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Co-driven by Vincent Landais, the Frenchman is now the most successful driver in the 56-year history of the event, which was a founding round of the FIA WRC back in 1973. Ogier previously shared the record with Finnish legend Markku Alén before his triumph today.
Five different drivers led the gruelling gravel counter, which ran on roads near the northern Portuguese cities of Porto and Matosinhos and attracted thousands of passionate fans to watch the action from the stages.
Ogier seized the top spot on an action-packed Saturday, during which his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid team-mate Kalle Rovanperä rolled out of the lead and Takamoto Katsuta retired his similar car with broken rear suspension.
The eight-time world champion headed the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid of Tänak by 11.9s heading into Sunday’s four-stage finale and stayed cool to keep the Estonian at bay, soaring high over the legendary Fafe jump to round out this fifth round of the season in style.
“I had nothing against being tied with Markku Alén,” said Ogier, who now has 60 FIA WRC event wins to his name. “He is a legend, but I heard for many years ‘when will you beat this record?’
“It was a not a great weekend for the whole team, but it was a good rally for us and I am glad we could bring some points.”
Second place marked Tänak’s best result since re-joining Hyundai at the beginning of the year. The additional seven points he earned for topping the Super Sunday classification helped move him ahead of Adrien Fourmaux to third in the provisional standings.
It was also a strong weekend for Belgian Thierry Neuville, who filled the final podium spot 1m1.9s behind his Hyundai colleague and extended his Drivers’ series lead to 24 points over Elfyn Evans. The Welshman endured a torrid event, finishing down in sixth having overcome a coolant leakage through the final day.
Fourmaux climbed from fifth to fourth, passing the Hyundai of Dani Sordo on SS19 and pulling more than a minute clear of the Spaniard by the end. The M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid driver has finished all five rallies so far this year, gracing the top five on all but one occasion.
Evans’ issues forced him to crawl out of SS21 in EV mode and exacerbated what had already been a challenging outing for the GR Yaris driver. On Friday his co-driver Scott Martin resorted to reading pacenotes from a mobile phone after misplacing his physical book, and the crew failed to post a single top-three stage time.
Citroën C3 Rally2 driver Nikolay Gryazin took seventh overall ahead of Jan Solans, who was the best-placed WRC2-registered competitor in eighth. Solans, who also clinched top WRC2 Challenger honours, edged Josh McErlean by just 3.2s for his maiden WRC2 win and the first for Toyota’s new-for-2024 GR Yaris Rally2. Lauri Joona completed the top 10 and joined his fellow Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 driver McErlean by visiting a WRC2 podium for the first time.
Diego Domínguez won FIA WRC3 in a Ford Fiesta Rally3, one place ahead of Mattéo Chatillon (Renault Clio Rally3). Jean-Michel Raoux triumphed in the WRC Masters’ Cup aboard a GR Yaris Rally2.
The WRC continues on Rally Italia Sardegna, which is based in Alghero from 30 May – 2 June.
World Rally Championship
Rally de PortugalWRC
SEASON 2024SportRallies1SportWorld Rally ChampionshipRalliesWRCSEASON 2024Rally de Portugal01Sunday, May 12, 2024 – 2:13pmSunday, May 12, 2024 – 2:13pm
