– In Portugal, the driving operation for the sixth round of the World Rally Championship (WRC) season was opened on Thursday. The Portugal Rally is a pure gravel rally, which especially raises hopes in the Hyundai factory team to reverse the trend of the current season, meaning to stop Toyota’s dominance and secure their own first win of the season.
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The program for the first of a total of four competition days on Thursday included three special stages (SS1 to SS3), after which it is Toyota driver Oliver Solberg who overnighted as the first leader of the rally. The best-placed Hyundai driver is currently Adrien Fourmaux in second place.
In the Toyota factory team, Sebastien Ogier is once again competing this weekend as part of his WRC part-time program. In the Hyundai factory team, part-time starter Dani Sordo is also participating again this time, as he did at the Canary Islands Rally at the end of April.
Engine Upgrade at Hyundai
There is something new at Hyundai in technical terms, namely an engine upgrade for the three i20 N cars of Sordo, Fourmaux, and Thierry Neuville. “The intake system was modified to achieve a bit more power,” says Hyundai sporting director Andrew Wheatley for the English edition of Motorsport.com, a sister platform of Motorsport-Total.com in the Motorsport Network.
“The [upgrade] is part of the development being advanced throughout the year. It is not a revolutionary change but a gradual one that could possibly have a positive effect this weekend,” says Wheatley, who refers to it as a “small adjustment” in this context.
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And Hyundai started the Portugal Rally directly with a best time, as Adrien Fourmaux was the fastest on SS1, followed by World Championship leader Elfyn Evans (Toyota). On SS2, it was Oliver Solberg who took the best time ahead of Thierry Neuville. On SS3, a nearly two-kilometer-long “superspecial” in the evening, Evans and Sebastien Ogier were the fastest with the same time.
In summary, Solberg goes into the Friday stage with a 3.4-second lead over Fourmaux. The other positions in the top 5 are currently held by Ogier, Neuville, and Evans. Following are Sami Pajari (Toyota), Dani Sordo, Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota), as well as Josh McErlean and Jon Armstrong (both M-Sport Ford) in the second half of the top 10.
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The Friday stage of the Rally Portugal includes seven special stages (SS4 to SS10), the Saturday stage nine (SS11 to SS19), before the gravel rally ends on Sunday with the last four of the total 23 stages.
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