Suninen’s name appears on the list of entrants for the Rally de Portugal. He will start the gravel event driving a Hyundai i20 N Rally2 car, competing in the WRC2 category.
Alongside Suninen, the Frenchman Pierre-Louis Loubet will also be on the start line in Portugal for the first time this season. Loubet, who competed in the top category of the WRC last year, will also race in the WRC2 category, driving a Skoda Fabia RS Rally2.
Suninen last competed in October at the Central European Rally, driving Hyundai’s Rally1 car. It has been nearly a year since his last competition in a Rally2 car, as he last raced in the WRC2 category at last summer’s Rally Sardinia.
Loubet, on the other hand, drove a Ford Puma Rally1 car last season. Earlier this year, he competed in his first race with Skoda’s Rally2 car at the Qatar International Rally, which he also won. Before the Rally de Portugal, the Frenchman will participate in a round of the Portuguese Rally Championship this coming weekend as a test.
Suninen and Loubet will face an immediate tough test, as the level in the WRC2 category in Portugal is extremely high. Among the top drivers in the category participating are Oliver Solberg, Yohan Rossel, Gus Greensmith, Pepe Lopez, and Sami Pajari.
Nikolay Gryazin, who won his class at the Croatia Rally, will also start the event, although he is not competing for points in the WRC2 category this time.
Veteran drivers Kris Meeke and Armindo Araujo, who regularly compete in the Portuguese Rally Championship, will also challenge the top names in the WRC2 category in Portugal.
A total of nine Rally1 crews will be seen in the top category at the Rally de Portugal. The experienced Spanish driver Dani Sordo will start his WRC season in a Hyundai i20 N Rally1 car.
The Rally de Portugal will be held from May 9th to 12th.
