Tänak ends first day leading the Rally of Portugal and with a record

Estonian driver Ott Tänak (Hyundai i20) finished in the lead on the first full day of the 58th Rally of Portugal, the fifth round of the World Championship (WRC), and with a record 400 special stages won.

The former world champion (2019) jumped into the lead in the first of the 10 special stages scheduled for today, in the central part of the country, finishing the day with a time of 1:41.26.2 hours, with a seven-second advantage over Frenchman Sébastien Ogier (Toyota Yaris), and 27.1 over Japanese Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota Yaris), who is third.

Tänak won four of the 10 stages contested (Mortágua 1, Lousã 1, Mortágua 2 and Sever/Albergaria), reaching 400 stage victories in his world championship career.

“It’s a good number. If I had that number of titles it would be better. But 400 victories is a good number”, began the Estonian driver, at the end of the last stage. The Estonian is the 16th with the most victories, in a table led by the Frenchman Sébastien Loeb (939). Sébastien Ogier has 753.

Tänak's lead was suspended by 0.2 seconds at the end of the last stage of the morning, in Arganil, with Frenchman Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai i20) putting pressure on his teammate by winning the first runs through Lousã and Góis.

However, the French driver hit a rock in the eighth stage, on the second run through Arganil, and broke the transmission of his Hyundai, forcing him to retire.

Tänak began to be pressured by Ogier, who also won in his second stint at Lousã and in Águeda/Sever's debut.

But the Hyundai driver's final attack allowed the advantage to go from 5.8 to a solid seven seconds.

“It’s been good. In the last stage we got the special clean, it was good. We had a problem with water in our eyes and so it was more demanding”, concluded the Estonian.

Finland's Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota Yaris), who lost some time as he was second on the track and had to take the gravel paths, finished the day 28.3 seconds behind, with Belgian Thierry Neuville (Hyundai i20), the reigning champion, finishing in fifth place, 32.7 seconds behind.

Last year's champion started the day with a spin that cost him more than 10 seconds and he never found his feet throughout the day.

From then on, the differences started to be counted in minutes, with the British driver Elfyn Evans (Toyota Yaris) being heavily penalized for having to use the track throughout the longest day of the race, as he was the championship leader.

Saturday will be a different story, as the starting order will be reversed to the current rally classification.

Portuguese Diogo Salvi (Ford Puma) managed to finish the day despite making his debut driving a car in the main category, Rally 1, and having suffered a puncture that destroyed his front left tire.

However, he is deep in the standings, almost 11 minutes behind the leader.

The second stage of the Portuguese race will take place on Saturday, with 122.92 timed kilometres, divided into seven sections, including the Lousada super special which closes the day.

Estonian driver Ott Tänak (Hyundai i20) finished in the lead on the first full day of the 58th Rally of Portugal, the fifth round of the World Championship (WRC), and with a record 400 special stages won.

The former world champion (2019) jumped into the lead in the first of the 10 special stages scheduled for today, in the central part of the country, finishing the day with a time of 1:41.26.2 hours, with a seven-second advantage over Frenchman Sébastien Ogier (Toyota Yaris), and 27.1 over Japanese Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota Yaris), who is third.

Tänak won four of the 10 stages contested (Mortágua 1, Lousã 1, Mortágua 2 and Sever/Albergaria), reaching 400 stage victories in his world championship career.

“It’s a good number. If I had that number of titles it would be better. But 400 victories is a good number”, began the Estonian driver, at the end of the last stage. The Estonian is the 16th with the most victories, in a table led by the Frenchman Sébastien Loeb (939). Sébastien Ogier has 753.

Tänak's lead was suspended by 0.2 seconds at the end of the last stage of the morning, in Arganil, with Frenchman Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai i20) putting pressure on his teammate by winning the first runs through Lousã and Góis.

However, the French driver hit a rock in the eighth stage, on the second run through Arganil, and broke the transmission of his Hyundai, forcing him to retire.

