Rally Portugal 2022
09h
Next special at 9:38 a.m.: SS11, Cabeceiras de Basto 1 (22,03 km)
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ES ranking:
General classification :
09h
Elfyn Evans does not want to let Kalle Rovanperä fall back into the general classification! The Welshman attacks and wins the special by 1″3! “you have to find the balance between attacking and staying in your line. »
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Kalle Rovanperä hits hard and distances Takamoto Katsuta by 10″1! “I'm not really happy with my stage, I was wide in some corners. »
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Dani Sordo loses 1″1 on Takamoto Katsuta and the Spaniard only has a 4″1 margin in the general classification.
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Takamoto Katsuta takes the lead of the special by 1 tenth!
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And here we go for the punctures! Let’s get the ball rolling with Gus Greensmith! The Englishman was fighting for the podium but lost 59″ to Neuville! He refused to stop on stage to change the wheel but tore off a large part of the left front wheel arch. “I had a puncture at the start of the special. »
09h
After a hit against the side, Pierre-Louis Loubet lost a lot of time: 21″1 on Thierry Neuville. “I spun too!” The feeling was not good. »
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Thierry Neuville fails only 2 tenths behind his teammate at Hyundai, Ott Tänak!
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Craig Breen also remains behind Tänak for 8″9. The Irishman complains of a lack of grip, he is running on hard tires on the front axle.
08h
With four soft tires, Adrien Fourmaux finished behind Tänak by 8″. The Frenchman does not attack 100%. “It’s very pleasant to drive. I have 18 titles in front of me so I have to use their trajectories on this stage! »
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Ott Tänak beats Ogier's time by only 1″1.
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Sébastien Ogier beats Loeb’s time by 15″.
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Sébastien Loeb finished with a time of 14'06″5. “The conditions are difficult. The tire choices were poor, there was no grip because the roads were wet. The two hard tires were not what was needed. »
08h
The second loop on Friday afternoon at the 2022 Rally Portugal completely shook up the established order. Between piloting errors and an avalanche of punctures, the peloton fragmented under the Portuguese heat.
Starting in the lead thanks to perfect control of his tires in the morning, Sébastien Loeb (M-Sport Ford) hit a concrete wall 20 meters after the start of the fifth special! An extremely rare error on the part of the nine-time world champion which broke the suspension arm of the right rear wheel.
« In the first turn, which was a left on asphalt which closed, he said, with the hard tires there was a little less grip than I expected. As soon as we entered, the car started to slide. There was a lot of gravel on the outside which didn't help to regain grip. A wall started right where the curve closed and we hit it. »
ALSO READ > Sébastien Loeb recounts his abandonment in Portugal
The figurehead of Malcolm Wilson's clan remained at the dock and let the Toyotas pass which were about to gain ground. Already in good shape in the morning, Elfyn Evans hit the nail on the head in the afternoon. The outgoing double world vice-champion avoided the pitfalls of punctures despite an increasingly rutted surface.
The Welshman is ahead of his teammate and general classification leader Kalle Rovanperä this Friday evening. “At one point it felt more like a lottery, recognized the bearer of number 33. But we still had to continue to want to be the fastest. You can always say that you can go faster but I don't know if I could have been there in this position tonight. »
Within Toyota Gazoo Racing, one big absentee should be noted: Sébastien Ogier. On pace in the morning, the Gapençais suffered a litany of punctures, which went so far as to cause him to be voluntarily removed from the race due to a lack of spare tires!
Another leading host of the WRC, Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) railed against a transmission and wheel problem. The Belgian was rejected almost 2 minutes behind, just like Craig Breen and Adrien Fourmaux (M-Sport Ford), who aims to reach the finish line safely after three successive retirements.
Free of problems, Dani Sordo (Hyundai) relied on a senatorial train to patiently move up the hierarchy. The Spaniard is third despite this being his first stint behind the wheel of a Rally1 hybrid in 2022. He is ahead of Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota) and Gus Greensmith (M-Sport Ford).
Pierre-Louis Loubet (M-Sport Ford) is behind by more than a minute but this gap does not reflect the accuracy of his driving and his pure rhythm. The Frenchman narrowly missed a scratch time before going too wide of the road and hitting the side of the road.
On Saturday, the second stage will start at 8:38 a.m. Seven special stages will be on the program and can be followed in live text on AUTOhebdo.fr.
Ranking Rally Portugal 2022 – Stage 1:
08h
Here is the starting order for the day. Our two Sébastiens start again at the start of the peloton under the Rally 2 rule:
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Hello and welcome to this live to follow the second stage of the Rally Portugal!
The second stage of the 2022 Rally Portugal can be followed from 8:38 a.m. with seven special stages planned on gravel. This is the first time that this surface has appeared on the WRC program this year.
This second day will be an opportunity to observe the internal duel at Toyota Gazoo Racing between leader Elfyn Evans and her pursuer Kalle Rovanperä. These are only separated by around ten seconds after a Friday stage which saw legends Sébastien Loeb and Sébastien Ogier disappear from the rankings
In the French clan, the progress of Pierre-Louis Loubet (M-Sport Ford) will be analyzed by his boss Malcolm Wilson. The other tricolor of the English team, Adrien Fourmaux, will aim not to leave the road and to see the finish on Sunday, which would be a first in 2022.
Saturday program:
8:38 a.m.: SS10, Vieira do Minho 1 (17,38 km)
9:38 a.m.: SS11, Cabeceiras de Basto 1 (22,03 km)
10:54 a.m.: SS12, Amarante 1 (37,24 km)
15:38 a.m.: SS13, Vieira do Minho 2 (17,48 km)
16:38 a.m.: SS14, Cabeceiras de Basto 2 (22,03 km)
17:54 a.m.: SS15, Amarante 2 (37,24 km)
20:03 p.m.: SS16, Porto-Foz (3,3 km)
