Elfyn Evans holds a slim 0.2s advantage over Toyota team-mate Sébastien Ogier and Hyundai’s Ott Tänak after Rally Portugal’s opening superspecial – but faces the daunting prospect of opening the road on Friday’s 10 gravel stages.
Portugal’s itinerary begins with a blast around the Figueira da Foz seafront but featured a key difference to last year’s opener – a post-stage tire fitting zone meant drivers could push fully rather than worry about saving tires for the next day.
Drivers reacted accordingly, pushing slightly harder than before. But most were already thinking ahead to Friday’s marathon three-loop day, which features two remote services instead of a full service at Matosinhos.
For Evans, that means looking ahead to the grim prospect of sweeping loose gravel away for his rivals: “It’s gonna be a tough day, that’s for sure,” he said after winning the opening stage.
“We have to try and forget the situation and just enjoy the event.”
Winning gravel rallies from first on the road isn’t unheard of; Ogier managed exactly that during his title-winning years. But Evans admitted such an outcome was unlikely for him.
I think my alarm is set for 5am tomorrow. I’m not happy about that, but that’s life.Kalle Rovanperä
“It’s not been my specialty in the past,” said Evans of his chances of winning. “If I can be driving well and have a good feeling with the car, that’s the priority for me.”
Ogier and Tänak were tied for second place, with the latter highlighting that having a set of tires purely for use on the Figueira da Foz superspecial changed the balance of risk for this year.
“We definitely had more fun than last year when we had to save the tire,” said Tänak. “It’s a little Mickey Mouse but you still have to keep the focus. On one side it’s fun but on the other we still need a car for tomorrow.”
Hyundai rounded out the top five places with Adrien Fourmaux and Thierry Neuville, both less than a second off Evans’ pace.
Behind them, Kalle Rovanperä was 1.6s off the pace in sixth and was more concerned about how early he’d be waking up for Friday morning’s action: “I think my alarm is set for 5am tomorrow,” he said. “I’m not happy about that, but that’s life.”
Takamoto Katsuta was a further 0.3s behind Rovanperä but Sami Pajari in the fifth Toyota was much further back, 4.1s off Evans’ pace.
Moments before disaster: Pajari clipped a concrete block and lost several minutes on the Figueira da Foz 12 months ago. Avoiding a repeat this year was his priority
There was a good reason why: Pajari wrecked his rally on the Figueira da Foz superspeical last year, hitting a concrete barrier that broke the front-right corner of his Toyota GR Yaris Rally2.
Now aboard a Rally1-spec Yaris, avoiding a repeat was front and center of Pajari’s mind.
“This stage was a bit personal for me,” admitted Pajari. “Last year with not so great memories, so I was just trying to make sure we got through it.”
Mārtinš Sesks was the lead Ford Puma driver in 10th, five seconds off the pace. M-Sport’s remaining trio struggled; Josh McErlean and Grégoire Munster both went 6.9s off the pace and ended up amongst the WRC2 frontrunners on the scoreboard.
Munster felt the change in design of donuts – with the concrete blocks which had caught out Pajari last year gone and replaced with smaller-radius foam roundels – did not help his cause.
“The donuts are a bit different from last year,” said Munster. “Normally you try to be clean and tidy but here you need some rotation. I lacked a bit more handbrake pulling in one or two [of the donuts].”
