Sordo and Neuville offer orders to Tänak in Portugal

If there's anyone who should be biting their fingers right now, it's Andrea Adamo. During SS7, the main team Hyundai saw his pilots Thierry Neuville and Dani Sordo made a mistake, losing precious time in the race for victory.

The first lost more than 3 minutes after hitting the side of the road and damaging his car while the second stalled in a hairpin while leading the race.

Luckily, all was not dark at Hyundai at the end of this SS7 since these incidents allowed the other driver of the house, Ott Tänak, to take the reins of rally. Although beaten by Sébastien Ogier (Toyota) in the special, the Estonian was able to avoid the pitfalls to move to the top of the rankings.

If on the Hyundai side the time was not for joy, at Toyota the atmosphere was different. Anchored in the depths of the general with a sad 8th place due to his role as opener, Sébastien Ogier took advantage of the misadventures of his counterparts to make up a good part of his delay.

Winner of SS8, the Gapençais moved up to 5th place and is only 22” behind the new leader, Ott Tänak. He secures a good position in the starting order on Saturday and can once again envisage victory on Portuguese soil.

Hindered by Thiery Neuville slowing down in the special, Elfyn Evans (Toyota) ultimately inherited the same time as Sébastien Ogier after correcting the race direction. As a result, the Welshman became the new runner-up to Ott Tänak, thus relegating Dani Sordo to 3rd place.

The start of SS8 is scheduled for 20:03 p.m. and will be followed on AUTOhebdo.