Rally Portugal – SS6: Adrien Fourmaux and Alexandre Coria lead after the first loop of the day

We were waiting with bated breath for Hyundai So Rally from Portugal, and so far, they haven't disappointed us! At the end of the three special stages this morning, Adrien fourmaux Alexandre Coria and Alexandre Coria are leading the overall standings ahead of Sami Pajari and Marko Salminen, who set two fastest times in three special stages, and Sébastien Ogier and Vincent Landais, third. Beyond the hierarchy, it's the gaps that are most important to analyze, as the three leading crews are incredibly close, eight seconds apart to be precise. Behind them, Thierry Neuville, 4th, remains in contention with notably the best time in SS6, while Oliver Solberg is currently 5th.

Having to open the road, Elfyn Evans and Takamoto Katsuta, the first two to start today, are understandably already lagging behind. The Welshman tried everything, but could only acknowledge the damage at midday and is 15,2 seconds behind the leader at the end of SS6. As for his Japanese teammate, the situation is even worse, as the winner of Kenya and Croatia is already 34,7 seconds behind Adrien Fourmaux. Also noteworthy is the strong performance within the [team/group/etc.] M-Sport, by Josh McErlean, leader of the Ford Puma Rally1 at the moment.

Before tackling the final four stages of the day, all crews must stop in Arganil for remote service. There, they will be able to change tires and possibly some spare parts that may have been previously loaded onto the cars, but the assistance from the technical teams will be minimal. Therefore, they will need to exercise caution once again to reach Matosinhos safely this evening.

Rain reshuffled the cards in WRC2, falling right in the middle of the final stage. Yohan Rossel and Arnaud Dunand, who struggled this morning due to their starting positions, set the fastest time on SS6 and are now just 1,6 seconds behind the overall leader, Alejandro Cachón. Between them, Jan Solans is only two-tenths of a second behind his compatriot.

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WRC – Rally Portugal
The provisional overall standings for SS6

The provisional overall standings after SS6