Rovanpera leads by a narrow margin over Ogier; Deaf, 5th
Kalle Rovanperä led the 2024 Rally Portugal WRC in stage six, but his lead never went beyond second place as the reigning world champion suffered from a GR Yaris he didn’t like. The Finn, who finished third on Friday morning, retained his lead despite a final attack from Sebastien Ogier, who moved from fourth to second in the closing stages of the day.
The battle at the front was incredibly tight, with the gap between the top four being 5.4 seconds. Takamoto Katsuta finished the day in third position (+4.7), leading after the morning lap and holding second position until the final stage. Ott Tänak, who had been struggling with his i20N all day on Friday, managed to take third place before dropping to fourth place.
Dani Sordo took three stage wins in his return to the World Rally Championship and has since finished fifth. (+17.9 seconds), 2 tenths ahead of his teammate and championship leader Thierry Neuville. Faced with a disadvantage on the first track, the Belgian limited the damage by finishing in a strong second place in the morning and dropped to sixth (+18.1) after the afternoon lap.
Adrien Fourmeau drove competently and remained seventh (+31.8), ahead of Evans (+1:43.2), who lost time due to a puncture on SS7, and his co-driver Scott Martin was left without a road book. Gregoire Munster (2:27.3) completed the Rally1 group. The top ten is completed by WRC2 class leader Oliver Solberg, 7.3 seconds ahead of Johan Rossel.
Katsuta’s lead in the afternoon was short-lived. The Japanese almost lost their airbag after the first day stage (SS6, Lousa, 12.28 km). The second pass had a much drier and abrasive surface, which presented a much greater problem.
It was Ogier who set the pace after taking advantage of some set-up changes made in the midday tire fitting area. The five-time winner of the competition in Portugal was 1.1 seconds faster than Rovanpera, with Sordo third, 2.2 seconds behind. Ogier’s efforts were enough to rise from fifth to third place in the entire table.
“The tire helps, but we have made some small changes,” said the Frenchman, who decided to carry only one spare wheel. “I feel a little better now, but we’ve had better days. There’s no fun without risk“.
The stage brought even better news for Rovanpera, who led the rally by a tenth over Katsuta, who lost 4.5 seconds. Finn said he is still struggling with his car, which “I still wasn’t 100% ready,” especially in the tough spots.“.
Neuville also lost second place, dropping to fifth overall, 5.4 seconds back. Neuville and co-driver Martin Videg had a timesheet issue late in the race before it was quickly resolved. His title rival Elfyn Evans continued to suffer from morning setup problems. The Welshman lost by 10.9 seconds, while just 6.9 separated the top six overall.
Evans’ difficult start to the rally was compounded by two problems on SS7 (Geus, 14.30 km). His co-pilot Scott Martin had to hand over cell phone records after he left the route book on the SS6 control room table.. Martin got out of the car to go to the time control after Neville was delayed. To make matters worse, the right front tire came off, causing a loss of 52.6 seconds, putting them out of contention.
Sordo won the stage and finished fifth overall, ahead of Neuville, who was 4.9 seconds slower. Rovanperä set the third fastest time of the race, one tenth faster than Katsuta, allowing the former to double his overall lead to two tenths. “It’s hard, we’re definitely far from where the car should be,” said a frustrated Rovanperä.. “I’m struggling all the time, we’re understeering, so the tire wear is getting worse and worse.” The gap between the top six continued to close to 6.3 seconds, with Fourmaux moving 19.3 clear of the lead.
The fight for victory took a new turn at the penultimate stage (Arganil, 18.72 km). Despite the problems Rovanperä took her first stage win in 2024., beating Tanaka, also suffering from Hyundai, by one tenth. “I tried so hard, it’s not pleasant. You have to try very hard, but overall nothing works out.“Said the Estonian from Hyundai Motorsport, who moved up to third position overall after Ogier lost 2.4 seconds due to a problem with the hybrid part.
Rovanpera was able to extend his lead in the rally over Katsuta to just one second thanks to a huge effort from the Japanese, who reached the end of the stage with a gap of 8 tenths. It was another stage marked by narrow margins, with the top seven finishers finishing under 6.6 seconds. Evans and Martin battled bravely, with the latter using his assist entries to lose just 14.7 seconds. “Things are not going well for us,” commented a Toyota representative.
At the last stage there was another shake-up in the classification caused by the striker Ogier. The Frenchman, aiming for a better starting position on Saturday, He set a devilish pace and won the race, 3.2 seconds ahead of Rovanpera. These efforts saw him pass Katsuta and Tanaka into second place overall. Saturday will consist of nine sections with a total length of 145.02 kilometers.
WRC classification 2024 Rally Portugal after SS9