14 new WRCs in Portugal

After the Argentinian event won by the Hyundai i20 Thierry Neuville, WRC will return to Europe in a week for the first gravel round contested on the continent on the occasion of the Rally from Portugal.

The opportunity for spectators to admire 14 cars meeting WRC 2017 regulations, which will constitute a record this year. The three “official” Ford Fiestas of the Team M-Sport de Sébastien Ogier, Ott Tänak and Elfyn Evans, strongman of the Rally Argentina, will be accompanied by the example fielded by Mads Ostberg.

Citroën Racing will enter the three C3 WRCs for Kris Meeke, Craig Breen and Stéphane Lefebvre, after going back to two cars in Argentina, plus a fourth example for Khalid Al-Qassimi.

If Hyundai Motorsport will still feature its three i20 Coupes for Neuville – Paddon – Sordo, Toyota will line up for the first time three Yaris for its usual Latvala – Hänninen tandem, which will this time be supported by a third Finn, Esapekka Lappi.

The older generation WRCs will also be represented with Martin Prokop (Ford), Valeriy Gorban (Mini) and Jean-Michel Raoux (Citroën). In WRC-2, Andreas Mikkelsen (Skoda) should face his teammate Pontus Tidemand, but also M-Sport drivers Eric Camilli and Teemu Suninen (Ford).

The French clan will be reinforced in the category by Yohan Rossel (Citroën), Quentin Gilbert (Skoda), Pierre-Louis Loubet (Ford) and Yoann Bonato (Citroën).

2017 Rally Portugal entry list