End of heart attack in the Rally of Portugal. Kalle Rovanpera has played with Elfyn Evans the victory to the last meter, and dani deaf the third step of the podium with Takamoto Katsuta in the same way. In the end, the young Finn has scored his third consecutive victory and escapes to the front of the World Cup, and the Spaniard pocketed the ‘drawer’ number 52 of his long career.
Emotion has reigned in the final stage of the Portuguese event. Rovanpera went out with Evans glued to his heels and Sordo willing to regain the podium position, also separated by a sigh from Katsuta. And in the end the victory went to the young Finn, who was only 15 seconds ahead of his teammate, and third place for the Spanish, who beat the Japanese by 2.1 seconds. Dani approached the finish line to his rival’s car to congratulate him and comfort him in a very sporting gesture that honors him.
Thierry Neuville had to settle for fifth position, since he has lost part of the front aerodynamics and has not been able to attack as he wanted in the final stage, followed by Ott Tanak, another one who was prevented by Friday’s punctures from fighting higher up. With the plenary session of Rovanpera, who also scored the extra points of the final section, is placed with almost double the points than his closest rival, which is Neuville.
The next appointment will be in two weeks in Sardinia, and again Deaf will be present. A rally in which the Spaniard has won twice and in which he will once again try to get the best result for his team.
Classification
1. Rovanpera-Halttunen (Fin/Toyota), 3h 44m 19.2s
2. Evans-Martin (GBR/Toyota), at 15.2
3. Sordo-Carrera (Esp/Hyundai), at 2:17.3
4. Katsuta-Johnston (Jap/Toyota), at 2:19.4
5. Neuville-Wydaeghe (Bel/Hyundai), 2:37.8
Drivers’ World Cup
1 Kalle Rovanpera, 106 points
2. Thierry Neuville, 60
3. Takamoto Katsuta, 37
