Toyota’s eight-time world champion Ogier inherited the lead after Rovanpera’s Stage 11 exit, only to lose the advantage to Tanak on the next test. However, a slow puncture for Tanak in stage 13 helped Ogier open up a 13.6s lead at the end of the loop.        

Rovanpera’s surprise exit, followed by a retirement for Toyota driver Takamoto Katsuta, elevated Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville into the final podium spot [+54.4s], ahead of team-mate Dani Sordo [+58.0s].

M-Sport’s Adrien Fourmaux enjoyed a trouble-free morning to sit fifth [+1m18.4s] ahead of the recovering Toyota of Elfyn Evans [+2m39.s], with leading WRC2 runner Gus Greensmith seventh [+6m21.6s].

Friday’s blazing sunshine was replaced by overcast and humid conditions on Saturday when the crews headed to the day’s first stage [Stage 10 Felgueiras 8.81km].

Rally leader Rovanpera started to stamp to his authority on the event by delivering a blistering time that none of his rivals could match. Benefitting from set-up tweaks to his Toyota overnight, the Finn posted a time 4.2s faster than Tanak, but more importantly was 5.7s quicker than rival Ogier.

The effort transformed his overnight one-second lead into a 6.7s margin over Ogier, who admitted he was too careful in the stage.

Tanak’s impressive effort helped the Hyundai driver leapfrog Katsuta into third overall, 2.9s behind Ogier.

Championship leader Neuville also gained a position, moving into fifth overall after beating Hyundai team-mate Sordo by 6.7s.

However, the rally was turned on its head in what proved to be a particularly slippery stage 11 [Montim, 8.69km] as several drivers were caught out by the conditions.

Rovanpera’s victory hopes were brought to a premature end following a spectacular roll. The Finn lost the rear of his GR Yaris in a fast right-hander and clouted a tree, which pitched the car into a roll before the car eventually came to rest on its side up against a tree. Rovanpera and co-driver Jonne Halttunen emerged from the incident unharmed.

WRC2 leader Oliver Solberg was first to pass Rovanpera’s stricken car and barely 100 metres further up the road the Swede lost control of his Toksport Skoda resulting in a series of rolls. Solberg and co-driver Elliott Edmondson were able to clamber out of the car.

Ott Tänak, Martin Järveoja, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1

Photo by: Austral / Hyundai Motorsport

Ogier won stage 11 [Montim, 8.69km] by 0.5s from Hyundai’s Ott Tanak to open up a 3.4s lead from the Estonian following Rovanpera’s exit.

Katsuta moved back into third as a result with championship leader Neuville fourth having leapfrogged team-mate Sordo.

The stage proved to be incredibly slippery with Toyota’s Evans the first of a number of drivers to hit trouble. The Welshman, recovering from a puncture and a pacenote issue yesterday, suffered a spin after clipping a bank at a low-speed corner.

Katsuta also dropped time to an error at the same corner before briefly stalling his Toyota.

Neuville was also caught out by the conditions as the Belgian encountered two moments during the stage. Neuville drifted wide through a left-hander and clipped a bank and lost some time to a stall. A further mistake ripped the front bumper and splitter from his i20 N.

The drama went up another notch in the rally’s longest stage Amarante [ stage 12, 37.24km]. The battle for the victory became a two-driver contest after Katsuta became the latest to hit trouble. The Japanese driver suffered an impact damaging his rear suspension that forced him to stop 10.7km into the stage.

All eyes swung to the battle between Ogier and Tanak at the front which went in the favour of the latter. Tanak produced his best drive of the rally to date to claim a stunning stage win as the Hyundai driver took 3.6s out Ogier. It was enough to become the fifth leader of the rally so far, by 0.2s from the Frenchman.

Sordo set the third fastest time, some 15.4s adrift of Tanak, to close to within 2.3s of team-mate Neuville in the fight for third overall. The damage picked up at the previous test did hamper Neuville’s ability to turn his Hyundai, requiring more use of the handbrake.

