Huge entry for Rally de Portugal
LISBON: Vodafone Rally de Portugal to be held from May 19-22 has received a massive 100-car entry for the opening gravel fixture of the FIA World Rally Championship’s hybrid era.
Organiser Automóvel Club de Portugal released a list on Friday evening that contains 12 top-tier Rally1 cars and a remarkable 41 entries in the WRC2 premier support category.
Championship leader Kalle Rovanpera heads the line-up for the fourth round of the season in Toyota Gazoo Racing’s GR Yaris. The Finn is joined by Sebastien Ogier, who replaces Esapekka Lappi for his second outing of the year, and Elfyn Evans.
Takamoto Katsuta pilots a fourth GR Yaris for the Japanese manufacturer’s second-string squad.
M-sport Ford becomes the first team to field five Rally1cars.monte-carlowinnersébastienloeb,craig Breenandadrienfourmauxarethenominatedpuma drivers for the British squad, with Gus Greensmith and Pierre-louis Loubet listed in additional cars.
Thierryneuvilleandottänakrepresenthyundai Motorsport in i20 N cars, with Dani Sordo replacing Oliver Solberg in the third entry for his first outing of the season.
Points leader Andreas Mikkelsen tops the WRC2 contenders in a Skoda Fabia Rally2. The Norwegian is joined in the Toksport squad by Marco Bulacia.
Yohan Rossel, who scored a maiden category win at the Croatia Rally last weekend, will look for more success in a Citroen C3.
Hyundai Motorsport N makes its first appearance of the season. Teemu Suninen and Fabrizio Zaldivar are nominated in i20 N Rally2 cars, while Solberg steps down a level in a third entry from the Korean manufacturer.
Otherfrontrunnersarelikelytoincludethefabias of Kajetan Kajetanowicz, Chris Ingram and 2021 Portuguesechampionshiprunner-uparmindoaraujo.
Erik Cais pilots a Ford Fiesta while additional C3s are in the hands of Jan Solans, Eric Camilli and Stéphane Lefebvre. Eerik Pietarinen and Georg Linnamäe pilot Volkswagen Polo GTIS.
The rally marks the third round of the FIA Junior WRC and series leader Lauri Joona tops a sevendriver line-up, all in M-sport Poland Fiesta Rally3 cars. Fellow junior contenders Sami Pajari, William Creighton and Mcrae Kimathi join Joona in also being registered for WRC3.
The four-day rally is based in Matosinhos, from where competitors will tackle 21 special stages covering almost 340km.
Meanwhile, despite one of the toughest weeks of his career at the Croatia Rally, Thierry Neuville is adamant the Zagreb-based event should have a long-term future int hef ia world rally championship.
Born and brought up on Belgian asphalt, Neuville’s fulsome praise of the round three roads might surprise some. It’s even more surprising given the batle the Hyu nd a ii 20 N driver had on his hands to make Sunday’s podium.
“For me, this is one of the best Tarmac rallies we’ve ever had in the championship,” he enthused. “Despite everything, I really enjoyed the event – the conditions made it one of the most challenging ever .”
Neuville paid tribute to the Croatian fans, who turned out in massive numbers to cheer on the WRC stars.
“The atmosphere was great,” he added. “There were so many people around, so many fans. It was good to see. I think this event has a good future for the WRC. As a driver, it’s a real pleasure to be here.”
Neuville’s third place, despite penalties, a speeding fine and a final stage crash, mirrored his result from the inaugural Croatian WRC round 12 months ago.amant the Zagreb-based event should have a long-term future in the FIA World Rally Championship.