Twenty years ago, it was Dani Sordo who won. Won the championship (Junior WRC); won the Citroën World Rally Championship drive alongside Sébastien Loeb.
There was no manufacturer drive on offer as the pair looked to dispute the Portuguese national championship in 2025. Just pride among two great friends and rivals.
Meeke hoped for revenge, but it never came.
For so much of the season Meeke and his Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 looked like an invincible combination, but in a winner-takes-all finale it was Sordo and the Hyundai i20 N Rally2 that prospered.
Incredibly starting the powerstage separated by just 0.6s, both drivers gave it their all but it was Sordo who took Rallye Vidreiro Centro de Portugal by just 0.8s as well as the championship title.
“It has been an incredible weekend,” said Sordo. “We have been super focused. It has been brutal. The whole rally the biggest gap between us was 3.7 seconds. Before the last section there was a six-tenth difference between winning and losing.
“And the truth is that it has been amazing. I have been able to win the rally and the championship for less than a second and the truth is that I am super happy. Thank you very much to everyone for the support, to all of you who have sent me messages this year.
“This has been a complicated year in many aspects, and this gives me a moral injection and I want to dedicate it to everyone who has supported me and has been behind me for a long time – as well as my family, friends, the team.”
Meeke added: “To be honest you can’t be disappointed when you give it everything. Dani… we’ve been battling for 20 years. It was my target because 20 years ago he beat me to the Junior world championship, but I tried everything I had.
“To have a fight like this and have a championship go right to the wire on the last stage, it’s a pleasure to be invovled in it. I don’t feel sadness to lose, it’s been a pleasure all year. Dani deserves it, so happy for him.”
The Northern Irishman won four rallies to Sordo’s three, but two retirements to Sordo’s one proved costly.
However navigator Stuart Loudon did win the co-drivers’ title, as Cándido Carrera missed Rali Terras d’Aboboreira where Sordo was second alongside Patricia Saiz Ruiloba.
