Stage winner Rovanperä extends lead; Sordo closes in on third
Ogier and Greensmith were given the dubious honours of sweeping the gravel stages clean, courtesy of their first and second positions on the road. Evans and Rovanperä were running in 10th and 11th through the opening Felgueiras stage of 8.91km.
Overnight rain had dampened down the dust but there was a surprising amount of grip for the early cars. Tänak halved Loubet’s hold on seventh place with the fastest run of the early Rally1 cars and Sordo closed to within 1.2 seconds of Katsuta’s third place. The stage win for Rovanperä enabled the Finn to extend his lead over Evans to 8.4 seconds.
Stage winner Rovanperä extends lead; Sordo closes in on third
Three-minute intervals
Car 69. ROVANPERÄ/HALTTUNEN
“It was a tricky stage. I pushed a bit. All good.”
Car 11. NEUVILLE/WYDAEGHE
“I didn’t have such a good run in there. I was too early on the brakes. It was very narrow and, with the negative camber, it’s difficult to know how far to go. It’s only the start of the day.”
Car 8. TÄNAK/JÄRVEOJA
“It’s better grip than normal. It’s fine. I really struggle with the gear change today.”
Car 18. KATSUTA/JOHNSTON
Dropped time to Sordo and now leads the Spaniard by just 1.2 seconds in the battle for third overall. “I don’t know. I was trying but it was not working well.”
Car 44. GREENSMITH/ANDERSSON
“It’s not so bad. Quite a lot of grip to be honest. It’s hard to say if it will get worse behind. If there is mud underneath it will get worse, otherwise it will clean.”
Car 1. OGIER/VEILLAS
First on the road. “The dampness and humidity of the rain is okay. The grip is okay on the front. I try a different set-up and try and learn a bit more about the car.”
Car 33. EVANS/MARTIN
“I don’t think I was quite as on it as the run from last year. I am sure that Kalle will do a good job also.”
Car 16. FOURMAUX/CORIA
“I didn’t have any more soft left so I take two hards (spare) for the grip. I didn’t make the pace here. I didn’t want to push on that one.”
Car 7. LOUBET/LANDAIS
Dropped 13.9 seconds to Tänak in the battle for seventh. The gap is now 12.3. “We’re on used tyres unfortunately. The time is not important. The result, seven or eight, for us is not important. The target for us is to do a fast recce now.”
Car 6. SORDO/CARRERA
“It’s okay. I didn’t drive very good but I try my best.
Car 21. SUNINEN/MARKKULA
“Still the challenge is there so I have to focus and do my best and keep the driving clean.”