Rally de Portugal: Thierry Neuville takes control, extends lead

Matosinhos, 19 May 2018: Thierry Neuville gave his World title hopes a major boost after doubling his lead in Saturday’s penultimate leg of the Vodafone Rally de Portugal. He starts Sunday’s short finale with a 39.8sec advantage in his Hyundai i20, and victory would propel him back to the head of the FIA World Rally Championship for the first time since February.

Conditions were more benign than yesterday when rock-strewn dirt roads caused carnage among the frontrunners, and the Belgian focused on the double pass through the 37.60km Amarante speed test, the longest of this sixth round of the series.

He protected his Michelin tyres through the two previous stages of the morning and afternoon loops, before attacking in Amarante. He distanced closest rival Elfyn Evans on both occasions to build a comfortable advantage.

“I was comfortable in the car, especially in the long stage. I tried to make a difference in there and it worked twice. It’s not finished yet but it could be a great weekend,” said Neuville whose conservative mix of hard and soft compound tyres was ideal for the wet final test.

Evans won two of the day’s six stages in his Ford Fiesta, one more than Neuville, and the Welshman looked increasingly secure in second as the day progressed. He struggled for confidence in both passes through Amarante, but had a 17.4sec margin over Dani Sordo.

The Spaniard stiffened his i20’s set-up following the morning’s opening test but slipped back into the clutches of Teemu Suninen with a final stage spin. The margin between them narrowed to 4.7sec.

The young Suninen had a stellar day in his Ford Fiesta, holding off fellow-Finn Esapekka Lappi in a furious fight. Both were on the limit throughout as they traded seconds in every stage and Lappi ended 11.1sec adrift in his Toyota Yaris.

Mads Østberg was a distant sixth, the Norwegian conceding almost a minute after sliding onto a bank at a muddy corner. The Citroën C3 driver was almost 1min 40sec clear of team-mate Craig Breen.

Breen endured a tough day opening the roads in the sandy conditions but gained a place following more disappointment for Kris Meeke in the French squad’s third C3. The Ulsterman slid wide on a fast left bend and his C3 rolled heavily down a bank and into trees. Both Meeke and co-driver Paul Nagle were unhurt.

Pontus Tidemand took the WRC 2 lead and held eighth place, ahead of fellow support category drivers Lukasz Pieniazek and Stéphane Lefebvre.

Five more stages covering 51.53km lie in wait on Sunday, including two passes through the classic Fafe test and its famous jump. The second pass forms the Power Stage with bonus points on offer to the fastest five drivers.

Pontus Tidemand recovers to forge ahead

Tidemand recovered from a disappointing Friday to claim all six Stage victories on Saturday and move into the lead of the WRC 2 category. The Skoda Fabia R5 driver started the day 1m 44.6sec off the lead in fifth place after two a double puncture yesterday, but he combined blistering pace with bad luck befalling his rivals to move his way up the order. By lunch-time service, he was second, with 49.4sec to make up to Stéphane Lefebvre. Another three wins on the afternoon loop sealed his place at the top of the class at the end of the day.
He was helped by a puncture for Lefebvre on SS14 and then brake and transmission problems cost the C3 R5 driver more than two minutes one stage later. The Frenchman finished the day in third.

Overnight leader Gus Greensmith had a day to forget in his Ford Fiesta. On the opening Vieira do Minho test, he had a puncture which forced him to use his spare, and then another tyre de-beaded. With no more spares, he had to be cautious through the next two stages. Having slipped to sixth, he was quickly reclaiming the time he lost but had to retire with broken suspension on the road section before the second run of Amarante.

Benefiting from his retirement was Lukasz Pieniazek in a Fabia R5, who kept his second place despite a puncture of his own on SS14. Fourth place went to Pierre-Louis Loubet. The Hyundai i20 R5 driver had a clean run through the tests to move to within 8.0sec of compatriot Lefebvre.

Toyota development driver Hiroki Arai grew in confidence as the day went on, with top-five stage times allowing him to claim fifth place before the final stages on Sunday. Juuso Nordgren ended the day sixth in his Fabia, despite a puncture on SS14 slowing his progress.

Pedro Heller dropped out of the top five after a challenging day of his own. After a puncture this morning, he retired with mechanical issues 6.4km into SS15. His team-mate Nil Solans also hit trouble on the final stage, retiring at the 24.1km mark.

Finnish ŠKODA junior Juuso Nordgren was delayed by another two punctures and are sixth after the Saturday leg.