Sébastien Ogier has taken a record sixth victory at WRC Rally Portugal, his 60th WRC rally win. Ott Tänak and Thierry Neuville completed the podium.
Ogier started the final day with a stage win, 3.3 seconds faster than his nearest rival Ott Tänak. Tänak answered by winning stages 20 and 21, closing the overall gap with Ogier to 10.1 seconds with only the Power Stage to go.
The eight-time WRC champion had everything under control, however, with his lead not under threat in the final stage. He won the rally by 7.9 seconds in the end, his 60th WRC of his career.
More problems for Evans
Behind Ogier and Tänak, Neuville drove unchallenged to P3 overall ahead of Adrien Fourmaux and Dani Sordo. Elfyn Evans finished in P6 after a troublesome weekend which was exaggerated by engine issues on Sunday.
The Welshman limped his Toyota to the finish of the penultimate stage in EV mode but managed to finish the rally and thus secure his Saturday points. A stone had damaged the radiator of his Toyota which caused overheating problems. The problems meant that Evans didn’t score any points for Super Sunday. He missed out on Power Stage points as well, which means he leaves Portugal with just six points.
Nikolay Gryazin finished in P7 overall and was the fastest Rally2 driver in Portugal. The Citroën driver held off Jan Solans who secured his first WRC2 win as well as the first WRC2 win for the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2. Solans lost his WRC2 lead after SS20 to Josh McErlean, but overtook the Irish driver in the penultimate stage and managed to keep him behind in the Power Stage by just 3.2 seconds in the end.
Lauri Joona rounded off the WRC2 podium as well as the top 10 at Rally de Portugal. Yohan Rossel finished in P5 in WRC2, behind Fabrizio Zaldivar. The Frenchman was given two one-minute time penalties, dropping him too far behind to challenge for the podium places.
Neuville wins Power Stage
Tänak won Super Sunday by 2.4s ahead of his team-mate Neuville while Ogier finished in P3, 4 seconds behind Tänak. Fourmaux finished in P4 ahead of Katsuta, Rovanperä and Sordo.
Neuville won the Power Stage by just one-tenth of a second over his team-mate Tänak. Toyota drivers Rovanperä, Ogier and Katsuta were third, fourth and fifth fastest respectively in the Power Stage.
Tänak takes most points in Portugal
Tänak’s P2 after Saturday, P1 on Super Sunday and P2 in the Power Stage secured him 26 points this weekend, one point more than rally winner Ogier who scored 25 points for P1 on Saturday, P3 on Sunday and P4 in the Power Stage. Neuville leaves Portugal with 24 points with the Belgian scoring 11 points on Sunday alone (6 points for Super Sunday and 5 Power Stage points).
Neuville extends his championship lead to 24 points over Evans. Tänak moves up to P3 in the championship, now 7 points behind Evans and 8 points ahead of Fourmaux.
The 2024 World Rally Championship continues at Rally Italia Sardegna in 3 weeks time (31 May – 2 June).
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WRC Rally Portugal 2024 – Final results
| # | Drivers | Car | Time / Diff. to 1st |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Ogier / Landais | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 | 3:41:32.3 |
| 2. | Tänak / Järveoja | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 | +7.9 |
| 3. | Neuville / Wydaeghe | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 | +1:09.8 |
| 4. | Fourmaux / Coria | Ford Puma Rally1 | +1:47.8 |
| 5. | Sordo / Carrera | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 | +2:48.9 |
| 6. | Evans / Martin | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 | +6:36.0 |
| 7. | Gryazin / Aleksandrov | Citroën C3 Rally2 | +11:48.4 |
| 8. | Solans / Sanjuan | Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 | +11:52.9 |
| 9. | McErlean / Fulton | Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 | +11:56.1 |
| 10. | Joona / Hussi | Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 | +13:40.3 |
WRC 2024 Drivers’ Championship – Standings after Round 5/13 [Top 10]
| # | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Thierry Neuville | 110 |
| 2. | Elfyn Evans | 86 (-24) |
| 3. | Ott Tänak | 79 (-31) |
| 4. | Adrien Fourmaux | 71 (-39) |
| 5. | Sébastien Ogier | 70 (-40) |
| 6. | Takamoto Katsuta | 49 (-61) |
| 7. | Kalle Rovanperä | 36 (-74) |
| 8. | Esapekka Lappi | 23 (-87) |
| 9. | Andreas Mikkelsen | 14 (-96) |
| 10. | Oliver Solberg | 12 (-98) |
WRC 2024 Manufacturers’ Championship – Standings after Round 5/13
| # | Manufacturer | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT | 219 |
| 2. | Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT | 215 (-4) |
| 3. | M-Sport Ford WRT | 110 (-109) |
Photo: Red Bull Content Pool