Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Staff’s Sébastien Ogier has secured a second successive win along with his record-breaking sixth victory on the Rally de Portugal.
Identical to within the earlier spherical on the asphalt roads of Croatia, Ogier and co-driver Vincent Landais triumphed after an exhilarating and shut battle on Portugal’s gravel phases. Only one second from the lead on the finish of Friday, Ogier took over on the entrance on Saturday morning as others hit hassle, and used all his expertise to get by means of the longest day of the rally with a bonus of 11.9 seconds.
He elevated his margin with a storming stage win in a foggy first take a look at on Sunday morning, permitting him to use extra warning within the following exams and finally take victory by 7.9s.
Ogier now has extra WRC victories in Portugal than every other driver, having matched Finnish legend Markku Alén’s tally of 5 wins again in 2017. TGR-WRT in the meantime has now gained the final 5 editions of the occasion with 4 totally different drivers, bringing Toyota stage with Lancia and Citroën on eight victories every throughout the historical past of the rally.
Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin completed sixth total, securing some essential factors after a troublesome begin to the rally on Friday. They confronted an extra problem on Sunday after harm to the cooling package deal within the penultimate stage, however made repairs on the highway part to make sure they reached the end. They continue to be second within the championship, 24 factors from the leaders.
Kalle Rovanperä led after Friday however went off the highway on Saturday’s second stage. He and Jonne Halttunen restarted on Sunday and took third within the Energy Stage, serving to to financial institution some further factors for the group.
Takamoto Katsuta was additionally amongst these combating for the lead early on earlier than he too stopped on Saturday morning after choosing up harm. He and Aaron Johnston rejoined the motion on Sunday and had been fifth within the Tremendous Sunday and Energy Stage classifications. The producers’ standings stay shut after 5 rounds, with TGR-WRT now 4 factors from the lead.
TGR is celebrating a double victory in Portugal after the primary WRC2 win for the brand new GR Yaris Rally2 automobile on its gravel debut at this stage. Jan Solans and co-driver Rodrigo Sanjuan (Teo Martín Motorsport) climbed the order within the highly-competitive class on Saturday and clinched first place by simply 3.2 seconds on the end.
Quotes:
Akio Toyoda (TGR-WRT Chairman)
“Seb, Vincent, congratulations in your two consecutive wins in Portugal!
Irrespective of how powerful the gravel floor was, Seb was at all times calm. Irrespective of how shut and electrifying the competitors was, Seb was at all times smiling to the followers. When one thing occurred, he calmly knowledgeable the engineers concerning the state of affairs and obtained again to the phases. Then he comes again to the end line sooner than anybody else. I’m grateful to have such a “true skilled” driver in our group. Seb, thanks once more.
This weekend, there was each a disappointing factor and an excellent factor. The disappointing factor was that the opposite three automobiles weren’t capable of drive by means of with out issues. Final 12 months as properly, we gained the occasion, however the different two automobiles skilled troubles. So this 12 months, our purpose was for all 4 automobiles to have a trouble-free rally, nevertheless it turned a irritating consequence for us once more. Alternatively, the nice factor which made me completely happy was that the group was calmer than earlier than, no matter sort of drawback they had been going through. Many issues occurred throughout the weekend, however I heard everybody tried to remain calm and discover a resolution. It’s good to see the group develop. The group will get stronger as every member will get stronger, and because the group will get stronger, the GR YARIS Rally1 will develop into ever higher and stronger. We nonetheless have numerous powerful occasions forward of us this season, however I hope to proceed to develop with everyone within the group.
P.S. to Scott
Let’s watch out to not neglect issues! However the backup you probably did was nice!
P.S. to Elfyn
I can relate to you as my co-driver typically forgets issues! Possibly we drivers ought to attempt to help co-drivers as properly!”
Jari-Matti Latvala (Staff Principal)
“Successful a rally is at all times a particular feeling and we will be very completely happy to have taken one other victory right here in Portugal with Seb, persevering with our profitable run on this nice occasion. It’s incredible to see Seb’s nice strategy to those occasions and the way he handles the state of affairs below stress: it reveals why he’s an eight-time world champion, and now a report six-time winner on this occasion. After all, it’s barely combined emotions total as a result of we couldn’t rating as many factors as we’d have favored for championship. However that state of affairs is what it’s and we simply have to battle again there within the subsequent occasions.”
