WRC PORTUGAL WINNER KALLE ROVANPER WAS UNSTOPPABLE ON SS21

On Rally Portugal, Kalle Rovanperä won his third WRC in a row, defeating teammate Elfyn Evans and taking a maximum score with the power stage victory. Starting first on the road for a gravel rally was expected to provide a significant test to the championship leader, and he was down in 10th after the first stage on Friday.

But he gradually climbed to second place on the first day of the rally, then blitzed Evans on Saturday afternoon to seize the lead, which he extended over Sunday’s stages with four stage victories from five. This includes the quickest time on the Fafe power stage, earning him a perfect score of 30 points for the second time after completing the same thing in Croatia last month.

On Sunday, Evans had no answer for Rovanperä’s speed, clawing back a few seconds on Fafe’s opening pass but otherwise unable to stay up. He’d started the final stage nine seconds behind Rovanperä, only to lose 6.1 seconds on the power stage for a single bonus point.

Evans said, ” We definitely needed a result, that’s for sure. Obviously disappointed with the outcome of today. Hats off to Kalle, he’s done a great job.”

A long-running duel for the last podium spot came down to the wire on the Fafe power stage, with Dani Sordo taking third place from Toyota junior driver Takamoto Katsuta. Sordo started the stage with 2.2 seconds to make up time on the GR Yaris ahead of him, then soared on Fafe, defeating his considerably younger competitor by 4.3 seconds to do the job at the final possible minute. Sordo didn’t feel he’d earned the final podium slot, despite taking it under dramatic circumstances.

Early on Friday, Hyundai appeared to have at least one driver in contention, with Thierry Neuville running among the Toyotas before a broken driveshaft sent him down the order.

On Sunday, a good recovery to sixth was completed with a straightforward drive, however, his chances of winning the power stage were grim due to a missing front splitter on his i20 N Rally1. On Sunday morning, Ott Tänak was a man on a mission, starting tenth but aiming for two M-Sports. Breen had already accomplished his goal of the sixth position before the final power stage began, thanks to stage wins on Montim and Fafe mixed with mechanical issues.

Sébastien Loeb, M-major Sport’s challenger for victory, had crashed out of the race on Friday afternoon, leaving the four surviving cars to fight for midfield positions. Pierre-Louis Loubet, the most experienced of the five, brought the army of Ford Pumas home in the seventh position following a turbulent rally.

While his speed had improved significantly during his troublesome two-year spell in a customer Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC in recent years, he still spun twice on Saturday and lost even more time when his wipers failed on Amarante. He was forced to slide around on old softs on Sunday, having gambled on using his new sets on Saturday in the hopes of heavy rain. He lost a lot of time as a result, dropping behind Tänak on the pace, but he still finished sixth overall.

Craig Breen finished ninth after a brake malfunction on his Ford Puma cost him many minutes on the final morning.

He had been hampered by a puncture earlier in the race, and though he had returned to sixth place at one point, it did not persist. Tänak was aiming to put him under pressure early Sunday morning, but he didn’t need to because Breen’s brakes failed before the last stage. Breen was disappointed that a fault found during Saturday evening service had not been properly fixed before setting out on Sunday, putting him behind Tänak and teammate Adrien Fourmaux, who ended the race in a peaceful seventh position.

SS21 Results:

1. Kalle Rovanperä/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota) 6m28.2s
2. Dani Sordo/Cándido Carrera (Hyundai) +2.0s
3. Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai) +3.0s
4. Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (Hyundai) +3.0s
5. Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota) +6.1s
6. Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota) +6.3s
7. Sébastien Ogier/Benjamin Veillas (Toyota) +6.9s
8. Gus Greensmith/Jonas Andersson (M-Sport Ford) +12.3s
9. Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (M-Sport Ford) +13.9s
10. Pierre-Louis Loubet/Landais (M-Sport Ford) +31.2s