Thierry Neuville registered the fastest time in the first stage of the Rally de Portugal, covering a distance of 2.94 km. He was 0.6 seconds faster than Sebastian Ogier.
The current championship leader is aware that he will face a challenging day clearing the roads in his Hyundai.
Earlier, Dani Sordo, who is participating in his first rally since last year’s Rally Japan Forum8, achieved the fastest time in the warm-up stage.
Tire performance will be crucial over the two days. On Friday, there will be two stages of 63.45 km each, and teams will have the opportunity to change tires after the first four stages. However, there will be no service available during the 126.9 km of gravel stages.
Let the competition begin…
