11h

Hayden Paddon (Hyundai) took the scratch in Viana do Castelo, SS2 of the Rally of Portugal, completing the 26,7km in 15'44''3. The New Zealander was ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota) by a second, taking advantage of his good position on the road. Kris Meeke (Citroën) follows a few tenths ahead of Ott Tänak (Ford) and Craig Breen (Citroën) less than 4s from the benchmark.

Mads Ostberg (Ford) set the 6th provisional time ahead of Sébastien Ogier (Ford), Elfyn Evans (Ford), Dani Sordo (Hyundai) and the Toyotas of Juho Hänninen and Esapekka Lappi. Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) is only 12th ahead of Stéphane Lefebvre (Citroën) without being able to explain his lagging performance.

Hayden Paddon takes the lead of the Rally Portugal ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala and Kris Meeke. Mads Ostberg and Craig Breen complete the top five ahead of Sébastien Ogier, Ott Tänak, Elfyn Evans, Dani Sordo and Juho Hänninen who completes the top ten around ten seconds behind the leader. Thierry Neuville follows in 11th place ahead of Stéphane Lefebvre.

 

11h

Lappi finishes his first real WRC special 9s behind Paddon. “It was very slippery and it got more complicated as the stage progressed, but I was still good at the wheel. I'm in a good place, but I can't take advantage of it yet. Maybe next year. » The Toyota driver is on the edge of the top ten, less than a second behind his compatriot and teammate Hänninen.

11h

Ostberg drops less than 5s to Paddon. “There were quite a few stones that we had to avoid. » The Ford private driver is in 4th place in the ranking, 4″6 behind leader Paddon.

11h

Lefebvre is the slowest with 15″5 behind the provisional scratch. “I'm going to change tires for the next special. » The Citroën driver is 4″2 behind Neuville in the standings.

11h

Hänninen finished 9s behind Paddon's provisional scratch. The Toyota driver finds himself 9th with 2 seconds ahead of Neuville.

11h

Meeke signs the 3rd provisional time, 1″2 off the provisional scratch. The Citroën driver is in 3rd place in the standings. “I started off at a good pace. We'll see how the day continues. I am satisfied with my car. »

11h

Paddon takes the provisional scratch with a time of 15'44″3, one second better than Latvala. The Hyundai driver finds himself provisionally in the lead with a 2″4 lead over the Toyota driver.

11h

Breen achieves the same time as Tänak, clocking in at 2″9 from Latvala’s provisional scratch. The Citroën driver finds himself 2nd in the standings, 3″4 behind the Finn. “The car is perfect, it’s absolutely what I wanted. I feel really good behind the wheel. »

11h

Evans is 3 tenths ahead of Sordo by taking 4th provisional time, 7 seconds behind Latvala. The Dmack driver is provisionally 4th in the ranking, 2s behind Tänak. “Grip levels are changing and it’s hard to get your bearings. »

11h

Sordo achieves the 4th provisional time, 7″3 behind Latvala. The Spaniard is more than 4 seconds ahead of his teammate Neuville.

11h

Tänak is the closest to Latvala with 2″9 behind. The Estonian is tied in the standings with Ogier.

11h

Neuville lost almost 12 seconds against Latvala. “I don’t know why I wasted so much time. Maybe I took the wrong route! I've never had good results in Portugal and I try to stay careful. »

11h

Latvala sets a time of 15'45″3 and is ahead of Ogier by 4″6. “I almost got caught at the first turn because the track was very slippery. »

11h

Neuville lost time. The Hyundai driver found himself more than 6s behind Ogier in the 3rd inter.

11h

Ogier set a first time of 15'49″9. “I can't go any faster than that. I am satisfied with my time considering my position. »

11h

Latvala only has a 1″8 lead over Ogier in the 3rd intermediate.

11h

Tänak has a tenth lead over Latvala in the 2nd intermediate. It is the fastest among the first slender pilots.

11h

Neuville also made up time from Ogier in the 2nd intermediate but the Hyundai driver was still 5s behind Latvala. Tänak and Sordo are ahead of the Frenchman from the first intermediate.

11h

Latvala regains time from Ogier with a 5″8 lead over the Frenchman in the 2nd intermediate. Neuville is 1″6 behind the M-Sport driver in the first split.

11h

A light shower soaked the roads for the first stages of the stage.

No more live text

Read also