The third day of Vodafone Rally De Portugal 2025 has come to an end. Sebastien Ogier took the event lead after a power steering issue arose for Tänak.
Morning Loop (Stages 12-14)
Ott Tänak retained the lead after the first three stages of the day. The Estonian extended his lead to 11.8 seconds ahead of Sebastien Ogier despite only taking one stage win. No major issues happened during the loop. Tânak did get a slow puncture on SS13 but lost very little time.
Afternoon Loop (Stages 15-18)
Sebastien Ogier moved into the event lead after Tänak stuffed a power steering issue on SS17 which forced the Estonian down to third. Ogier ends the day with a 27.6-second lead over Kalle Rovanperä. Ott Tänak won both stages before his issue and led by 13.9 seconds heading into SS17. No other major issues to report during the loop.
Quotes
Toyota Gazoo Racing
Juha Kankkunen (Deputy Team Principal)
“We have to be happy to have two cars in the lead tonight. Of course, it was unfortunate for Ott what happened to him because it was a great battle, but the conditions seemed to be very rough this afternoon and this kind of thing can happen; it’s part of rallying. Thankfully all of our cars could reach the end of the day and our drivers did a good job once again today. Seb is in a good position now but there are still 72 kilometres to drive without any service, so nothing is decided yet and we have to stay focused.”
Elfyn Evans (Driver car 33)
“It’s not been the day we were hoping for today. The feeling hasn’t been too bad behind the wheel but we weren’t able to find the speed to go with it. We won’t give up though and we have to stay positive and try to find something to improve for tomorrow. The pace was there at the start of the weekend so we have to understand why it’s gone the way it has. Tomorrow is a new day and we’ll give it everything to push for some more points.”
Kalle Rovanperä (Driver car 69)
“It’s been quite a good day for us in the sense that we were able to gain a couple of positions, both in the overall standings and in the road order for tomorrow. We had much softer conditions than we have seen here before and the second pass was really rough, so it was tough for the tyres and the cars. We haven’t quite had the optimal speed so it might not be easy to keep Ott behind us, but of course we will try our best tomorrow to take as many points as we can.”
Sébastien Ogier (Driver car 17)
“It’s been another tough day today. This morning it was quite enjoyable but in the afternoon the conditions were so rough with huge ruts. It took a lot of effort to keep it on the road without issues and I was glad to get to the end of the day. It was not the way we would have liked to take the lead, and I really feel sorry for Ott, but it’s also part of the game in this sport and things like this can happen, especially when conditions are rough like today. We just have to focus on our job and try to finish it tomorrow on what is still a long and demanding Sunday.”
Takamoto Katsuta (Driver car 18)
“This morning I had a good comfortable feeling in the car and good pace and I was able to have a nice fun fight with Kalle. In the afternoon, when the conditions totally changed and became rougher, it was much harder and unfortunately we lost a position. But now I just need to focus on what I can do tomorrow. The gaps are still quite close and I will try to keep pushing and see what happens.”
Sami Pajari (Driver car 5)
“I’m quite happy with the performance that we had today. It’s not so easy to read the pace because we could see there was some road cleaning effect. The morning especially was quite enjoyable with a nice flow. This afternoon there were some extremely rough sections, which was something new for me in this car, but we managed to get through it and let’s see what tomorrow brings.”
Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT
Ott Tänak
“The power steering loss was sudden, and obviously the stage still had a lot of bedrock and roughness to it, so there wasn’t anything else I could do. The first stage this morning was not so great, but after that we managed to find something that clicked. I really enjoyed driving the car out there today, and was controlling the pace and feeling good grip. Obviously, our issue was very unfortunate, but we are still in the fight tomorrow.”
Thierry Neuville
“We had a solid day today. The car was feeling good, and it allowed us to push on every stage – today was strong and we are satisfied with the position we are in considering our road position. We’re never 100% happy with the pace but it was definitely there, and we were similar to Kalle despite having different tyre choices. There’s still a lot to learn about the tyres. With six stages left and now being so close to the podium, we will be going full attack tomorrow.”
Adrien Fourmaux
“It has been a mixed day for us today. It was challenging to open the road but we found some improvements within the setup and we are happy with the changes we made. Nevertheless, it’s frustrating when you don’t have a fight going on around you and you are just driving in a league of your own. We’re keeping our heads up and we are going into Sunday fully focused on maximising our points tomorrow.”
Pablo Marcos – Hyundai Team Manager
“It was a very clean morning for Ott and Thierry fighting at the front. Thierry was on the pace from the very start, and while Ott struggled initially he went on to find the pace he needed in the car. This continued into the afternoon until Ott’s power steering fault dropped him down. Now we are third and fourth overall, so the fight is on tomorrow for the podium positions. For Adrien, today was a day to test and try to improve the car for him, as well as getting him prepared for a Super Sunday push tomorrow. We’re expecting a battle for all three crews tomorrow.”