The first contact with the gravel in the shakedown of the Rally de Portugal is over with Elfyn Evans at the head of the time table. The Welsh driver has set a time of 2:56.1 with the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 in his third pass through the ‘Paredes’ stage, with its 4.55 kilometers in length. This record has served the Toyota driver to beat Craig Breen by four tenths and his Ford Puma Rally1. In third position Ott Tänak finished with the first of the Hyundai i20 N Rally1.
The Rally de Portugal kicks off the European gravel season in the WRC, in which it is the debut of the hybrid ‘Rally1’ on this surface. And according to what was seen in the shakedown, equality is maximum. It is true that it is early to draw conclusions, but the cars of the three brands present in the queen class have been interspersed in a very small time frame. In fact, between Elfyn Evans and Sébastien Loeb, first and tenth of the shakedown, there are barely 2.4 seconds, which is a difference of 0.5 seconds per kilometer.
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Waiting to find out who has hidden their cards and the importance of the cleanliness factor in the first stage, at the moment Elfyn Evans has the singing voice, something that can be an extra dose of morale after a difficult start to the season. Craig Breen finished second four tenths after also completing three passes of the stage, while Ott Tänak was third after beating his teammate Thierry Neuville by one tenth. Both seem comfortable with the Hyundai on the ground.
The ‘top 5’ has been closed by Pierre-Louis Loubet with the second of the Ford Puma Rally1 after being the only rider to record his best time on his second pass through the stretch that served as shakedown. On the contrary, Gus Greensmith has set himself apart from the rest by making four runs, although he has not been able to get past ninth position. Between Loubet and Greensmith some of the great roosters of the championship have been placed. In fact, Dani Sordo was sixth, Sébastien Ogier seventh and leader Kalle Rovanperä finished eighth.
The long-awaited duel between Sébastien Ogier and Sébastien Loeb will have to wait for the first stages of the rally, since the shakedown of both has been quite discreet. While Ogier did not go beyond the aforementioned seventh place with a time 1.3 seconds slower than that of his teammate Elfyn Evans, his compatriot finished tenth. Sébastien Loeb was 1.1 seconds behind his great rival. For its part, Teemu Suninen has been the fastest driver in WRC2 with the Hyundai i20 N Rally2 after beating his teammate Oliver Solberg.
Shakedown classification of the 55th Rally de Portugal
Rally de Portugal starts this Thursday (8:03 p.m.) with the dispute of the Coimbra super special. Pilots and co-pilots will dispute 2.82 kilometers against the clock in this small competitive start.
Photos: Toyota Gazoo Racing / M-Sport