Already hampered by road position, Evans’ struggles continued as he dropped a further 24.1s, while M-Sport’s Gregoire Munster fared even worse losing more than six minutes to a mysterious mechanical issue on his Ford Puma that necessitated two stops in the test.

The rally lead changed hands after the morning’s final test as a right rear slow puncture cost Tanak 13.8s to Ogier, who won Stage 13 [Paredes, 16.09km], retaking the lead in the process.

A puncture for Rossel also gifted Greensmith the lead in the WRC2.  

Five more stages await the crews this afternoon. 

Reigning world champion Rovanpera set a blistering pace in the morning’s opening test to extend his overnight lead from one second to 6.7s over Ogier, before drama struck on the following stage.

Rovanpera lost the rear of his GR Yaris in fast right-hander and clouted a tree which pitched the car into a roll, before it eventually came to rest on its side up against a tree. Rovanpera and co-driver Jonne Halttunen emerged from the incident ok, but their victory hopes ended on the spot.

WRC2 leader Oliver Solberg was first to pass Rovanpera’s stricken car and barely 100 metres further up the road the Swede lost control of his Toksport Skoda resulting in a series of rolls. Solberg and co-driver Elliott Edmondson were able to clamber out of the car. Citroen’s Yohan Rossel emerged with the WRC2 lead by 5.9s from Gus Greensmith. 

Ogier won stage 11 [Montim, 8.69km] by 0.5s from Hyundai’s Ott Tanak to open up a 3.4s lead from the Estonian following Rovanpera’s exit.

Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta has moved back into third [+15.7s] as a result, with championship leader Thierry Neuville fourth [+30.2s] having leapfrogged team-mate Dani Sordo [+32.9s].

The stage proved to be incredibly slippery with Toyota’s Elfyn Evans the first of a number of drivers to hit trouble. The Welshman recovering from a puncture and a pacenote issue yesterday suffered a spin after clipping a bank at a slow speed corner.

“At a slow junction, I got caught in the inside line and it spun the car at slow speed. There was time lost but no damage. I was very surprised at the beginning just how loose and slippery it was,” said Evans.  

Katsuta also dropped time to an error at the same corner before briefly stalling his Toyota.

Neuville was also caught out by the conditions as the Belgian encountered two moments during the stage. Neuville drifted wide through a left hander, clipping a bank in the process, and lost time to a stall. A further mistake ripped the front bumper and splitter from his i20 N.

“I misjudged the grip with the braking so I went a bit wide, and then on the hairpin I misjudged the grip again. Two mistakes in one stage is not good,” said Neuville.

 

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Reigning world champion Rovanpera snatched the rally lead on stage six, but the margin never grew larger than a second as the part-time driver battled with a GR Yaris that wasn’t too his liking.

The Finn, who ended Friday morning in third, held onto the lead despite a late attack from Ogier, who shot from fourth to second on the day’s final stage.     

The battle at the front proved incredibly tight with 5.4s covering the top four. Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta ended the day in third [+4.7s] after leading at the midday tyre fitting zone and sitting second until the final stage. Hyundai’s Ott Tanak, who was fighting his i20N all day, ran as high as third before dropping to fourth.   

Hyundai’s Dani Sordo claimed three stage wins on his return to the WRC since to sit fifth [+17.9s], 0.2s ahead of team-mate and a championship leader Thierry Neuville. Faced with the disadvantage of being first on the road, overnight leader Neuville limited the damage be ending the morning in a fine second, before dropping to sixth [+18.1s] after the afternoon loop.

M-Sport’s Adrien Fourmaux drove smartly to remain in seventh [+31.8s], ahead of Evans [+1m43.2s] who lost time to a puncture on stage seven, while his co-driver Scott Martin was without his pacenote book. Gregoire Munster [2m27.3s] completed the Rally1 field after a trouble-free run.

The top 10 was rounded out by WRC2 class leader Oliver Solberg, who edged Yohan Rossel by 7.3s.        

Katsuta’s morning lead going into the afternoon was short-lived. The Japanese lost the advantage by the smallest of margins after the afternoon’s first test [Stage 6, Lousa, 12.28km]. 

