Spanish driver Dani Sordo leads the Portuguese Rally Championship’s Vidreiro Rally after the first day, putting pressure on current national points leader Armindo Araújo in a tightly contested title race.
Sordo, driving a Hyundai i20, finished Friday with a narrow 0.9-second advantage over Northern Ireland’s Kris Meeke in a Toyota Yaris. Ricardo Teodósio, also in a Toyota Yaris, holds third place, 24.1 seconds adrift of Sordo.
The current championship frontrunner, Armindo Araújo, driving a Skoda Fabia, dropped from third to fourth position after a critical error on the final special stage of the day. He now trails Sordo by 24.4 seconds.
Araújo expressed regret over the mistake. “It made no sense for us to take risks when we don’t depend solely on ourselves to win the title,” he stated, adding, “The car was perfect, we had a relatively comfortable margin within the podium, but we made a mistake in the super special and ended up losing a position.”
Despite leading the championship standings, Araújo must discard 15 points from his worst result so far this season. This deduction would place him third overall, behind Sordo and Meeke, who would then be separated by a single point with Sordo holding the advantage.
Araújo remains optimistic about securing his eighth national title. “Tomorrow we have many kilometers ahead,” he said, “we will fight to get back to where we were and wait to see what happens with the fight in front of us.”
The final leg of the rally, organized by Clube Automóvel da Marinha Grande, features six classification stages on Saturday. These include a new pass through São Pedro de Moel, double runs through Mata Mourisca and Pombal, and the Super Especial Arena.