He triumphed in Sweden, he triumphed in Croatia and now he is on the way to his third victory consecutive in Portugal. Kalle Rovanpera He continues on a roll and has placed himself at the head of the Portuguese event after unceremoniously beating his teammate Elfyn Evans. DAni Sordo meanwhile gave up third place to an incisive Takamoto Katsutawhich completes the treble for the Toyotas with the final stage remaining.
The second stage has been a continuous attack by Rovanpera on Evans. The Welshman tried to defend himself tooth and nail until it started to rain in the penultimate section, the Amarante special, the longest of the weekend at 37 kilometres. Opportunity that the young Finnish leader of the World Cup took advantage of to give the claw towards the leadership against an impotent Evans who could not or knew how to defend it. The difference is still very small, so there could still be changes on the final day.
Katsuta was also incisive, throwing himself at Sordo and managing to overtake him. The Spaniard, who is still adapting to the new hybrid car in his first participation, publicly recognized the merit and explained after the rain that “I tried to change my driving style, but it seems that it didn’t go according to plan”. His difference is not excessive either, 5.7 seconds, so he could still recover the podium, but the problem is that he has his teammate Thierry Neuville also close behind, so the fight for third will be three-way.
There remains a short stage with 5 sections and less than 50 kilometres, culminating in the Fafe special and its mythical final jump in which hundreds of thousands of fans gather. One of the ‘meccas’ of the rallies that this time will experience an exciting outcome of the fourth round of the World Championship.
Classification
1. Rovanpera-Halttunen (Fin/Toyota), 3h 13m 46.7s
2. Evans-Martin (GBR/Toyota), at 5.7
3. Katsuta-Johnston (Jap/Toyota), at 1:50.1
4. Sordo-Carrera (Esp/Hyundai), at 1:55.8
5. Neuville-Wydaeghe (Bel/Hyundai), 2:25.9
