Traditionally, the Vodafone Rally de Portugal features a huge entry list and this year is no different. As the first mainland European gravel rally of the season, the 2014 edition has no less than 85 crews on the entry list.
However, just as impressive is the number of Fords that make up the field. According to M-Sport, the company that develops and runs Ford rally cars in the WRC, there are 42 cars featuring the famous blue oval badge in the Algarve this weekend.
The main team will be fielding six Ford Fiesta RS World Rally Cars, there will be five Fiesta Regional Rally Cars (RRCs), two Fiesta Super2000s, 14 Fiesta R5 cars and 15 Fiesta R2 two wheel-drive cars, including the 12 cars which make up the Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy.
This represents 49% of the field competing in Fords, an astonishing figure.
2014 marks the tenth consecutive year that the Vodafone Rally de Portugal has been held in the Algarve region of the country, as well as being the seventh year it has featured within the WRC calendar since its move south in 2005.
After leaving the WRC in 2001, when the event was based in the city of Oporto, the ACP (Automobile Club of Portugal) focused on the Portuguese National Rally Championship. Held at Macedo de Cavaleiros, the event ran from 2002 to 2004. French driver Didier Auriol won the event in 2002, while Portuguese driver Armindo Araujo claimed victory over the following two years.
In 2005, the ACP made a bid for Portugal to rejoin the WRC, using the 2005/6 rounds of the National Rally Championship as candidate events, demonstrating why Portugal deserved a spot on the coveted WRC calendar. In 2005, after being invited to drive the rally in Group N Subaru Imprezas, Daniel Carlsson took the win while Mikko Hirvonen went on to secure second. The win in 2006 went once more to local driver, Armindo Araujo.
The two candidate years were a success, resulting in the Algarve region becoming a fixture on the 2007 calendar for the first time. This also brought success for then Citroen driver Sebastien Loeb, who completed the tough gravel stages and secured the win some three minutes ahead of Petter Solberg.
In 2008, Rally de Portugal became part of the IRC (Intercontinental Rally Challenge) rather than the WRC due to the rotation system for new rallies in place at the time.
Since 2009, however, the Vodafone Rally de Portugal has been a permanent fixture in the WRC, serving as one of the most demanding events within the sport. In 2009, Loeb once again emerged as the winner, but the following two years saw Sebastien Ogier claim the win, further building on his first ever win within the WRC, in Portugal in 2010.
In 2012, another driver claimed his first WRC win in Portugal in the form of Mads Ostberg, though admittedly this came about after the disqualification of Mikko Hirvonen who was the fastest over the event.
Most recently in 2013, Ogier – now with Volkswagen Motorsport – secured his third Vodafone Rally de Portugal win, on his way to his first title.