The third day of this year’s Vodafone Rallye de Portugal will take the crews to the east and the north-east of the event base in Matosinhos for two loops of three stages on the soft gravel roads.
The first stage of the day is the 17.43Km of Vieira do Minho, to the north-east of Oporto, and it uses an identical road to the 2016 rally. It is quickly followed by 22.30Km of Cabeceiras de Basto, a completely new stage for this year and one that will test the crews relatively early in the morning.
They then move south by 40Km, to the 37.55Km stage of Amarante. The longest stage of the rally uses the identical road from last year and in the same direction, so at least the drivers will be familiar with it as they tackle it for the first time this weekend.
Having cleared the first loop of three stages, the crews will return to EXPONOR in Matosinhos for the mid-day service and their only opportunity during the day to look after their cars.
Once they and their cars have been refuelled, they will head out again for a repeat of the same three stages, although likely to be considerably rougher for the second pass.
Having completed the second loop of stages, they will again return to EXPONOR for the overnight halt, following a 45-minute service for the cars and the chance for the crews to enjoy a relaxed meal as they consider their strategy for the final day.
09.08 – SS10, Vieira do Minho1
09.46 – SS11, Cabeceiras de Basto1
11.04 – SS12, Amarante1
13.00 – Service, EXPONOR
15.08 – SS13, Vieira do Minho2
15.46 – SS14, Cabeceiras de Basto2
17.04 – SS15, Amarante2
18.55 – Service, EXPONOR