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 climbing 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 at 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 damage to the rear suspension, while Tänak put on an impressive performance and won the stage. He became the fifth different leader in 12 stages, but only by a small margin of 0.2 seconds. The rally became even more unpredictable as Toyota’s challenge faltered.
The attention then turned to Hyundai and specifically to Ott Tänak, who suffered a puncture on 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 off Ogier’s lead in the following stage. However, Ogier reacted and extended his lead by defeating Tänak in the final stages of the day.
Derrière le duo de tête, Dani Sordo a conservé la quatrième position, suivi par Adrien Fourmaux de M-Sport. Evans, quant à lui, a rencontré des difficultés et n’a pas eu de chance. À la fin de la journée, Ogier avait une avance de 11,9 secondes sur Tänak, avec Neuville derrière de près d’une minute, mais toujours devant Sordo.
Dans la catégorie WRC2, Yohan Rossel a pris la tête après le tonneau de Solberg, avec Gus Greensmith juste derrière. Cependant, la journée de Greensmith s’est aggravée à l’étape 14, lorsqu’il s’est retrouvé coincé dans un banc, permettant à Nikolay Gryazin de prendre la tête.
Dimanche apporterait quatre étapes supplémentaires et 62km de course, maintenant l’excitation en vie lors du Rallye du Portugal.
