Vodafone Rally De Portugal: Rovanperä Leads After Day One

The first day of Vodafone Rally De Portugal has come to an end. Kalle Rovanperä takes a 10.8-second lead into day two. 

SS1, LOUSÃ 1

Pierre Louis Loubet would take the first stage win of Vodafone Rally De Portugal and his first stage win of the season. Loubet would finish the stage 0.3 seconds faster than Dani Sordo. Loubet’s teammate Ott Tänak would finish third on the stage, 2 seconds behind Sordo. Kalle Rovanperä would finish fourth fastest on the stage, 0.3 seconds slower than Tänak. Takamoto Katsuta would round off the top five on the first stage of the rally, finishing 0.8 seconds behind Rovanperä.

SS2, GÓIS 1

Ott Tänak would take the second stage win of the event, finishing the stage 2.5 seconds faster than Dani Sordo. Takamoto Katsuta would finish third fastest on the stage, 2.2 seconds slower than Sordo. Katsuta’s teammate Kalle Rovanperä would finish fourth fastest on the stage, 0.8 seconds slower than him. Pierre-Louis Loubet would finish fifth fastest on the stage, 2 seconds slower than Rovanperä and fall out of the lead. 

SS3, ARGANIL 1

Kalle Rovanperä would take the third stage win of the event and close the gap between himself and leader Ott Tänak to 3 seconds. Tänak would finish second fastest on the stage, 2.8 seconds slower than Rovanperä. Elfyn Evans would finish third fastest on the stage, 1.3 seconds slower than Tänak. Dani Sordo would be fourth fastest on the stage, 1.8 seconds slower than Evans. Sordo’s Hyundai teammate Thierry Neuville would post the fifth fastest time on the stage, 0.7 seconds slower than him. 

SS4, LOUSÃ 2

The fourth stage of the event would see Esapekka Lappi take the stage win, finishing 3 seconds faster than his Hyundai teammate Dani Sordo. Pierre-Louis Loubet would finish third fastest on the stage, 0.5 seconds slower than Sordo. Kalle Rovanperä would be the fourth fastest on the stage, finishing 0.5 seconds slower than Loubet. Rovanperä’s fourth-place finish on the stage would move him from first to second overall, with Dani Sordo taking the rally lead. Thierry Neuville would finish fifth fastest on the stage, finishing 2.2 seconds slower than Rovanperä. 

SS5, GÓIS 2

Stage five would see Kalle Rovanperä take the win to regain the rally lead. Thierry Neuville set the second fastest time on the stage, that time would be 0.4 seconds slower than Rovanperä’s. Dani Sordo set the third fastest time on the stage, finishing 0.8 seconds slower than Neuville. Pierre-Louis Loubet set the fourth fastest time on the stage, finishing with a time 1.3 seconds slower than Sordo. Esapekka Lappi would round out the top five on the stage, setting a time 0.9 seconds slower than Loubet. 

SS6, ARGANIL 2

The sixth stage of day one of Vodafone Rally De Portugal would once again see Kalle Rovanperä on top. With Rovanperä setting a time 2.1 seconds faster than Dani Sordo, who placed second on the stage. Pierre-Louis Loubet set the third fastest time on the stage, 0.3 seconds slower than Sordo’s. Thierry Neuville would finish with the fourth fastest time on the stage, setting a time 1.1 seconds slower than Loubet. Neuville’s Hyundai teammate Esapekka Lappi would set the fifth fastest time on the stage, that time would be 1.9 seconds slower than Neuville’s however. 

SS7, MORTÁGUA

Esapekka Lappi took the win on the seventh stage of Vodafone Rally De Portugal. Setting a time 0.4 seconds faster than Kalle Rovanperä on the stage. Ott Tänak would finish with the third fastest time on the stage, that time would be 4.2 seconds slower than Rovanperä’s. Tänak’s M-Sport teammate Pierre-Louis Loubet would set the fourth fastest time on the stage, 4 seconds slower than the time set by Tänak. Thierry Neuville would round out the top five on the stage, setting a time 2.8 seconds slower than Loubet. 

SS8, FIGUEIRA DA FOZ (SSS)

The final stage of Day One of Vodafone Rally De Portugal would see Dani Sordo on top. Sordo set a time 0.7 seconds faster than Ott Tänak and Thierry Neuville. Tänak and Neuville would both tie for second on the stage. Pierre-Louis Loubet would set the fourth fastest time on the stage, 1.2 seconds slower than the time set by Tänak and Neuville. Esapekka Lappi set the fifth fastest time on the stage, 0.9 seconds slower than Loubet’s time. 

Loubet Vs Neuville

Pierre-Louis Loubet would spend most of day one battling for third with Thierry Neuville. Loubet would end the day with just 0.9 seconds separating him from Neuville. Neuville will have to try his best to hold Loubet off if he wants to take home critical third-place points this weekend at Vodafone Rally De Portugal.

Trouble For Tänak

Ott Tänak would lead the rally heading into SS4. With just 3 seconds between him and Kalle Rovanperä. Unfortunately, a tire issue on SS4 would cost Tänak over a minute. Forcing him out of the lead and promoting Rovanperä to first. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the only issue for Tänak as he also ran most of stage three with a broken water pump. This could’ve forced Tänak to retire if M-Sport didn’t get the issue fixed at the tire fitting zone between SS3 and SS4. 

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