The WRC celebrated its 50th anniversary in Portugal

If there was one event not to be missed in Porto, it was the ceremony organized as a prelude to the event. During this, several pilots including Walter Röhrl, Marcus Grönholm, Ari Vatanen, Petter Solberg and Miki Biasion, but also Louise Aitken-Walker, Fabrizia Pons and Michèle Mouton shared several of their memories. The drivers entered in this round, Sébastien Loeb, Sébastien Ogier et Ott Tänak were able to exchange with Carlos Sainz or even David Richards. Present for the first time this season in WRC, Mohammed Ben Sulayem spoke about his experience in the discipline in the 90s. This event did not only concern drivers and co-drivers.

Several iconic cars were also brought together in Portugal, to the delight of the eyes and ears. If for some like Hyundai i20 WRC it was simply a show car or a replica, others were in working order. Fiat 131 Abarth, Lancia Stratos, Berlinette and other Lancia 037 delighted the Coimbra public during the super special. The evolution of these legendary cars, including that of the 1985 Audi Quattro Sport with Walter Röhrl at the wheel, provided a fine demonstration of the progress made by the discipline over these 50 years.