Ott Tanak sets early pace in Super Special Stage; Suninen, Ogier tied second

Lousada, 17 May 2018: The duo of Ott Tanak and co-driver Martin Jarveoja in a Toyota Yaris WRC was the quickest on the Super Special Stage (3.36 Kms) in the Vodafone Rally de Portugal which commenced here on Thursday evening.

The Estonian, the recent winner of the Rally of Argentina, beat Finn Teemu Suninen (Ford Fiesta) and five-time champion and World champion Sébastien Ogier (Ford Fiesta) by 0.4 seconds, who set an equal mark to reach second fastest time.

Kris Meeeke was the fastest in Citroën, as was Andreas Mikkelsen at Hyundai, both finishing the special at 1.4s off Tanak.

Suninen outpaced Hayden Paddon, returning after missing the last three WRC rounds, while Ogier was more than a second quicker than Thierry Neuville in the evening’s headline heat. Tänak dictated the previous round in Argentina but acknowledged a repeat is unlikely this weekend.

“It will be tough to dominate here. We know how loose the roads will be tomorrow and there will be a lot more cleaning than in Argentina. It will be a key tomorrow to get a good position so we can fight hard on Saturday,” he said.

Citroën C3 pilot Kris Meeke and Mikkelsen, driving a Hyundai i20, were fourth, a full second behind the tying Ford pair. Neuville completed the top six.

Jari-Matti Latvala dropped almost four seconds after stalling his Yaris in a hairpin. “Under braking, the engine cut completely. There’s something strange happening with the engine and we need to investigate that. It doesn’t worry me, but it annoys me,” he said.

M-Sport Ford mechanics replaced the cooling pack in Elfyn Evans’ Fiesta before this evening’s start at Guimaräes Castle after damage caused by a heavy landing in this morning’s shakedown.

Friday’s first full day is based close to the Spanish border. Two identical loops of three stages are split by service in Matosinhos, before the leg ends with two short street tests in central Porto. The eight stages cover 148.66 Kms.

JARI-MATTI LATVALA QUICKEST IN SHAKEDOWN

Latvala edged Origer and Neuville to win Thursday morning’s shakedown. The Toyota Gazoo driver was fastest by 0.3sec through the 4.60 Kms Baltar speed test. Ogier and the Hyundai i20-mounted Neuville tied in second. Conditions were dry and dusty and the stage, which ended with a loop of Baltar’s rallycross circuit, was closely contested. The top eight drivers were covered by a second.

Latvala set the pace in the first run, before Kris Meeke went top of the timesheets in a Citroën C3 at his second attempt. The Finn set the benchmark in his third run as most drivers posted their best time in their final pass.

It has been a disappointing year for Latvala. He is eighth in the points after retiring from the previous two rounds in Corsica and Argentina and views this rally as an opportunity to turn around his fortunes.

“Springtime has been difficult for me and I would really like to use this rally as a turning point for the season. I want to see the finish line, have a clean rally and find the speed I can do. I believe the car is competitive enough, so I have to stay cool and do my job,” he said.

“Three runs in a row this morning and no changes. You normally know that when you don’t need to do any changes then the set-up is correct and that’s the way it should be. If you have to start working in the shakedown, it’s normally not a good sign.”

Meeke, driving a C3, and Andreas Mikkelsen, in an i20, were tied in fourth 0.4sec adrift of Ogier and Neuville. Hayden Paddon, returning to the WRC after a three-rally absence, was another tenth behind in sixth.