Ogier sleeps in the lead and is close to the seventh triumph

French driver Sébastien Ogier (Toyota Yaris) finished the second of three days of the 58th edition of the Rally of Portugal in the lead and is closer to an unprecedented seventh victory in what is the fifth round of the World Championship (WRC).

Ogier, who started the day in second position, closed the day with a time of 3:01.04.7 hours, leaving the Finnish Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota Yaris) in second place, with the Estonian Ott Tänak (Hyundai i20) in third, 36.1 behind, after having lost the power steering in the penultimate stage, in Amarante.

The Estonian rider was the dominant force throughout Saturday, after a surprise attack by Ogier in the first two stages reduced the gap between the two to two seconds.

But Tänak responded on the first run through Amarante, the longest stage of the day at 22 kilometres long, gaining more than nine seconds.

The tone continued in the afternoon section, with the former world champion (2019) winning the second rounds through Vieira do Minho and Cabeceiras de Basto.

When he was preparing to apply the same recipe in Amarante 2, the power steering on the Hyundai i20 gave way seven kilometres from the end, causing Tänak to lose 45.6 seconds until the end of the stage and another eight in the Lousada super special stage, which closed the day.

“It’s part of the game. It was unfortunate. From our side, we gave everything. What else can I say?”, commented Ott Tänak, at the end, into the microphones of the official broadcast on the world championship website.

Interestingly, Ogier also seemed disheartened by the outcome of a fight that had been lively throughout the day.

“This is not the way we want to win. We were both attacking. In the previous special I told my engineer that anything could happen. I don’t like to celebrate victories like these. But this isn’t over yet, tomorrow will still be a long day”, stressed the French driver, winner of the Portuguese event in 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2017 and 2024.

The Toyota driver, who has only taken part in a few races in the championship, could achieve an unprecedented seventh triumph this Sunday and extend the record for victories that he has held since last year.

With the problems of his teammate, the reigning champion, Belgian Thierry Neuville (Hyundai i20) got closer to the podium, closing the day in fourth position, 44.6 behind Ogier but 08.5 behind Tänak.

“It was a disappointing day for the team. It could have been a good day with Ott in the lead and us fighting for the podium. I don’t know what to say. We are all very disappointed. We have to respond,” he stressed.

Japanese driver Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota Yaris), who started the day in third position, was unable to find the antidote to his rivals' attacks and dropped to fifth position, 46.8 seconds behind the leader and 02.2 behind Neuville.

Finn Sami Pajari (Toyota Yaris) is sixth, but already 01.58.4 minutes behind, after having managed to resist the advances of Briton Elfyn Evans (Toyota Yaris), championship leader at the start of this race, who was never able to get close to the young Finn.

Irishman Joshua Mcerlean (Ford Puma) is eighth, followed by Luxembourger Gregoire Munster (Ford Puma). Swede Oliver Solberg (Toyota Yaris) rounds out the top 10 and leads the WRC2 standings.

Without the presence of the drivers from the Portuguese Rally Championship, whose classification was finalized yesterday, Armindo Araújo (Skoda Fabia) finished the day as the best Portuguese, ahead of Diogo Salvi (Ford Puma), the only Portuguese to race with a car in the main category, Rally 1, and with Pedro Meireles (Skoda Fabia) in third.

The final stage of the Rally of Portugal will take place on Sunday, with 72.16 timed kilometres, divided into six special stages, with double passes through Paredes, Felgueiras and Fafe.

French driver Sébastien Ogier (Toyota Yaris) finished the second of three days of the 58th edition of the Rally of Portugal in the lead and is closer to an unprecedented seventh victory in what is the fifth round of the World Championship (WRC).

Ogier, who started the day in second position, closed the day with a time of 3:01.04.7 hours, leaving the Finnish Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota Yaris) in second place, with the Estonian Ott Tänak (Hyundai i20) in third, 36.1 behind, after having lost the power steering in the penultimate stage, in Amarante.

The Estonian rider was the dominant force throughout Saturday, after a surprise attack by Ogier in the first two stages reduced the gap between the two to two seconds.

But Tänak responded on the first run through Amarante, the longest stage of the day at 22 kilometres long, gaining more than nine seconds.

The tone continued in the afternoon section, with the former world champion (2019) winning the second rounds through Vieira do Minho and Cabeceiras de Basto.

When he was preparing to apply the same recipe in Amarante 2, the power steering on the Hyundai i20 gave way seven kilometres from the end, causing Tänak to lose 45.6 seconds until the end of the stage and another eight in the Lousada super special stage, which closed the day.

“It’s part of the game. It was unfortunate. From our side, we gave everything. What else can I say?”, commented Ott Tänak, at the end, into the microphones of the official broadcast on the world championship website.

Interestingly, Ogier also seemed disheartened by the outcome of a fight that had been lively throughout the day.

“This is not the way we want to win. We were both attacking. In the previous special I told my engineer that anything could happen. I don’t like to celebrate victories like these. But this isn’t over yet, tomorrow will still be a long day”, stressed the French driver, winner of the Portuguese event in 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2017 and 2024.

