Dani Sordo at ease, Hyundai dominates Toyota in Portugal

The first three stages of this Rally du Portugal 2021 peuvent se résumer à la domination d’Hyundai et aux difficultés de Toyota.

On the Portuguese gravel, the South Korean i20s showed their ease against the Japanese Yaris, notably taking the three scratches at stake.

back in WRC after two rounds of absence, Dani Sordo (Hyundai) was not idle. In good form, the Iberian posted two of the three best times of the morning. He could even have achieved a flawless performance but a small error on SS1 prevented him from doing so.

#WRC Another stage win for @DaniSordo & @borjarozada as they lead a Hyundai in SS3 and in the overall classification followed by @OttTanak & @thierryneuville! Game ON! #HMSGOfficial #RallydePortugal pic.twitter.com/7DPA6f4XQv

— hmsgofficial (@HMSGOfficial) May 21, 2021

In difficulty, or at least lacking pace, the Toyota drivers lost to the Hyundais. If Elfyn Evans remains close to the leader (+17“6), Sébastien Ogier is already relegated to 31 seconds. Certainly his position as fly-half did not benefit him but the Frenchman still seemed below his usual level and his body language confirmed it.

As for other French people, Adrien fourmaux (M-Sport) a montré à nouveau de bonnes choses avec une belle 6e place au général (+23“6) tandis que Pierre-Louis Loubet (2C Competition) n’est pas allé au bout de la boucle. Le Tricolore a perdu le contrôle de sa i20 dans l’ES2 et n’a depuis pas repris la route.

The morning loop finished, Dani Sordo is respectively 6"7 and 10" ahead of his teammates Ott Tänak et Thierry Neuville. The two Toyota drivers, Elfyn Evans and Takamoto Katsuta, complete the Top 5, just under 20 seconds behind the leader.

Five other stages are on the program for the afternoon. See you at 13:31 p.m. for the start of SS5, still on AUTOhebdo!