The second pass of Lousa presented a much drier and abrasive surface providing much more of a challenge.

Photo by: McKlein / Motorsport Images

It was Ogier who set the pace after benefitting from some setup changes made at the midday tyre fitting zone. The five-time Portugal winner managed to set a time 1.1s faster than team-mate Rovanpera with Sordo, third, 2.2s in arrears. The effort was enough to push Ogier from fifth to third overall.

“The tyre is helping but we made some little changes,” said Ogier, who gambled on taking only one spare wheel. “I feel a bit better now but we’ve had better days. No risk, no fun.”

The stage provided even better news for Rovanpera as he leapt into the rally lead by 0.1s from Katsuta, who dropped 4.5s.

Rovanpera revealed he was still fighting his car which was “still not 100%” especially on the rough places.”

Neuville also surrendered second, dropping to fifth overall after losing 5.4s. Neuville and co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe appeared to have an issue with their timecard at the end of the stage, before it was swiftly resolved.

Title rival Evans endured a continuation of his setup issues from the morning. The Welshman ceded 10.9s, while a mere 6.9s covered the top six overall.

Evans’ difficult start to the rally was magnified by two issues on stage 7 [Gois, 14.30km]. Co-driver Scott Martin had to deliver pacenotes from a mobile phone having left his pacenote book on a table at the stage six, time control. Martin unusually got out of the car to head to the time control after the timecard delay for Neuville in front. To make matters worse, a front right wheel came off the rim which contributed to a 52.6s time loss that cut them adrift of the top seven overall.

The stage was won by Sordo, his third fastest time of the day to move into fifth overall ahead of team-mate Neuville, who was 4.9s slower than his Spanish team-mate.

Rovanpera was third fastest on the test a tenth faster than Katsuta, which resulted in the former doubling his overall lead to 0.2s over his Toyota team-mate.

“It’s tough, we are definitely nowhere near where the car should be,” said a frustrated Rovanpera. “I am fighting all the time, we have understeer and everything so it is making tyre wear worse and worse.”

The gap between the top six continued to narrow as 6.3s while Fourmaux drifted away from the field, 19.3s behind in seventh.

The battle for the victory took another twist on the day’s penultimate stage [Arganil, 18.72km]. Despite wrestling his car, Rovanpera managed to claim his first stage win of the event to date, pipping Tanak, also battling his Hyundai, by 0.1s.

“I tried so hard, it’s not nice. I need to try hard but altogether it’s not working,” said Tanak, who climbed to third overall after Ogier lost 2.4s, having been hampered by a hybrid issue at the start of the stage.

Rovanpera was only able to extend his rally lead to 1.0s over Katsuta thanks to a fine effort from the Japanese to reach the stage end, 0.8s adrift. It was another stage defined by tight margins as 6.6s split the top seven across the 18.72km stage.

Evans and Martin valiantly battled on with the latter using his back up pacenotes with the damage only a 14.7s time loss.

“We couldn’t write the day really, nothing is going our way,” said Evans.

The final stage provided another shake up to the leaderboard caused by a charging Ogier. The Frenchman, keen to secure a better road position for Saturday, set a blistering pace to win the test by 3.2s from Rovanpera.

The effort hauled Ogier ahead of Katsuta and Tanak to second overall, one second behind leader Rovanpera.   

Nine stages are scheduled for Saturday’s leg, comprising 145.02 kilometres. 

Toyota driver Katsuta, starting sixth on the road, produced a strong and consistent pace across Friday morning’s four stages to take a 2.9s lead over Neuville at the midday tyre fitting zone.

Reigning world champion Kalle Rovanpera managed to drive around an ill-handling Toyota to sit third, 3.3s adrift, ahead of Hyundai’s Ott Tanak [+4.1] and Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier [+7.5s], who also struggled for confidence behind the wheel.

Dani Sordo scored two stage wins to hold sixth [+9.1s] in front of M-Sport’s Adrien Fourmaux, title contender Elfyn Evans [+17.5s], Gregoire Munster [+1m26.5s} and WRC2 runner Oliver Solberg [+1m40.7s], who rounded out the top 10.

