Toyota Gazoo Racing had a successful day at the Rally de Portugal, with Kalle Rovanperä leading the pack, followed by Sebastian Ogier and Takamoto Katsuta. The team was pleased with their performance and eagerly awaited the next stages of the day.
Saturday started well for Toyota, with Ott Tänak showing great skill in his i20 N and moving up to fourth place. The team maintained their 1-2 position, with Rovanperä in the lead and Ogier close behind. However, things changed in the second stage of the day.
Rovanperä made a mistake and hit a tree, causing his Toyota GR Yaris to roll over. Meanwhile, Oliver Solberg, who was leading in the WRC2 category, also rolled over. Tänak, Neuville, and Evans all spun in the same corner. These events shook up the standings, with Ogier taking the lead and Tänak close behind.
In the next stage, Takamoto had to retire due to rear suspension damage, while Tänak put on an impressive performance and won the stage. He became the fifth different leader in 12 stages, but only by a narrow margin of 0.2 seconds. The rally became even more unpredictable as Toyota’s challenge faltered.
The focus then shifted to Hyundai and specifically to Ott Tänak, who suffered a puncture in the left rear tire and lost 20 seconds. This gave Ogier a slight advantage, but Tänak was determined to recover from the setback. He won the next stage, reducing Ogier’s lead by 3.2 seconds. Tänak continued to push and cut another 2.6 seconds from Ogier’s lead in the following stage. However, Ogier reacted and extended his lead by defeating Tänak in the last stages of the day.
Behind the leading duo, Dani Sordo held on to fourth place, followed by Adrien Fourmaux of M-Sport. Evans, on the other hand, faced difficulties and did not have a lucky moment. By the end of the day, Ogier had an 11.9-second advantage over Tänak, with Neuville trailing by almost a minute, but still ahead of Sordo.
In the WRC2 category, Yohan Rossel took the lead after Solberg’s rollover, with Gus Greensmith close behind. However, Greensmith’s day worsened in stage 14, when he got stuck on a bank, allowing Nikolay Gryazin to take the lead.
Sunday would bring four more stages and 62km of racing, keeping the excitement alive in the Rally de Portugal.
