Rally Portugal 2019
11h
The crews are now preparing for the longest stage of the Rally Portugal, the 37,6km Amarante. Loeb is expected to start at 11:47 a.m.
11h
Ott Tänak (Toyota) was able to repair his Yaris WRC for the 9th special of the Rally of Portugal, the Estonian finishing 4 tenths behind his teammate Jari-Matti Latvala's scratch. The Finn completed the 22,22km of Cabeceiras de Basto. Kris Meeke (Toyota) followed less than 3 seconds away, giving the Japanese manufacturer a new hat-trick.
Sébastien Ogier (Citroën) was on the pace 4 seconds behind, gaining 7 tenths from Thierry Neuville (Hyundai). Esapekka Lappi (Citroën) followed 8 seconds ahead of M-Sport drivers Teemu Suninen, Gus Greensmith and Elfyn Evans. Sébastien Loeb (Hyundai) again suffered from his opening position, finishing 27 seconds behind the benchmark.
Ott Tänak maintains an 11-second lead over Jari-Matti Latvala at Rally Portugal. Kris Meeke remains on the provisional podium, 5 seconds behind the Finn. Sébastien Ogier overtook Thierry Neuville with a 2 tenths lead. Teemu Suninen remains 6th with less than 6 seconds ahead of Esapekka Lappi. Far behind Gus Greensmith, Elfyn Evans moved up to 9th place ahead of Kalle Rovanperä (Skoda), the leader of WRC 2 Pro.
11h
Latvala took the scratch in the special, 3 tenths ahead of his teammate Tänak. The Estonian maintains the lead with an 11s lead over Latvala. Meeke follows at 5″2.
11h
Latvala has reached the finish but his time is not yet known. The Finn had a lead of more than 2 seconds over Meeke at the last split.
11h
Meeke takes the provisional reference with 2 tenths in advance but Tänak is faster in the special. The Northern Irishman could take 2nd place from his teammate Latvala.
11h
Tänak's problems seem to be resolved. The Toyota driver has a tenth lead over his teammate Meeke in the first split.
11h
Neuville sets the 3rd provisional time, 7 tenths behind Ogier. The Citroën driver takes 4th place for a lead of 2 tenths.
11h
Sordo takes the provisional scratch with a 1″1 lead over Ogier. The Hyundai driver is no longer playing after his fuel problems the day before.
11h
Ogier improves his teammate Lappi’s time by 3″9 but the Hyundais of Sordo and Neuville seem faster…
10h
Suninen is closest to Lappi with 2″3 behind. The M-Sport driver maintains his 6th place with a 5″6 lead over the Citroën.
10h
Greensmith finished 8″8 behind Lappi. The M-Sport driver who now occupies 8th place suffered a scare at the end of the course when he found himself on 2 wheels.
10h
Lappi improves Evans' time by 11″7. The Citroën driver is now aiming for 6th position from Suninen.
10h
Evans beats Loeb's time by 7″2. The M-Sport driver should recover the 11th place occupied by Kopecky.
10h
Loeb completed the special with a time of 14'09″8.
10h
Evans continues to gain time on Loeb, now more than 7s ahead in the 5th intermediate position. Lappi has a 12s lead in the previous split. Greensmith passed the 2nd sector with a 2s lead over the Hyundai.
10h
Evans increased his lead to more than 6s over Loeb in the 4th split. Greensmith is on the pace of the Alsatian in the first sector and continues to surprise on his WRC debut.
10h
Lappi leads Evans by more than 4s in the 3rd split. Loeb points at 10s at the same place.
10h
Evans leads Loeb by more than 5s in the 3rd split. Lappi is almost 3 seconds ahead of the Alsatian in the first sector.
10h
The organizers increased the distance between each car with a 4-minute gap in order to limit airborne dust.
10h
Tänak will need his brakes to complete the first pass. The crews will end the morning with the 37,6km Amarante, the longest SS of the Rally Portugal.