Tänak began to be pressured by Ogier, who also won in his second stint at Lousã and in Águeda/Sever's debut.

But the Hyundai driver's final attack allowed the advantage to go from 5.8 to a solid seven seconds.

“It’s been good. In the last stage we got the special clean, it was good. We had a problem with water in our eyes and so it was more demanding”, concluded the Estonian.

Finland's Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota Yaris), who lost some time as he was second on the track and had to take the gravel paths, finished the day 28.3 seconds behind, with Belgian Thierry Neuville (Hyundai i20), the reigning champion, finishing in fifth place, 32.7 seconds behind.

Last year's champion started the day with a spin that cost him more than 10 seconds and he never found his feet throughout the day.

From then on, the differences started to be counted in minutes, with the British driver Elfyn Evans (Toyota Yaris) being heavily penalized for having to use the track throughout the longest day of the race, as he was the championship leader.

Saturday will be a different story, as the starting order will be reversed to the current rally classification.

Portuguese Diogo Salvi (Ford Puma) managed to finish the day despite making his debut driving a car in the main category, Rally 1, and having suffered a puncture that destroyed his front left tire.

However, he is deep in the standings, almost 11 minutes behind the leader.

The second stage of the Portuguese race will take place on Saturday, with 122.92 timed kilometres, divided into seven sections, including the Lousada super special which closes the day.

Estonian driver Ott Tänak (Hyundai i20) finished in the lead on the first full day of the 58th Rally of Portugal, the fifth round of the World Championship (WRC), and with a record 400 special stages won.

The former world champion (2019) jumped into the lead in the first of the 10 special stages scheduled for today, in the central part of the country, finishing the day with a time of 1:41.26.2 hours, with a seven-second advantage over Frenchman Sébastien Ogier (Toyota Yaris), and 27.1 over Japanese Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota Yaris), who is third.

Tänak won four of the 10 stages contested (Mortágua 1, Lousã 1, Mortágua 2 and Sever/Albergaria), reaching 400 stage victories in his world championship career.

“It’s a good number. If I had that number of titles it would be better. But 400 victories is a good number”, began the Estonian driver, at the end of the last stage. The Estonian is the 16th with the most victories, in a table led by the Frenchman Sébastien Loeb (939). Sébastien Ogier has 753.

Tänak's lead was suspended by 0.2 seconds at the end of the last stage of the morning, in Arganil, with Frenchman Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai i20) putting pressure on his teammate by winning the first runs through Lousã and Góis.

However, the French driver hit a rock in the eighth stage, on the second run through Arganil, and broke the transmission of his Hyundai, forcing him to retire.

Tänak began to be pressured by Ogier, who also won in his second stint at Lousã and in Águeda/Sever's debut.

But the Hyundai driver's final attack allowed the advantage to go from 5.8 to a solid seven seconds.

“It’s been good. In the last stage we got the special clean, it was good. We had a problem with water in our eyes and so it was more demanding”, concluded the Estonian.

Finland's Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota Yaris), who lost some time as he was second on the track and had to take the gravel paths, finished the day 28.3 seconds behind, with Belgian Thierry Neuville (Hyundai i20), the reigning champion, finishing in fifth place, 32.7 seconds behind.

Last year's champion started the day with a spin that cost him more than 10 seconds and he never found his feet throughout the day.

From then on, the differences started to be counted in minutes, with the British driver Elfyn Evans (Toyota Yaris) being heavily penalized for having to use the track throughout the longest day of the race, as he was the championship leader.

Saturday will be a different story, as the starting order will be reversed to the current rally classification.

Portuguese Diogo Salvi (Ford Puma) managed to finish the day despite making his debut driving a car in the main category, Rally 1, and having suffered a puncture that destroyed his front left tire.

However, he is deep in the standings, almost 11 minutes behind the leader.

The second stage of the Portuguese race will take place on Saturday, with 122.92 timed kilometres, divided into seven sections, including the Lousada super special which closes the day.