Hyundai Motorsport team principal Andrea Adamo has issued a single order to Dani Sordo for tomorrow’s final day of Rally of Portugal action. He has told him to win.
Adamo told DirtFish the early retirements of Thierry Neuville and Ott Tänak left him with just a single strategic approach to Sunday.
“Tomorrow, Sordo will win the rally,” Adamo said.
“More of this s*** there cannot be. This car is the f****** fastest here and the fastest car has to win.”
He didn’t say: “The car needs to make the finish…” He told me he has two cars out and it’s the same to have three [out]!Dani Sordo
Sordo played himself firmly back into contention for Sunday, narrowing the gap to rally leader Elfyn Evans to 10.7 seconds with an exceptional run around the streets of Foz on the day’s final test.
“It was like a karting circuit,” Sordo told DirtFish, “and I know this a little bit from home. I knew I needed to be clean and not slide too much. I know there was one corner where everybody went really wide, but I kept to the inside and by doing this I did less meters. It looks slower, but it was faster.”
Sordo admitted he’d already had Adamo offering him some advice on the necessary approach to Sunday,
“Mr Adamo already pushed too much,” said Sordo. “Already he was saying: “You need to go, need to go!”
“He didn’t say: “The car needs to make the finish…” He told me he has two cars out and it’s the same to have three [out]!
“Of course I try to continue the fight, but [Elfyn] Evans has been a little bit faster today and made the gap. But tomorrow is different. Different roads and different stages.
“I would like to win, let’s see what happens.”
Evans also promised DirtFish he will do “everything we can” to win tomorrow, but he was frustrated to have ceded 5.3s to Sordo on Saturday’s final test.
Photo: Toyota Gazoo Racing
“I expected it to be extremely slippery and I had two softs in my package,” he said, “but I really wanted them for tomorrow so I fitted them on the car but the grip was far, far higher than I expected.
“So then I had to try not to kill them so I have them tomorrow. I hope that I’m in a better position than him [Sordo] in terms of tires now for tomorrow.
“There’s always pressure and we have to just try and do our best.”
