Rovanperä set the fastest time on his first run of the shakedown, but he later revealed that his car was not “100%”.
His car was repaired in service, but his time didn’t improve in his final two shakedown attempts.
Afterwards, Rovanperä confirmed the precise issue with the car.
“The hybrid unit wasn’t working on the first run, but the time was still good. The car runs well, and it’s possible to drive it as it should be driven,” Rovanperä told RallyJournal.com.
Rally de Portugal has suited the Finnish star well in previous years, with victories in the gravel event during both of his championship-winning seasons in 2022 and 2023.
This time, Rovanperä starts the rally from a favourable starting position, setting high expectations once again.
“This has been a good event for me every year, and the results have shown that. I’m feeling positive.”
“Of course, the goal is victory. There’s no point in aiming for anything else. I feel like the battle for the win might be tighter this year. We’ll do our best and obviously aim for the win.”
According to Rovanperä, a successful weekend hinges on a strong performance during Friday’s first proper driving day.
“We’ve managed to win here despite sweeping the roads for the past two years. This year, we have a good starting position, so we need to use it well and push hard. Then we need to keep it up throughout the weekend,” Rovanperä outlined.
The WRC Rally de Portugal starts on Thursday evening with a short super special stage. On Friday, drivers will tackle eight special stages.
