Rally de Portugal – Day Two
Hyundai Motorsport remains in the hunt for a podium finish in this weekend’s Rally de Portugal, the fourth round of the 2022 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), with Dani Sordo and Thierry Neuville holding fourth and fifth positions at the end of an exciting penultimate day.
Saturday’s itinerary covered 164.98km of competitive gravel stages. A repeat loop of Vieira do Minho (SS10/SS13, 21.57km), Cabeceiras de Basto (SS11/SS14, 22.03km) and Amarante (SS12/SS15, 37.24km) put crews through tough tests, including the longest individual stage of the rally. The day’s schedule was completed by the 3.30km Porto-Foz super special.
Even late afternoon rain couldn’t dampen the spirits of the Hyundai Motorsport squad, who showed a strong team effort with a tenacious fight back after several setbacks on the opening day.
Sordo and his co-driver Cándido Carrera, in their first WRC event with the Hyundai i20 N Rally1, continued to shine. They conceded their provisional third place at the end of the morning loop but pushed right to the end of the day with a stunning performance in front of the cheering fans at Porto-Foz. The Spaniards will head into Sunday just 5.7 seconds from the podium.
Hampered by a mechanical issue on Friday that dropped them from second to seventh, Neuville and co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe rebounded impressively on Saturday to keep themselves in contention for a top-three finish. The Belgians stamped their authority on the repeat run of Amarante, to take their second stage win of the weekend by a dominant margin of 16.9 seconds.
A double puncture put an end to Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja’s victory hopes on Friday, but the duo clawed back two positions today and head into Sunday’s final five timed tests in eighth place overall.
Even late afternoon rain couldn’t dampen the spirits of the Hyundai Motorsport squad, who showed a strong team effort with a tenacious fight back after several setbacks on the opening day.
Sordo and his co-driver Cándido Carrera, in their first WRC event with the Hyundai i20 N Rally1, continued to shine. They conceded their provisional third place at the end of the morning loop but pushed right to the end of the day with a stunning performance in front of the cheering fans at Porto-Foz. The Spaniards will head into Sunday just 5.7 seconds from the podium.
Hampered by a mechanical issue on Friday that dropped them from second to seventh, Neuville and co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe rebounded impressively on Saturday to keep themselves in contention for a top-three finish. The Belgians stamped their authority on the repeat run of Amarante, to take their second stage win of the weekend by a dominant margin of 16.9 seconds.
A double puncture put an end to Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja’s victory hopes on Friday, but the duo clawed back two positions today and head into Sunday’s final five timed tests in eighth place overall.
The team’s fighting spirit was evident in all stages, supporting its three crews to extract the most from themselves and their Hyundai i20 N Rally1 cars throughout the day. It was particularly poignant to see the result of that collective effort with Neuville’s performance in Amarante, a stage whose name stems from that of an unfading flower.
Crew Notes: Dani Sordo/Cándido Carrera (#6 Hyundai i20 N Rally1)
- Spaniards hold fourth place on Saturday in their first WRC entry of 2022
- 5.7-second deficit to third place after a stunning run in Porto-Foz
Sordo said: “I must start by saying congratulations to Taka (Katsuta) because I gave it everything today to keep hold of third place. It was impossible as he put in an amazing drive on all stages. I had a bit of bad luck in the second pass of Amarante because I had to contend with a lot of rain, which allowed Thierry to close the gap to me. It was difficult to see the road a lot of the time, so I said to myself that I would push hard on the super special. I lost a bit of time at the first roundabout, but it was good in the end, and we set a competitive time. The road was improving, of course, which was an advantage. Tomorrow is a new day, and we will try again to push hard to reclaim that third spot – and finish the rally with a podium if we can.”
Crew Notes: Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (#11 Hyundai i20 N Rally1)
- Belgian crew embarked on a high-octane fightback after Friday frustration
- Impressive stage win in SS15 cut the gap to the top-three
Neuville said: “It is always difficult to prepare when you’ve had a setback like we had yesterday, but we never give up. It’s important for us and the team to keep pushing. The morning went well, and we managed to gain two positions in the classification. It was really challenging with the tyres because we had used all our soft compounds on Friday to compensate for the road cleaning. The technical issues then changed the plan. We made it through the first loop today and caught back some time. In the afternoon, we got a bit closer to the podium. The conditions were changing throughout the Amarante stage with rain in the middle, but we had a decent run. Tomorrow, everyone knows these stages well; perhaps the weather could make things interesting, who knows? One thing is for sure: we will give everything we have.”
Crew Notes: Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (#8 Hyundai i20 N Rally1)
- Trouble-free day for the Estonian pair after hopes were punctured on Friday
- Gained two positions to complete Saturday in eighth place overall
Tänak said: “We have had fewer issues today than we had yesterday, but that doesn’t mean it was any more straightforward. Some stages were a bit more promising, while others were a bit less so. The second loop was more challenging as there was more cleaning, and with the hard tyres it was difficult to be first on the road. During the rally, there’s only so much progress you can make; it’s minimal. We are playing in the box which makes it a tricky game, but we still try to understand some things, how the car is behaving, and to make a good plan for the next one. It’s our job that needs to be done.”
Deputy Team Director Julien Moncet said: “The positive we can take away from today is that we have all three cars through a challenging itinerary safely with no big issues. It has been a tough day for cars and crews with a lot of competitive kilometres. It’s difficult to catch the guys in front, so we have had to focus on our rally. Thierry, after a frustrating Friday with a mechanical issue, showed us once again how much of a warrior he is, fighting together with the team until the end. In fact, the entire team was disappointed yesterday, so it is important for us all to be back in the podium game.”
Sunday at a glance
- Five stages remain on the Rally de Portugal itinerary for Sunday, including two passes of Felgueiras (SS17/SS20, 8.91km) and the famous Fafe (SS19/21, 11.18km)
- Crews will also face a solitary run through Montim (SS18, 8.69km) early in the morning
- The legendary Fafe jump will bring the rally to its exciting conclusion as the Power Stage, where extra points are on offer to drivers and manufacturers in the top-five.
Classification after Day Two
| 1 | K. Rovanperä | J. Halttunen | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 | 3:13:46.7 |
| 2 | E. Evans | S. Martin | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 | +5.7 |
| 3 | T. Katsuta | A. Johnston | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 | +1:50.1 |
| 4 | D. Sordo | C. Carrera | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 | +1:55.8 |
| 5 | T. Neuville | M. Wydaeghe | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 | +2:25.9 |
| 6 | C. Breen | P. Nagle | Ford Puma Rally1 | +4:00.4 |
| 7 | P. L. Loubet | V. Landais | Ford Puma Rally1 | +4:14.7 |
| 8 | O. Tänak | M. Järveoja | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 | +4:40.9 |
| 9 | A. Fourmaux | A. Coria | Ford Puma Rally1 | +7:04.3 |
