Rally Portugal 2019
10h
Ott Tänak (Toyota) failed 9 seconds behind his teammate Kris Meeke in SS8 of the Rally of Portugal. The Estonian mentioned significant problems with his brakes while there are still 2 races to go before the next service.
Kris Meeke completed the 20,53km Vieira do Minho special in 12'59''3, 3 seconds ahead of his teammate Jari-Matti Latvala. Sébastien Ogier (Citroën) was closest to the first Yaris WRC with 4 seconds behind, ahead of his rival Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) by a second. The Belgian's team chose to start Dani Sordo behind the Frenchman so that he would have a less swept route. Esapekka Lappi (Citroën) and Teemu Suninen (M-Sport) followed 6 seconds ahead of M-Sport drivers Gus Greensmith and Elfyn Evans. Sébastien Loeb (Hyundai) opened the road, failing at 15 seconds.
Ott Tänak keeps the lead at Rally Portugal but only has a lead of 11s over Jari-Matti Latvala. Kris Meeke remains 3rd but is back 3”2 behind the Finn. Thierry Neuville remains 5th with half a second ahead of Sébastien Ogier. Teemu Suninen still occupies 4th place ahead of Esapekka Lappi who took over from Gus Greensmith. Kalle Rovanperä (Skoda) remains at the lead of WRC 6 Pro with 2 seconds ahead of Jan Kopecky (Skoda).
10h
Tänak fails 9s behind Meeke's scratch. His lead over Latvala is now only 11″3. The Estonian suffers from brake problems!
10h
Tänak lost time in the special, 9s behind his teammate Meeke in the 3rd split.
10h
Latvala sets the 2nd provisional time, placing 3s behind his teammate Meeke who is 2″5 behind 2nd place. “It’s okay because I’m managing the tires for the next SS. »
10h
Meeke improves Ogier's time by 4″6. The Northern Irishman is aiming for 2nd place from his teammate Latvala. “We need a gap of 4 minutes between each WRC because there is too much dust. My time is good. »
10h
Neuville drops 1″1 to Ogier and maintains 4th position for half a second ahead of the Citroën driver. “I did a good SS but there was a lot of dust. I'm having a little trouble with the behavior of the car when I have 2 spare wheels on board. »
10h
Meeke now has a lead of more than 4 seconds over Ogier in the 2nd split. Neuville is 2 tenths behind Ogier at the last score. Tänak is 4 tenths behind Meeke in the first split.
10h
Sordo ranks almost 6s from the reference being closest to Ogier. The Hyundai driver will take a penalty for starting late to favor Neuville but the Spaniard is only 49th in the standings. “We are working towards Sardinia…” explains the pilot.
10h
Neuville is 9 tenths behind Ogier in the 2nd split. Meeke is currently the fastest with 3 seconds ahead of Ogier at the first intermediate.
10h
Ogier signs the provisional scratch 10 seconds ahead of his teammate Lappi. The Frenchman is aiming for 4th place in Neuville. “I don't have much to say about Hyundai's strategy. It's unfortunate to have such a small gap between the cars because we are slowed down by the dust. »
10h
Ogier increases the pace with more than 5 seconds ahead of his teammate Lappi in the 3rd split. Sordo is about a second behind the Frenchman in the previous split. Neuville is 3 tenths behind the Citroën driver in the first sector.
10h
Suninen misses the provisional scratch by a tenth behind. The M-Sport driver remains 6th with less than 8 seconds ahead of Lappi. “There was a lot of dust but everyone suffers from it so I can't complain about it. »
10h
Suninen is 1″2 behind Lappi in the 3rd sector.
10h
Greensmith drops 2″6 to Lappi and cedes his 7th place to the Citroën driver for a second delay. “The dust is getting worse and worse but I'm happy to be in the fight. »
10h
Ogier is the fastest in the 2nd sector with a dozen seconds ahead of Loeb, but Sordo is a little faster in the first split.
10h
Ogier is on the pace with 2 tenths behind Suninen in the first split.
Hyundai's strategy with Sordo sweeping only for Neuville risks being useless, with crews slowed down by airborne dust.
09h
Lappi only managed to improve Evans' time by 3 seconds. The Citroën driver could take 7th place from Greensmith. “I couldn't see anything, I had to brake. I might hit something. The gap between each car is not sufficient. »
09h
Lappi has to slow down due to the heavy dust in certain areas.
09h
Suninen starts strong with a 7″5 lead over Loeb in the first split. This is 4 tenths better than Lappi who is ahead of the Alsatian by more than 4 seconds in the 16rd sector.
09h
Evans improves Loeb’s performance by 8″9. The Welshman should quickly return to the Top 15. “It was very complicated with the dust. »
Read also
