the end of his leadership dreams for the day.
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Ogier took the lead and temporarily extended his advantage over Neuville to five seconds. But the Belgian, who struggled all day with understeer and oversteer of his i20 N, struck back on the final stage of the day. With his second best time, Neuville reduced his gap to Ogier before the “Super Saturday” to just 3.7 seconds.
Pajari shines while Evans limits damage
Toyota youngster Sami Pajari was the surprise of the morning, winning two stages, but lost some ground in the afternoon. Solberg struggled with the feel for the car and had a scare at the same spot as Fourmaux but got away with a minor setback (8.7 seconds lost).
Elfyn Evans ended the day in fifth place. The Welshman was credited by the officials with the 4.4 seconds he lost behind the tow truck. Considering his early starting position, fifth place was a respectable result in terms of damage limitation.
Sordo and M-Sport as the day’s unlucky ones
Things went less well for Dani Sordo (Hyundai) in eighth place, who made a mistake with tire choice in the morning. The Spaniard had actually planned to take more soft than hard tires; however, due to an error by his team in the tire change zone last night, it was exactly the opposite.
Meanwhile, frustration prevailed at M-Sport Ford: Jon Armstrong had to complete the afternoon loop without power steering, Josh McErlean received a 50-second penalty because his Puma would not start at midday, and Martins Sesks retired early on the last stage with two flat tires.
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On Saturday, the legendary gravel roads around Amarante are on the program. Since rain showers are even forecast for Saturday, the already exciting Rally Portugal is likely to take another dramatic turn.
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