The second day of Vodafone Rally De Portugal 2025 has come to an end. Ott Tänak leads after the days 10 stages.
First Loop (Stages 2-5)
Ott Tänak claimed the lead after the first four stages of the day. Evans led heading into the day but fell to sixth overall during the loop. Tänak won two stages to take a 0.2-second lead over teammate Adrien Fourmaux who won the other two stages. Martins Sesks got a puncture on the opening stage of the day. Thierry Neuville also had troubles to start the day as the Belgian spun out. Neuville complained of a lack of grip during the loop as well.
Second Loop (Stages 6-8)
Ott Tänak held onto the lead throughout the second loop of the day. However, the Estonian didn’t win a stage during the loop. Takamoto Katsuta moved into second after Adrien Fourmaux retired after his left front suspension broke. Other than that it was a quiet loop of stages.
Third Loop (Stages 9-11)
Ott Tänak closed out the second day of Vodafone Rally De Portugal 2025 with a seven-second lead over Sebastien Ogier. Tänak took two stage wins on the loop whilst Ogier took the other. No major issues to report during this loop.
Quotes
Toyota Gazoo Racing
Juha Kankkunen (Deputy Team Principal)
“Today has been a long day but a good day overall. I’m very happy with the way that our guys have driven today through so many demanding stages. Of course, Elfyn was suffering a little bit cleaning the road with many first-pass stages, and the second passes were not any easier for him following the different lines of the smaller cars. Seb has done well to be so close to the lead, as have Taka and Kalle to be up there in the top four as well and I’m excited to see what they can do tomorrow. The same is true of Sami who also did a very good job and ended the day strongly.”
Elfyn Evans (Driver car 33)
“It’s been a tough day. It started off not too badly: the first two stages of the morning were not completely dry so the conditions were a bit more similar for everyone and we weren’t losing too much time. After that we struggled a lot more. The middle loop is where I think we could have done better, because the last loop was extremely difficult in terms of cleaning with very low grip. At least we will be in a better position tomorrow and the sandier stages should be a bit more enjoyable to drive, so we hope to find a better feeling and push more.”
Kalle Rovanperä (Driver car 69)
“It’s been a crazy long day but I think we have to be quite happy. It was not optimal but I think we did what we could with our starting position. The day started with lower grip conditions than we usually see here in Portugal and I think it was a bit tricky for everybody. Then it started to dry up and it felt a bit more like usual. I think the middle loop especially was good for us and now we’ll try to catch up some time if we can tomorrow on stages that usually suit us quite well.”
Sébastien Ogier (Driver car 17)
“I’m happy with my day today. It was a difficult start this morning as I felt something was not right with the car setup – probably a consequence of the difficult wet conditions we had in our test. But I started to work on it between stages and the rhythm got better. I’m happy with the way we fought and managed to stay in touch with the lead, while also trying to save some soft tyres for the rest of the weekend. To be in a battle with Ott is always intense and enjoyable and I know I need to give my best to keep the pressure on tomorrow.”
Takamoto Katsuta (Driver car 18)
“Things were going well through most of today. I was feeling very comfortable in the car and I was enjoying the driving. In the last loop with some new stages the feeling maybe wasn’t quite so good and I was maybe driving a bit more on the safe side. But we are still in third position with two days to go, and still in a good place on the road for tomorrow, so I will keep trying to push.”
Sami Pajari (Driver car 5)
“It has not been a bad day for us. At first the conditions were changing and it was not easy to get in a rhythm, but then it started to become drier and also quite rough. With the rain in testing the preparation was not ideal but we were able to make quite a lot of changes with the setup and it was going in a better direction. I didn’t really feel that I was really pushing hard today so the pace was probably where it should be and we will try to build on this tomorrow.”
Hyundai Shell Mobis
Ott Tänak
“This morning was definitely positive. I had a good flow and feeling on the first two stages, but after that lost some of it. Despite this, we tried to make the most of the day to ensure a good road position for tomorrow. We knew the Toyotas didn’t have the best position today, so we had the upper hand on them and we capitalised on that advantage. It’s very tight and it’s nice to have this kind of competition – we now have only a few hours to determine our strategy and hopefully find more pace tomorrow.”
Thierry Neuville
“Overall, a positive day. This morning we were pushing but just didn’t get everything together, and immediately lost eight seconds with our spin and then a bit more as we struggled with confidence. However, I’m satisfied with how the day went and that we are very close to a podium position; we’re in a good place to have a better day tomorrow, and having Ott at the front is also nice. A good day for the team. It was tough, and while I think we perform well in those conditions, this was maybe too long for my liking.”
Adrien Fourmaux
“Today was going really well until a part in the front-left suspension broke on SS8 and we were forced to retire. It wasn’t something we could fix quickly, which was a real shame after our strong morning. Our pace was great, we felt comfortable in the car and we were fighting for the lead, so we can still take plenty of positives from today. We need to understand what happened so we can hopefully rejoin tomorrow and continue our push. ”
François-Xavier Demaison – Hyundai Technical Director
“Our main goal for Portugal was to come back and close the gap to Toyota, and we have certainly made a good step towards achieving that. Ott is leading the charge at the top of the classification, and had been battling with Adrien for the lead this morning. While it is disappointing Adrien retired, his pace was very encouraging. Of course, we have fewer cars than our competitors, and to lose one on Friday is a great shame, but Ott and Thierry continue to demonstrate that we are very much in the fight here in Portugal. ”