The action finally got underway today on this year’s Vodafone Rally de Portugal, as the crews finished their preparation, took the ceremonial start and then, the first competitive stage of the rally.
The day began with the pre-event shakedown, the final opportunity for the crews to tune the set-up of the car ahead of the start of the event. Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville was fastest over the short test stage at the Braga rallycross circuit, ahead of Dani Sordo and Ott Tanak.
However, things didn’t go Australian Scott Pedder’s way, the driver rolling his Skoda Fabia R5 in the stage. But the team repaired the car ready for the start of the event later on in the evening.
Once the shakedown was complete, the crews travelled to Guimaraes for the ceremonial start in front of the stunningly-beautiful castle after an autograph session with the hordes of fans present.
From the start, the crews travelled to the Lousada rallycross track for the first competitive stage of the rally. Some 15,000 fans turned-out to watch the cars compete head-to-head on the part-gravel, part-tarmac stage. The fastest time went to reigning champion and 2016 leader, Sebastien Ogier, who was almost a second quicker than Neuville and Sordo, third.
The day ended when the crews returned to the EXPONOR headquarters in Matosinhos and the overnight parc ferme.
One of the most important elements of success on the Vodafone Rally de Portugal is tyre choice; in recent years, tyre choice and management has been one of the biggest talking points and major influences on the outcome of the event.
The tyres manufacturers – Pirelli, Michelin, Hankook and DMACK – accordingly take their trade seriously. Pirelli, for example, has some 600 tyres prepared for the nine to ten cars running on its products this weekend.
A spokesman for Korean manufacturer Hankook, said; “This year, the stages seem to be slightly softer than last year. This might be because there was rain in the area of the rally the week before.
“If the ambient temperature remains slightly lower than last year, then the softer tyre might work better. It may be a case of soft tyres in the morning and harder examples in the afternoon.
“However, if the temperature rises past around 25 degrees C, then drivers using the soft tyres will probably begin to have problems.”
The current weather forecast suggests Friday could be the warmest day, with temperatures expected to reach low to mid-20s while cooler days on Saturday and Sunday – 19 and 18 deg respectively – are predicted. There is currently a 50% chance of rain on Saturday night, which could affect the stages for the final leg of the rally.