The Toyota driver, who has only taken part in a few races in the championship, could achieve an unprecedented seventh triumph this Sunday and extend the record for victories that he has held since last year.

With the problems of his teammate, the reigning champion, Belgian Thierry Neuville (Hyundai i20) got closer to the podium, closing the day in fourth position, 44.6 behind Ogier but 08.5 behind Tänak.

“It was a disappointing day for the team. It could have been a good day with Ott in the lead and us fighting for the podium. I don’t know what to say. We are all very disappointed. We have to respond,” he stressed.

Japanese driver Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota Yaris), who started the day in third position, was unable to find the antidote to his rivals' attacks and dropped to fifth position, 46.8 seconds behind the leader and 02.2 behind Neuville.

Finn Sami Pajari (Toyota Yaris) is sixth, but already 01.58.4 minutes behind, after having managed to resist the advances of Briton Elfyn Evans (Toyota Yaris), championship leader at the start of this race, who was never able to get close to the young Finn.

Irishman Joshua Mcerlean (Ford Puma) is eighth, followed by Luxembourger Gregoire Munster (Ford Puma). Swede Oliver Solberg (Toyota Yaris) rounds out the top 10 and leads the WRC2 standings.

Without the presence of the drivers from the Portuguese Rally Championship, whose classification was finalized yesterday, Armindo Araújo (Skoda Fabia) finished the day as the best Portuguese, ahead of Diogo Salvi (Ford Puma), the only Portuguese to race with a car in the main category, Rally 1, and with Pedro Meireles (Skoda Fabia) in third.

The final stage of the Rally of Portugal will take place on Sunday, with 72.16 timed kilometres, divided into six special stages, with double passes through Paredes, Felgueiras and Fafe.

French driver Sébastien Ogier (Toyota Yaris) finished the second of three days of the 58th edition of the Rally of Portugal in the lead and is closer to an unprecedented seventh victory in what is the fifth round of the World Championship (WRC).

Ogier, who started the day in second position, closed the day with a time of 3:01.04.7 hours, leaving the Finnish Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota Yaris) in second place, with the Estonian Ott Tänak (Hyundai i20) in third, 36.1 behind, after having lost the power steering in the penultimate stage, in Amarante.

The Estonian rider was the dominant force throughout Saturday, after a surprise attack by Ogier in the first two stages reduced the gap between the two to two seconds.

But Tänak responded on the first run through Amarante, the longest stage of the day at 22 kilometres long, gaining more than nine seconds.

The tone continued in the afternoon section, with the former world champion (2019) winning the second rounds through Vieira do Minho and Cabeceiras de Basto.

When he was preparing to apply the same recipe in Amarante 2, the power steering on the Hyundai i20 gave way seven kilometres from the end, causing Tänak to lose 45.6 seconds until the end of the stage and another eight in the Lousada super special stage, which closed the day.

“It’s part of the game. It was unfortunate. From our side, we gave everything. What else can I say?”, commented Ott Tänak, at the end, into the microphones of the official broadcast on the world championship website.

Interestingly, Ogier also seemed disheartened by the outcome of a fight that had been lively throughout the day.

“This is not the way we want to win. We were both attacking. In the previous special I told my engineer that anything could happen. I don’t like to celebrate victories like these. But this isn’t over yet, tomorrow will still be a long day”, stressed the French driver, winner of the Portuguese event in 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2017 and 2024.

The Toyota driver, who has only taken part in a few races in the championship, could achieve an unprecedented seventh triumph this Sunday and extend the record for victories that he has held since last year.

With the problems of his teammate, the reigning champion, Belgian Thierry Neuville (Hyundai i20) got closer to the podium, closing the day in fourth position, 44.6 behind Ogier but 08.5 behind Tänak.

“It was a disappointing day for the team. It could have been a good day with Ott in the lead and us fighting for the podium. I don’t know what to say. We are all very disappointed. We have to respond,” he stressed.

Japanese driver Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota Yaris), who started the day in third position, was unable to find the antidote to his rivals' attacks and dropped to fifth position, 46.8 seconds behind the leader and 02.2 behind Neuville.

Finn Sami Pajari (Toyota Yaris) is sixth, but already 01.58.4 minutes behind, after having managed to resist the advances of Briton Elfyn Evans (Toyota Yaris), championship leader at the start of this race, who was never able to get close to the young Finn.

Irishman Joshua Mcerlean (Ford Puma) is eighth, followed by Luxembourger Gregoire Munster (Ford Puma). Swede Oliver Solberg (Toyota Yaris) rounds out the top 10 and leads the WRC2 standings.

Without the presence of the drivers from the Portuguese Rally Championship, whose classification was finalized yesterday, Armindo Araújo (Skoda Fabia) finished the day as the best Portuguese, ahead of Diogo Salvi (Ford Puma), the only Portuguese to race with a car in the main category, Rally 1, and with Pedro Meireles (Skoda Fabia) in third.

The final stage of the Rally of Portugal will take place on Sunday, with 72.16 timed kilometres, divided into six special stages, with double passes through Paredes, Felgueiras and Fafe.