Rally Portugal 2019
15h
Teemu Suninen (M-Sport) equalized the scratch of Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota) in SS4 of the Rally of Portugal, Lousa's second pass, completed in 9'02''5 by the two Finns. Elfyn Evans (M-Sport) missed the benchmark by a tenth. Ott Tänak (Toyota) followed at 1”5 just ahead of Sébastien Loeb (Hyundai) and Kris Meeke (Toyota). Esapekka Lappi (Citroën) finished 3 seconds behind, ahead of Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) and Sébastien Ogier (Citroën).
Ott Tänak retains the lead of the Rally Portugal with a 5s lead over Jari-Matti Latvala. Kris Meeke holds on to 4rd place, still 3”1 ahead of Teemu Suninen. Elfyn Evans still completes the Top 2, but Thierry Neuville has taken 5th position for 6 tenths ahead of Sébastien Ogier. Gus Greensmith (M-Sport) remains 2th ahead of Esapekka Lappi (Citroën).
Mads Ostberg (Citroën) received a penalty for clocking in late, as did the Hyundais of Sébastien Loeb and Dani Sordo who suffered mechanical problems.
15h
Ogier is already setting off on the 5km SS18,78 in Gois.
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Suninen equalizes Latvala's scratch in the special and takes 1″8 from Meeke. The M-Sport driver is 1″2 from 3rd position.
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Suninen is half a second behind Latvala in the 2nd split and is a few tenths ahead of Meeke.
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Latvala snatches the provisional scratch from Evans for a tenth in advance! The Finn came back to 5″4 behind Tänak, gaining a little more than a second from him. “We are satisfied. »
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Suninen still sets off at a good pace, half a second behind Evans in the first partial. Latvala is ahead of the provisional reference by 3 tenths in the 2nd intermediate.
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This is the 3rd provisional time for Loeb who ranks 1″5 behind Evans. The Alsatian is riding for training after losing a lot of time this morning. “These are the last moments where we can go quickly because afterwards we will sweep. »
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Loeb is in the mix with 6 tenths behind Evans in the 2nd split.
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This is the 4th provisional time for Lappi who ranks less than 3s from the provisional scratch. “It’s not too bad of a course. There are quite a few stones on the road, we can't avoid them all. » The Citroën driver must fight to get back into 8th place from Greensmith.
15h
Loeb is 3 tenths behind Tänak in the first partial, with a few tenths ahead of Lappi. The Alsatian is still in the race despite his quarter of an hour delay following problems with fuel pressure.
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Evans takes the provisional scratch by 1″4 ahead of Tänak. “We rode well,” says the Welshman before leaving to prepare for the next course and cool down his mechanics. The M-Sport driver is 6s behind the provisional podium completed by Meeke.
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Lappi passes the first sector half a second behind Tänak. The Citroën driver fell in the standings following his puncture in SS3.
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Evans keeps the lead with 8 tenths ahead of Tänak in the 2nd intermediate.
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Meeke finally missed the provisional scratch by 3 tenths behind Tänak. The Northern Irishman is in 3rd position. “We're new to the hard tires here, but it's okay. »
15h
Evans further improves the pace with a second ahead of Tänak at the first intermediate. Meeke maintains an advantage of 4 tenths over Tänak in the 2nd split.
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Meeke has the best pace with half a second ahead of his teammate Tänak in the first split.
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Neuville ranks 2″4 behind Tänak, gaining 7 tenths from Ogier. The Hyundai driver took 6th place, 2 tenths ahead of the Frenchman. “The special was good. I still struggled a bit with the car but we improved the settings and it's much better now. »
15h
Neuville was almost 2s behind Tänak in the 2nd split, ahead of Ogier by half a second. The Belgian and the Frenchman are perfectly tied in the general classification.
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Tänak improves Ogier’s time by 3″1. The Frenchman is 26s from the lead of the race. “I rode well, but the ground is softer now. »
15h
Tänak is now ahead of Ogier by 2″4 while Neuville is already more than a second behind the provisional reference in the first split.
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