On their first outing, the new Scorpion tyres passed the demanding exam set by the Rally of Portugal, which was won by Sebastien Ogier and his Toyota Yaris, in a rally with no shortage of excitement which featured several changes to the order. Standing on the second and third steps of the podium were the Hyundai pair of Ott Tanak, who won Super Sunday and Thierry Neuville, victorious on the Power Stage, while reigning world champion Kalle Rovanpera, who had been leading up to that point, paid a high price for a crash on SS 11 Montim 1.
Among the main features of a rally which, in some ways was atypical for Portugal, was the fact the road surfaces were often slippery in the morning, especially for the first cars, because of night time damp, with less dirt than usual, making it trickier to find grip.
In these conditions, it was no surprise that the soft compound Scorpion KX WRC SB, the prime on this event, was by a long way the preferred choice for the Rally1 drivers, who only opted for the hard on Friday afternoon, for the second pass of what was the most demanding day of the whole rally.
PIRELLI QUOTE
Terenzio Testoni, Pirelli Activity Manager: “We are very pleased with the new tyres, especially the soft which proved to be suitable for the wet and cold surfaces encountered in the morning, as well as the dry conditions in the afternoon, when they were used in combination with the hard, creating a great synergy. That versatility combined with greater strength, crucial in events like Portugal, is derived from the runflat technologies developed by Pirelli. It’s continuous development like this that serves to always push the limits with solutions designed for the top cars that then trickle down to all the others. As for the race, my compliments obviously go to Ogier, but also to the Hyundai drivers who fought right to the end, especially Tanak who deserved better luck. Takamoto also did an excellent job to dominate the first part of the rally.”
Jan Solans and his Toyota came out on top in WRC2, followed by the Skodas of Josh McEarlan and Joona Lauri, who made the most of the misfortunes that befell Oliver Solberg, Gus Greensmith and Yoan Rossel, who had led the category up until around the halfway mark.
Below a summary chart of the Rally of Portugal