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For immediate release
Friday, May 16th, 2025

TÄNAK AND JÄRVEOJA LEAD BY SEVEN SECONDS IN PORTUGAL

MATOSINHOS (PORTUGAL): The Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT’s Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja led from the first stage of the morning to edge into a lead of seven seconds after 11 special stages of the 58th Vodafone Rally of Portugal on Friday.

The Estonian duo won four stages on one of the most demanding days in the WRC for many years but were pushed hard throughout the morning by team-mates Adrien Fourmaux and Alexcndre Coria.

Fourmaux was quickest on the fourth and fifth stages and closed to within two-tenths of a second of the outright lead before spinning his Hyundai out of contention on the second pass through Arganil. The impact damaged the i20’s suspension and sidelined the Frenchman for the remainder of the day.

Tänak’s fastest time on the final stage marked the 400th of his WRC career. He said: “It’s been demanding, especially on the second loop We couldn’t find the sweet spot but we had clean runs on the last two stages.”

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT team-mates Sébastien Ogier and Tamamoto Katsuta became embroiled in their own battle behind Tänak and Ogier, the eight-time World Champion, eventually reached the night halt in Matosinhos with an advantage of 20.1 seconds.

Double World Champion Kalle Rovanperä managed to keep Thierry Neuville at bay over the closing kilometres to retain fourth place, but the current WRC leader Elfyn Evans struggled with his road position all day and was marooned in seventh. The Welshman’s ‘punishment’ for leading the Drivers’ Championship was road-opening duties and it cost him valuable time against his title rivals.

Evans said: “It has been tough. We hoped to be a bit better than this. It was a bit of a frustrating day. We are here at the end of it. Hopefully, it will be better tomorrow.”

Toyota’s Sami Pajari managed to stay ahead of the Ford Pumas of Grégoire Munster and Josh McErlean to hold sixth.

M-Sport Ford’s Mārtiņš Sesks stopped 3.8km into the opening stage to change a front-left wheel after he clipped a rock and sustained a puncture. The delay cost the Latvian three and a half minutes and any chance of a top result on the day.

Tenth-placed Oliver Solberg put a sixth-stage spin, where he struggled to select reverse gear, to the back of his mind and increased his lead to 53.5 seconds at the end of the day in his Printsport Toyota GR Yaris. A last-stage puncture for Yohan Rossel (Citroën C3) enabled Gus Greensmith to slip into second place in his Škoda Fabia RS.

Nikolay Gryazin was not registered for the WRC2 on this occasion but he was second of the Rally2 runners, 43.6 seconds behind Solberg.

Finn Roope Korhonen was the leader of the FIA WRC2 Challenger section after Estonia’s Robert Virves stopped in the 10th stage.

Australia’s Taylor Gill led the way from Turk Kerem Kazaz and Irishman Eamonn Kelly after eight special stages in the battle for FIA Junior WRC honours. Gill also led the WRC3 category.

In the Portuguese National Championship battle, early pace-setter Kris Meeke dropped a minute in SS6 and rival Dani Sordo stopped near the stage finish and retired. But Meeke recovered well to hold the advantage heading into the final stage.

Portugal’s Pedro Meireles was the pace-setter in the FIA WRC Master Cup for Drivers after stage 10.

Saturday’s itinerary includes two loops of the Vieira do Minho (17.69km), Cabeceiras de Basto (19.91km) and Amarante (22.10km) stages and the now traditional visit to the Lousada rallycross track to entertain the vast crowds in the evening.

58th Vodafone Rally of Portugal – positions after SS11 (unofficial):

  1. Ott Tänak (EST)/Martin Järveoja (EST) Hyundai i20 N Rally1 1hr 41min 26.2sec
  2. Sébastien Ogier (FRA)/Vincent Landais (FRA) Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 1hr 41min 33.2sec
  3. Takamoto Katsuta (JPN)/Aaron Johnston (IRL) Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 1hr 41min 53.3sec
  4. Kalle Rovanperä (FIN)/Jonne Halttunen (FIN) Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 1hr 41min 54.5sec
  5. Thierry Neuville (BEL)/Martijn Wydaeghe (BEL) Hyundai i20 N Rally1 1hr 41min 58.9se
  6. Sami Pajari (FIN)/Marko Salminen (FIN) Toyota GR Yaris Rally 1hr 42min 27.6sec
  7. Elfyn Evans (GBR)/Scott Martin (GBR) Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 1hr 42min 35.2sec
  8. Grégoire Munster (LUX)/Louis Louka (BEL) Ford Puma Rally1 1hr 43min 16.4sec
  9. Joshua McErlean (IRL)/Eoin Treacy (IRL) Ford Puma Rally1 1hr 43min 20.5sec
  10. Oliver Solberg (SWE)/Elliott Edmondson (GBR) Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 1hr 45min 05.4sec
  11. Nikolay Gryazin (BUL)/Konstantin Aleksandrov (KGZ) Škoda Fabia RS 1hr 45min 48.0sec
  12. Gus Greensmith (GBR)/Jonas Andersson (SWE) Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 1hr 45min 57.9sec
  13. Yohan Rossel (FRA)/Arnaud Dunand (FRA) Citroën C3 Rally2 1hr 46min 00.1sec

Rally leaders

SS1                     Elfyn Evans

SS2-11                Ott Tänak

Stage winners

SS1                     Elfyn Evans

SS2                     Ott Tänak

SS3                     Ott Tänak

SS4                     Adrien Fourmaux

SS5                     Adrien Fourmaux

SS6                     Sébastien Ogier

SS7                     Takamoto Katsuta

SS8                     Thierry Neuville

SS9                     Ott Tänak

SS10                   Sébastien Ogier

SS11                   Ott Tänak

Ends

 

 

Published On: 16 May 2025