The Vodafone Rally de Portugal is the fourth round of the Portuguese Rally Championship and a test of the dominance of Kris Meeke and Hyundai Portugal. The Northern Irish driver, winner of the ACP event in 2016 in the WRC, comes to this stage of the season with a perfect score of victories and ahead of Armindo Araújo (Skoda) and Lucas Simões (Ford).
As usual, the Vodafone Rally de Portugal once again brings together the stars of the WRC and the best drivers in the Portuguese Rally Championship, which this season has been completely dominated by Kris Meeke, at the wheel of the Hyundai i20 N Rally2. The Northern Irish driver won the first three events of the CPR and in the previous one, the Rali Terras D'Aboboreira, he even beat top WRC2 drivers such as Pierre-Louis Loubet (Skoda), Yohan Rossel (Citroën) and Nikolay Gryazin (Citroën), who competed in the northern event in preparation for the Vodafone Rally de Portugal.
Meeke, who is now navigated by Briton Stuart Loudon, arrives at the Automóvel Club de Portugal event with an 18-point lead over Armindo Araújo and Luís Ramalho (Skoda), a duo that has accumulated three second places so far. However, the experience and ability of Armindo Araújo, who manages the typical toughness of the Vodafone Rally de Portugal like few others - he has been the best Portuguese driver 12 times and has won the overall event three times - can balance the forces in the first nine stages of the rally, the only ones that count towards the CPR (Thursday and Friday).
Young promises and established champions
Behind Armindo Araújo in the championship is young Lucas Simões (Ford), navigated this season by the experienced Valter Cardoso. The 25-year-old driver from Braga is looking for his first podium in the CPR, but he will face strong opposition in the Vodafone Rally de Portugal, as he has less experience than established drivers such as Ricardo Teodósio (Hyundai), currently fifth in the CPR, or José Pedro Fontes (Citroën), who has had an unlucky season. Ernesto Cunha, in his debut season with the Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo, and Pedro Almeida, in another Skoda, also have legitimate aspirations for podium places in the Central and Northern sections.
In the Portuguese 2-Wheel Drive Rally Championship, the leader is Hugo Lopes (Peugeot), with another intense battle expected with the defending national champion, Gonçalo Henriques (Renault), and Pedro Silva (Peugeot). Ukrainian Anton Korzun (Peugeot) and youngsters Kevin Saraiva (Peugeot) and Diogo Marujo (Peugeot) are other names that could surprise in the CPR2 race.