Evans, victory within reach

S’il s’est fait peur en concédant un peu plus de 5 secondes sur Dani Sordo (Hyundai) lors de la super-spéciale samedi, Elfyn Evans (Toyota) a remis les pendules à l’heure ce dimanche matin.

On the attack from the first special of the day (SS16), the 2019 world vice-champion dealt a fatal blow to his runner-up by sticking to him for almost 10 seconds. Enough to put an end, or practically, to the Iberian's hopes of victory.

Subsequently, Elfyn Evans was content to ensure his passages so as not to make any mistakes and thus give himself some breathing room for the last two special stages of the weekend.

The Welshman now presents himself as the absolute leader of this Rally from Portugal with 22 seconds ahead of Dani Sordo. If bad luck doesn't play tricks on him, his first victory of the season, his fourth in his career, awaits him at the finish of the Power Stage.

First run through Fafe complete for @ElfynEvans, whose lead is up to 22s

 “So far, so good. Things are working quite OK, so happy enough. »#ToyotaGAZOORacing #PushingTheLimitsForBetter #YarisWRC #WRC #RallydePortugal pic.twitter.com/uwJdmFxQYP

- Toyota GAZOO Racing WRT (@TGR_WRC) May 23, 2021

Behind, Sébastien Ogier (Toyota) remains in 3rd with a lead of 32 seconds over his teammate and closest pursuer, Takamoto Katsuta. Adrien fourmaux (M-Sport) retombe 6e et voit son partenaire Gus Greensmith lui passer devant.

Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota) and the two Hyundai drivers, Ott Tänak et Thierry Neuville, they are out of the race. They are just waiting for the Power Stage to try to grab a few additional points.