Day 1
A thrilling fight in the morning became a matter of survival in the afternoon as heat, dust and punishing rock-strewn roads took a heavy toll in this fifth round of the FIA World Rally Championship season.
While several of his rivals faltered, Rovanperä won three of the eight special stages in a Toyota GR Yaris to head Sordo by 10.7sec after more than 120km of action during which three different drivers led.
Ott Tänak’s Ford Puma sustained wheel damage in Lousã 2 while his team mate. Championship leader Elfyn Evans retired after crashing his Toyota in Mortágua.
After winning the opener, the Frenchman then verged on retirement when his car caught fire on the stop line of Arganil 1. He and co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul were able to continue after extinguishing the flames, later tracing the cause to their Puma’s exhaust.
Day 2
Just four stages stand between Kalle Rovanperä and his first triumph of 2023 after the Finn obliterated his rivals on Saturday.
unleashed an onslaught of raw speed as he romped to fastest times on five of the seven gruelling gravel speed tests. What started as a modest lead of 10.7sec overnight was transformed into a mighty advantage of almost one minute by close of play on the penultimate day.
Second was Hyundai Motorsport’s Dani Sordo.
Lappi closed in on the Spaniard early in the day, climbing from fifth to third overall on the first pass of Vieira do Minho. But the Finn’s pace faded in the afternoon and he was passed by Neuville, who finished a mere 2.3sec ahead of him and 11.1sec adrift of Sordo.
Pierre-Louis Loubet retired close to the finish of Amarante 1 when a heavy impact damaged his Ford Puma’s steering, allowing M-Sport Ford team-mate Ott Tänak to profit by seizing fifth overall.
Day 3
On the final day Rovanpera was in cruise mode as he comfortably took the finish line with plenty of time to spare.
The Finn, who had not stood atop the podium since his title-winning run in New Zealand last season, now boasts a 17-point advantage over Ott Tänak five events into this 13-round season.
Esapekka Lappi made it two i20 N cars inside the top three, scoring his second podium finish in as many rallies.
Thierry Neuville began the day in third but a broken turbocharger left his Hyundai severely down on power. This allowed M-Sport Ford Puma man Ott Tänak to claim fourth overall while he frustratingly settled for fifth.
Gus Greensmith claimed the spoils in the WRC2 Class by just 1.2sec from Škoda Fabia rival Oliver Solberg. The latter had led by 35.4sec overnight before being lumbered with a one-minute time penalty. They finished 6th and 7th respectively.
Andreas Mikkelsen, Yohan Rossel and Teemu Suninen – also contesting WRC2 – completed the top 10. Irish Driver Josh McErlean finish 12th overall in the WRC2 Category class as well.
