Frenchman surges forward as Toyota team-mates hit bother on penultimate day.
Sébastien Ogier stands on the cusp of surpassing Markku Alén’s Vodafone Rally de Portugal report – offering he can keep his lead over Hyundai Motorsport rival Ott Tänak on the occasion’s last day tomorrow (Sunday).
A tumultuous Saturday on the 2024 FIA World Rally Championship’s fifth spherical wreaked havoc amongst a number of the sequence’ high drivers, reshuffling the leaderboard and granting Ogier an 11.9-sec in a single day lead.
The Frenchman’s Toyota Gazoo Racing crew started this penultimate leg with all weapons blazing, locking out the rostrum after a near-perfect opening day. Nevertheless, their fortunes took a dive early this morning when Kalle Rovanperä and Takamoto Katsuta each faltered on the brutal gravel terrain.
In a single day chief Rovanperä regarded poised to tighten his grip on the highest spot after blitzing the Felgueiras opener, however he misjudged a right-hander in Montim shortly afterwards and rolled out of competition. Katsuta’s exit was much less dramatic however equally devastating: a rearward influence shattered his GR Yaris Rally1 automotive’s suspension because the Japanese driver battled for third.
Toyota’s hopes rested on Ogier’s shoulders. He tussled for the lead with Tänak and briefly relinquished the place on Amarante 1 earlier than going again in entrance when the Estonian nursed a deflated tyre within the following stage.
Though Tänak maintained the stress with benchmark instances over the primary two levels of the repeated afternoon loop, Ogier responded with a brace of stage wins to widen the hole.
Victory for Ogier on Sunday could be his sixth in Portugal. At current he collectively tops the occasion’s roll of honour with Italian legend Markku Alén, recognized for his dominance with Fiat and Lancia within the Seventies and 80s.
“It’s been day,” stated Ogier. “A tough one, we didn’t anticipate so many issues taking place as we speak. Sadly on Toyota’s aspect it was not an ideal day. For me it was good, however we misplaced two vehicles.
“Now we have to try to end the job tomorrow now,” he added.
The drama up forward introduced excellent news for Thierry Neuville, who ended the day 59.5sec behind team-mate Tänak having climbed from sixth to 3rd. With foremost title rival Elfyn Evans languishing in sixth, Neuville is poised to increase his championship lead and his Saturday standing will earn him 13 factors offering he completes Tremendous Sunday.
Neuville overtook Dani Sordo within the first stage of the day however the Spaniard saved contact together with his colleague, ending the day 14.2sec additional again to make it three Hyundais within the high 4.
Behind Sordo by solely 7.3sec was M-Sport Ford hotshot Adrien Fourmaux, who held a cushty buffer of virtually two minutes to Evans. Evans struggled to get right into a rhythm together with his GR Yaris, and an early spin exacerbated his challenges.
Rally2 vehicles stuffed the rest of the leaderboard, with Nikolay Gryazin sitting seventh in his Citroën C3. Jan Solans was the primary of the WRC2-registered drivers whereas Josh McErlean and Yohan Rossel accomplished the highest 10.
Main positions after Saturday:
1. S Ogier / V Landais FRA Toyota GR Yaris 3h 1m 55.8s
2. O Tänak / M Järveoja EST Hyundai i20 N +11.9s
3. T Neuville / M Wydaeghe BEL Hyundai i20 N +1m 11.4s
4. D Sordo / C Carrera ESP Hyundai i20 N +1m 25.6s
5. A Fourmaux / A Coria FRA Ford Puma +1m 32.9s
6. E Evans / S Martin GBR Toyota GR Yaris +3m 23.8s
