Tänak’s Milestone Friday: Ott Tänak emerged as the overnight leader of Vodafone Rally de Portugal following a challenging opening leg on Friday. The Estonian driver, piloting his Hyundai i20 N Rally1, demonstrated impressive pace across the demanding gravel stages, culminating in a slender 7.0-second advantage over Toyota rival Sébastien Ogier after nearly 150 kilometers of intense competition. Adding to his strong performance, Tänak celebrated a significant personal milestone by securing his 400th FIA World Rally Championship stage win on the day’s final Sever / Albergaria test.
Early Pace and Fourmaux’s Challenge: Tänak started the day strongly, seizing the rally lead from Thursday night’s super special winner Elfyn Evans on the very first stage of Friday. He continued his momentum, claiming victory on a total of four of the day’s ten stages. Adrien Fourmaux, driving another Hyundai, initially matched Tänak’s speed and even managed to snatch two stage wins himself. This allowed the Frenchman to close the gap to a mere two-tenths of a second by the midday service.
Fourmaux’s Unfortunate Retirement and Ogier’s Recovery: However, Fourmaux’s promising challenge came to an abrupt end in the afternoon. While navigating a hairpin, his Hyundai clipped a hidden rock, resulting in broken front-left steering. This damage forced him into immediate retirement from the day’s proceedings. Fourmaux’s misfortune briefly elevated Takamoto Katsuta into second place overall. However, eight-time world champion Sébastien Ogier was steadily finding his rhythm. After struggling with an overly soft car setup during the morning loop, the Toyota driver made crucial adjustments during the service break. This transformed his performance in the afternoon, allowing him to significantly close the gap and eventually move ahead of Katsuta, establishing a 20.1-second buffer by the end of the day.
Tänak’s Thoughts and Toyota Shuffle: Reflecting on his milestone stage win, Tänak humorously commented, “If there were as many championship titles [as stage wins], it would be even better. But still, a nice number. It’s been demanding, especially the second loop. We couldn’t really find the sweet spot and were struggling a bit. But the last two stages were clean, so that’s good.” Behind the leading trio, Kalle Rovanperä made it three Toyota GR Yaris cars in the top four, finishing the day just 1.2 seconds adrift of his teammate Katsuta. The reigning two-time world champion acknowledged that the gravel surfaces felt more slippery than anticipated but is now strategically positioned to potentially reduce the championship lead held by his Toyota colleague, Elfyn Evans.
Evans’ Struggles and Neuville’s Recovery: Elfyn Evans, burdened with the task of opening the road due to his championship lead, struggled with traction throughout the day. This significant disadvantage saw him slip down the order to seventh place, more than a minute behind the leading pace. Defending champion Thierry Neuville, driving the other Hyundai i20 N Rally1, had a close call early in the day, narrowly avoiding damage after hitting a bank on SS2. Despite this scare, the Belgian driver recovered well to end the day just 4.4 seconds behind Rovanperä in fifth place.
Pajari’s Strong Run and M-Sport Ford’s Efforts: Young Finnish talent Sami Pajari, also driving a Toyota GR Yaris, put in a solid performance to finish the day in sixth position. Grégoire Munster and Josh McErlean, representing M-Sport Ford, ended the challenging Friday in eighth and ninth places respectively, showcasing their resilience on the tough Portuguese gravel.
Solberg Leads WRC2 and Sesks’ Disappointment: Oliver Solberg, competing in the WRC2 category, demonstrated impressive speed to round out the overall top ten. However, there was disappointment for Mārtiņš Sesks, who had set the pace during the shakedown. His rally unravelled early on Friday with a wheel change required on SS2. His day went from bad to worse when he later incurred a significant three-minute time penalty.
Looking Ahead to Saturday: Saturday’s itinerary promises further demanding action, featuring seven more grueling stages that cover a total of 122.92 competitive kilometers. The highlight of the day will be two passes through the iconic Amarante test, known for its length and challenging terrain, which is likely to further shake up the leaderboard.
Standings after Friday (SS11 / 24):
- Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja (EST, Hyundai i20 N Rally1): 1h 41m 26.2s
- Sébastien Ogier / Vincent Landais (FRA, Toyota GR Yaris Rally1): +7.0s
- Takamoto Katsuta / Aaron Johnston (JPN, Toyota GR Yaris Rally1): +27.1s
- Kalle Rovanperä / Jonne Halttunen (FIN, Toyota GR Yaris Rally1): +28.3s
- Thierry Neuville / Martijn Wydaeghe (BEL, Hyundai i20 N Rally1): +32.7s
- Sami Pajari / Enni Mälkönen (FIN, Toyota GR Yaris Rally1): +1m 1.4s
Disclaimer: Motorsport results are provisional and subject to change based on official FIA rulings. Performance can be affected by various factors including driver skill, car setup, and weather conditions.
Source: WRC
AI Assistance: Gemini
