Neuville advances towards third place, Rovenpera takes over after the first day of competition in Portugal gathering

After the first day of competition, World Champion Cali Rovanpera (Toyota) is in the lead. The young Finn won two stages on Friday afternoon, taking the lead from the punctured Ott Tanak (Ford) and ending the day 10.8 seconds ahead of Dani Sordo (Hyundai).

Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) was third, 26 seconds behind.

“Actually, everything went according to plan,” said the Belgian at the end. “Sometimes the feeling just wasn’t there and I couldn’t push. I wanted to do it but it just wasn’t possible because otherwise I would have gone off the track. So I just had to take it easy. We’re going to make some adjustments towards tomorrow that does the car so we should be able to Pay more.”

World Championship leader Elvin Evans (Toyota) ran off the track and had to retire. His Toyota was badly damaged in the process. It remains to be seen if Evans can start again on Saturday.

Seven classification stages will start on Saturday, including the double crossing on Amarante, which is a stage of 37.24 km.

Thierry Neuville had to be content with an eighth fastest time. In his first run he was 0.1 seconds slower than Tanak. Then it took a long time before the Belgian started again. Neuville played with the setup and holed up on his final passes.

“Having lost the lead in Croatia through my own mistake, I want to do everything I can to win here,” Neuville said. “But this will be a challenge. We must not have any problems and we must avoid punctures. Let’s first get through tomorrow’s stages in one piece so that we have a good starting position for Saturday.”

Owns Elfyn Evans (Toyota Yaris Rally1) get away He won the Rally de Portugal. Evans was just over 0.1 seconds faster than Esapekka Lappi (Hyundai i20 N Rally1). Ott Tänak (Ford Puma Rally1) was the third fastest. He finished in the top five, just 0.9 seconds behind.

The Rally Portugal racketeering was organized in Baltar. Participants were put in front of a 4.61km course – which doesn’t really represent what’s to come in the days ahead. Evans had to start first as a World Cup leader. On the second pass, he recorded the fastest time and was 3.9 seconds faster than the first pass.

“It won’t be so easy tomorrow. We know what it’s like on the dry GC stages. We have to make the most of it,” Evans said after the race. get away. As World Cup captain, Evans should be the first on the right track on Friday. Co-captain Sebastien Ogier leads a limited championship and passes to Portugal. He will usually be present in Sardinia early next month.