Kalle Rovanperä (driver automobile 69)
“An enormous thanks to the group for fixing the automobile after the frustration of yesterday, and sorry to them for shedding such essential factors. It was good to be again out as we speak nevertheless it was not straightforward, cleansing the highway was even more durable than we anticipated. On the Energy Stage we actually tried our greatest, I assumed it was an excellent drive and a clear run, however the highway was cleansing a lot that the blokes behind got here a bit sooner. Nonetheless we obtained a number of factors so we did what we may to assist the group. It was not the weekend we needed however we’ll come again stronger.”
Elfyn Evans (driver automobile 33)
“This morning issues had been going a bit higher than yesterday, however within the third stage we had a rock affect on the underside of the automobile that broken the radiator. After that we needed to get the automobile by means of in EV mode, and we managed to make a restore to get to the end however sadly we didn’t get any further factors from the day. We undoubtedly discovered a greater feeling within the automobile however there are nonetheless a few areas to work on. Not less than we’ve some solutions from the weekend. We’ll attempt to flip issues round and have a stronger rally in Sardinia.”
Sébastien Ogier (driver automobile 17)
“To take one other win feels nice. It’s good to attain some extra cool numbers and I’ve to get pleasure from and cherish these moments. I had nothing towards being tied on 5 wins for a number of years with Markku Alén as a result of for me he’s a legend and I’ve big respect for him, however I’ve been requested many instances once I was going to take the report and now lastly it occurred. It was one other intense battle for everybody to observe and for us within the automobile there was no second to loosen up. I believe the way in which we managed the whole lot was near excellent: we may at all times keep in rivalry for the win with out taking most danger when it didn’t really feel 100 per cent.”
Takamoto Katsuta (driver automobile 18)
“After all it’s fairly disappointing nonetheless that we retired yesterday as a result of we may have had a a lot better consequence. However I had an excellent feeling with the automobile right here, it felt actually good till that second yesterday. At this time was not really easy as a result of we had been with out hybrid for some phases and the highway place wasn’t good for us, nevertheless it was good to a minimum of get some factors. I attempted to maintain pushing each stage as a lot as I can and discovered loads. There are some positives to take and now I concentrate on Sardinia, attempt to put together properly and hold pushing.”
PROVISIONAL FINAL CLASSIFICATION, RALLY DE PORTUGAL
1 Sébastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID) 3h41m32.3s
2 Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (Hyundai i20 N Rally1 HYBRID) +7.9s
3 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1 HYBRID) +1m09.8s
4 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Ford Puma Rally1 HYBRID) +1m47.8s
5 Dani Sordo/Cándido Carrera (Hyundai i20 N Rally1 HYBRID) +2m48.9s
6 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID) +6m36.0s
7 Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov (Citroën C3 Rally2) +11m48.4s
8 Jan Solans/Rodrigo Sanjuan (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +11m52.9s
9 Josh McErlean/James Fulton (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +11m56.1s
10 Lauri Joona/Janni Hussi (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +13m40.3s
29 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID) +1h10m33.8s
31 Kalle Rovanperä/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID) +1h20m54.4s
(Outcomes as of 16:30 on Sunday, for the most recent outcomes please go to www.wrc.com)
2024 FIA World Rally Championship for drivers after spherical 5:
1 Thierry Neuville 110 factors
2 Elfyn Evans 86
3 Ott Tänak 79
4 Adrien Fourmaux 71
5 Sébastien Ogier 70
6 Takamoto Katsuta 49
7 Kalle Rovanperä 36
8 Esapekka Lappi 23
9 Andreas Mikkelsen 14
10 Oliver Solberg 12
2024 FIA World Rally Championship for producers after spherical 5:
1 Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Staff 219 factors
2 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Staff 215
3 M-Sport Ford World Rally Staff 96
What’s subsequent?
Rally Italia Sardegna (Could 31-Jun 2) options quick however slim gravel phases, the place uncovered rocks in addition to bushes together with the highway can catch out the unwary. Excessive temperatures mixed with the abrasive floor locations excessive stresses on the automobiles and tyres.
ENDS
