He is still the king. Just like he did at the Montecarlo Rally, Sebastien Loeb leads the standings after the first morning of competition in Portugal. Despite making a discreet start in the first stages and having to battle against the dust that entered the passenger compartment of his Ford, the Frenchman is already the leader, albeit by just half a second over Elfyn Evans. Dani Sordo for his part has staged a fierce comeback from twentieth place to ninth.
After the gala of the 50 years of the World Cup, the ‘shakedown’ and the urban super special of Coimbra, the real stages have finally arrived. Lousa, Gois and Arganil, three specials with a lot of history and tradition, have served to begin to glimpse the benefits of each other on the new hybrid mechanics on earth.
And Loeb was the fastest on the opening morning. His times were not very good in the first two sections, but in Arganil he threw himself into a torrent and snatched the lead from Evans, although for the minimum, for half a second. The legend of the driver with the most titles and victories in the history of the World Championship, which this year celebrates its golden anniversary, continues, although a fierce battle is expected with ten drivers separated by 20 seconds.
Deaf for his part, in his first participation with the Hyundai i20 N hybrid, recognized that “everything is new for me. Little by little I am enjoying the car more, And that’s the way the times come.” He started in 20th position after his error at a roundabout yesterday in Coimbra, and is already 9th, but, more importantly, only 15 seconds behind the head, so his chances of fighting for a great result remain.
Classification
1. Loeb-Galmiche (Fra/Ford), 36m 51.1s
2. Evans-Martin (GBR/Toyota), 0.5
3. Neuville-Wydaeghe (Bel/Hyundai), at 3.3
4. Tanak-Jarveoja (Est/Hyundai), 5.7
5. Rovanpera-Halttunen (Fin/Toyota), at 5.7.
9. Deaf-Carrera (Esp/Hyundai), at 15.1
