SS18: Frustrated Ott Tänak let it rip – “At least we gave it everything we had”

Tänak suffered a technical issue with the power steering on the penultimate stage, losing a significant amount of time. The Estonian dropped from the lead down to third place, 36.1 seconds behind the front-runner.

“This is part of the game, unfortunately. At least we gave it everything we had on our part. I can’t really say much else,” Tänak summed up after the spectator stage that concluded the day.

Leading the rally is Toyota’s Sébastien Ogier. The French multi-champion was disheartened that his good friend Tänak ran into trouble. Ogier leads the rally by 27.6 seconds over teammate Kalle Rovanperä.

“This isn’t the way you want to win rallies. But anything can happen in this rally. It’s not over yet. There’s still a long day ahead tomorrow,” Ogier said.

Rovanperä has not found winning pace in Portugal. His aim is third place. On the legendary Lousada spectator stage that ended the day, Rovanperä was beaten by his teammate Takamoto Katsuta.

“Unfortunately, Taka won, but it doesn’t matter. It was a long day and we made it to the finish. That’s the most important thing,” Rovanperä said.

In fourth place in the rally is Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville. The Belgian is being closely followed by Katsuta, who is just 2.2 seconds behind. Toyota’s Sami Pajari sits in sixth place ahead of teammate Elfyn Evans, who leads the World Championship standings.

The Rally Portugal concludes on Sunday. The final day of the event includes six more special stages.

Rally Portugal standings after SS18/24: