Rovanpera disputes last special to lead with nine more seconds
World leader at the start of the fourth round of the championship, in Felgueiras, he regained time against Elfyn Evans. Armindo Araújo remains the best national representative
Finnish driver Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota Yaris) reached the last stage of the 55th edition of the Rally de Portugal with a nine-second lead over British driver Elfyn Evans (Toyota Yaris).
The Finn, arrived for this last day of competition with a lead of 5.7 seconds, which entered the attack and time to Evans in the first two of the five sections foreseen, in Felgueiras 1 and Montim, reaching the first passage through Fafe with 8 , 5 second advantage.
However, the British pilot responded and recovered 1.9 seconds. It was a short-lived sun, because, on the second pass through Felgueiras, Rovanperä, leader of the World Cup at the start of this fourth round of the championship, won and recovered 2.4 seconds from Evans.
The fight for third place in the state is also hot, with Japanese Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota Yaris) holding the lowest step of the podium of attacks by Spaniard Dani Sordo (Hyundai i20).
The Japanese pilot started the day 5.7 seconds ahead, but the first specials of the morning allowed Sordo to approach, who reached the end of Fafe 1 0.8 seconds behind Takamoto.
However, the Toyota man responded in the second pass through Felgueiras and reached the last special, which counts as a ‘power stage’ (distributes 15 extra points for the five fastest) with the third place safe for 2.2 seconds.
Among the Portuguese, Armindo Araújo (Skoda Fábia) remains the best national representative, with a 16.7 second advantage over Ricardo Teodósio (Hyundai i20), the current national champion.
The second pass through Fafe, starting at 12:18 pm, closes the 55th edition of the Rally de Portugal.