Three consecutive victories in the World Rally Championship (WRC) at just 21 years old is unheard of. Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota) continued to assert his authority over this 2022 season by winning the Rally of Portugal this Sunday, May 22.

The Finn, victorious on the Swedish ice then the Croatian tarmac, recorded his fifth WRC success, thanks to driving free of any errors. His runner-up Elfyn Evans was in control of the event Friday afternoon and Saturday, but in pure speed, the Welshman was unable to fight. Proof of this is that Kalle Rovanperä is the best performer of the weekend with 8 scratch times!

The hat-trick signed by Toyota, we had already seen this during the 2019 season, in Germany). We will not see him again at the 2022 Rally Portugal, the fault of a wild Dani Sordo in the legendary Fafe special.

The podium is therefore completed by the Spanish veteran, who puts in a magnificent performance for his first stint at the wheel of a Rally1 hybrid in 2022. 

At M-Sport Ford, the best performer is French, but not the one who was favored by the forecasts. Sébastien Loeb retired on Saturday due to a loss of power in his hybrid Puma, Adrien Fourmaux took it easy to finish his first rally of the year, so it's Pierre-Louis Loubet who brings the greatest number of points to Malcolm Wilson!

Victim of a brake problem, Craig Breen had to settle for eighth place, ahead of Fourmaux.

This final special will have smiled on Yohan Rossel (Citroën). While a second place beckoned him in WRC2, the outgoing WRC3 champion took advantage of an unexpected error from Teemu Suninen (Hyundai) to steal first position at the last minute!

The Finn actually went out into the trees after 40 seconds of special. If the crew was unhurt, the car was not. Thanks to this second consecutive success, as well as the retirement of title holder Andreas Mikkelsen (Skoda, broken engine), the Frenchman from the PH Sport team is the new leader of WRC2!

“It’s really a shame for Teemu, I’m sorry for him,” Yohan Rossel first declared. Second place already satisfied me, but now, winning on gravel is great. I think I still have a lot of work to do before Rally Sardinia. The whole team and my co-driver are highly motivated for the rest of the championship. »

Kalle Rovanperä wins the 2022 Rally Portugal and the Power Stage! He scores 30 points!

Dani Sordo gave everything and set the best time with a 1″ margin over Tänak and Neuville! He passes Takamoto Katsuta for 2″1!

It's over for Suninen, his Hyundai is no longer moving on the side of the road! Yohan Rossel was informed of this crash because he has not yet started the special! The Frenchman just has to drive calmly to win the WRC2!

Terrible !! Teemu Suninen went off the road! An improbable accident for the Finn when he could afford to ride peacefully! We don't know if the Hyundai was able to leave!