The day started at the crack of dawn, included ten special stages, and ended late in the evening. And even after the final stage, drivers still faced media duties, team debriefs and video reviews deep into the night. With another early wake-up call looming, the question in today’s ultra-demanding WRC world is: does this still make sense?
“Crazy long day, I think it’s a bit too long, we are 14 hours in the car and tomorrow we are going to wake up at 5 am. We can surely do it, but it’s a bit of a safety issue, everyone is going to be so tired the whole weekend. Maybe something could be done about this in the future. Everyone is completely exhausted for the whole weekend,” Rovanperä said at the end of the final stage.
In the Finnish-language interview, however, Rovanperä shifted to humour to lighten the mood:
“Yks, kaks, kolme, sauna,” he quipped, referencing Sweden’s Eurovision entry and the Finland-Swedish comedy group KAJ, Finland.
At the top of the leaderboard, Hyundai’s Ott Tänak continues to lead the rally. The Estonian’s advantage over Toyota’s Sébastien Ogier is seven seconds heading into Saturday.
“It’s been demanding, especially the second loop. We couldn’t really find the sweetspot and we were a bit struggling. But the last two ones were clean stages,” Tänak said.
“It’s cleaning in the stage. I did what I could in the stage and saved my softs for the rest of the rally. Let’s see if it was a good idea,” Ogier added.
Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta holds third place, 27.1 seconds off the lead. Rovanperä is in fourth, just 1.2 seconds behind his teammate. Fifth-placed Thierry Neuville is only 4.4 seconds adrift of the Finn.
Toyota’s Sami Pajari moved up to sixth place overall, overtaking WRC points leader Elfyn Evans. The Welshman was first on the road and clearly suffered from his road position.
Rally Portugal continues on Saturday with seven more special stages. The event finishes on Sunday.
Rally Portugal standings after SS11/24
| POS | Driver | Car | Driver |
| 1. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | 1:41:26.2 |
| 2. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | +7.0 |
| 3. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +27.1 |
| 4. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | +28.3 |
| 5. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +32.7 |
| 6. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +1:01.4 |
| 7. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +1:09.0 |
| 8. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +1:50.2 |
| 9. | Josh McErlean | Ford | +1:54.3 |
Rally Portugal Itinerary (CET):
Thursday 15.5.
09.01 Shakedown: Baltar (5,72 km)
20.05 SS1: Figueira da Foz (2,94 km)
Friday 16.5.
08.35 SS2: Mortagua 1 (14,59 km)
10.05 SS3: Lousa 1 (12,28 km)
10.53 SS4: Gois 1 (14,30 km)
11.41 SS5: Arganil 1 (14,41 km)
13.31 Remote Service Arganil 20min
14.05 SS6: Lousa 2 (12,28 km)
14.53 SS7: Gois 2 (14,30 km)
15.41 SS8: Arganil 2 (14,41 km)
16.31 Remote Service Arganil 20min
18.05 SS9: Mortagua 2 (14,59 km)
19.35 SS10: Agueda/Sever (15,08 km)
20.20 SS11: Sever/Albergaria (20,24 km)
Saturday 17.5.
08.35 SS12: Vieira do Minho 1 (17,69 km)
10.35 SS13: Cabeceiras de Basto 1 (19,91 km)
11.25 SS14: Amarante 1 (22,10 km)
13.46 Service 44min
16.05 SS15: Vieira do Minho 2 (17,69 km)
17.05 SS16: Cabeceiras de Basto 2 (19,91 km)
18.55 SS17: Amarante 2 (22,10 km)
20.05 SS18: Lousada (3,52 km)
Sunday 18.5.
07.43 SS19: Paredes 1 (16,09 km)
08.48 SS20: Felgueiras 1 (8,81 km)
09.35 SS21: Fafe 1 (11,18 km)
10.58 SS22: Paredes 2 (16,09 km)
12.03 SS23: Felgueiras 2 (8,81 km)
14.15 SS24: Fafe 2 (11,18 km) *Power Stage