Crews were greeted by much damper conditions than expected for the day’s opening stage [Mortagua, 18.15km] which played into the hands of the earlier runners.

Road sweeper Neuville set the pace with a benchmark time that stood until Katsuta produced an impressive run to pip the Belgian by 1.2s, to win the stage, which came as a surprise to the Toyota driver.

“To be honest I felt a bad feeling in the car, so I didn’t expect it to be good. I need to change my style a bit and there were some surprises on the stage,” said Katsuta, who moved to second overall 0.8s behind overnight rally leader Neuville.

Tanak emerged with the third fastest time, 2.1s adrift and 0.9s slower than Neuville. The Estonian however wasn’t happy behind the wheel of his i20 N.

Photo by: Toyota Racing

“I struggle to work in the car, but I will try. It’s not a good time, we are losing. There is nothing positive,” said Tanak.

Evans also struggled for confidence with the front end of his Toyota on his way to reaching the stage end, 3.9s shy of the pace.

M-Sport’s Fourmaux, who gambled on taking only one spare, and rally favourite Rovanpera posted an identical time as they dropped 5.7s.

Ogier competing in his first gravel event since Acropolis last year, admitted “he was not really on it” as the Frenchman could only post the seventh-best time, ahead of Hyundai’s Sordo.

The stage was interrupted by rolls for WRC2 runners Pepe Lopez and Yuki Yamamoto.

The road-cleaning effect came into force on stage 3 [Lousa,12.28km] which was much drier and more technical than the previous test.

Sordo faced the best of the road conditions and, combined with an impressive drive, the Spaniard lit up the timing screens with a time 3.2s faster than Rovanpera, which was enough to win the stage.

“The first stage was really bad for me, it was a case of come back or stay at home,” said Sordo.

Rovanpera was continuing to battle with his GR Yaris and was already focussing on finding improvements for the afternoon loop.

Tanak managed to haul his i20N to third fastest despite feeling the effects of road-cleaning, edging Katsuta by 0.6s. Katsuta revealed at the stage end that he made a mistake at the start of the test that cost him time, but it didn’t stop him from taking the overall lead.

Evans found more from the front end of his car and did well to only drop 5.4s considering his road position. He was quicker than Ogier [+7.0s] and title rival Neuville, who faced the toughest of the conditions.

Buoyed by his stage win, Sordo again delivered in stage four [Gois, 14.30km]. The Hyundai driver managed to pip Rovanpera for the second consecutive test, this time by 1.8s to claim the stage win and climb to fifth overall.

“I can do these two stages all day. I am happy with the car, honestly on the first stage, it was me,” said Sordo. “The car is great, I have a good feeling. Hats off to the guys at Hyundai.”

Rovanpera was able to move into third overall ahead of Neuville but was still perplexed by his pace, stating: “It was better in these conditions, I don’t know why but we were struggling with the balance of the car. There was quite a lot of understeer.”

He wasn’t the only Toyota driver suffering as Evans reported problems trying to rotate his car while Ogier said his car was “too lazy”. The pair clocked times good enough for eighth and fourth respectively. The 8.6s time loss for Evans dropped the Welshman three positions to eighth overall.

In comparison, Neuville, who started first on the road ahead of Evans, was 2.4s faster than his rival despite battling with tyre wear.

Photo by: Austral / Hyundai Motorsport

At the front of the field, Katsuta was 0.4s faster than Tanak which pushed his rally lead out to 1.9s.

The final stage of the loop witnessed an inspired performance from Neuville, who elected to bolt on four soft tyres in boiling hot conditions. A committed run yielded a stage win, 2.2s faster than Rovanpera, which hauled the Belgian from fourth to second overall.

Katsuta held onto his rally lead after claiming a time 0.1s slower, while Ogier performed admirably without an intercom system to drop only 3.0s. Sordo’s run of form was halted by a hybrid issue that cost him a position, having posted the sixth fastest behind team-mate Tanak. Evans, whose handling struggles continued, ceded a further 7.3s.

The crews will take in a tyre fitting zone before repeating the four stages this afternoon.