SORDO LEADS IN PORTUGAL AS HYUNDAI DOMINATES

Sordo and new co-driver Borja Rozada took advantage of the best grip offered by a low start position on drying gravel roads to win two of the opening three special stages. Only a first stage stall denied the Spaniards a hat-trick.

They pulled into the mid-leg tyre change zone with a 6.7sec lead over the similar i20 World Rally Car of Ott Tänak after winning the Góis and the classic Arganil speed tests. Thierry Neuville was a further 3.3sec behind in third.

Tyre management was crucial. All frontline drivers opted for four soft compound Pirelli tyres and a harder spare. While some opted to use the harder rubber later in the loop, Sordo stayed on the soft tyres throughout.

“We had a different way to manage the tyres,” he explained. “The car is working well and while the tyres were OK we pushed. It’s working well with my co-driver. It’s not easy for him and neither for me.”

Tänak lost a few seconds after stalling and half-spinning at the same point as Sordo in the opening Lousã stage but was still quickest. However, the Estonian was not at ease in his i20.

“I can’t say that it’s working well at the moment,” he said. “We need to improve for sure. It’s a bit like fighting at the morning, it’s not natural.”

Best of the rest was Elfyn Evans, but the Welshman was already 17.8sec off the pace in his Toyota Yaris. “It’s very difficult. The hard tyre has no grip and the softs are moving a lot. We are trying to work round it as much as possible,” he said.

Takamoto Katsuta was 1.4sec behind Evans in another Yaris with Adrien Fourmaux completing the top six in a Ford Fiesta on his first gravel outing in the car. The Frenchman quickly learned that following the cleaner line of the drivers ahead was key to good times.

Kalle Rovanperä was a frustrated seventh. The young Finn was troubled by understeer in his Yaris and having tested on wetter roads, he felt the car’s set-up was to blame.

Sébastien Ogier struggled with the least grip on the sandy roads from first in the start order. The FIA World Rally Championship leader was more than half a minute adrift in eighth.

Frenchman Fourmaux enjoyed his first morning on gravel with his M-Sport Ford Fiesta machine

Gus Greensmith was fourth in the opening Lousã but a rear right puncture in Arganil cost 45sec and he plunged to ninth. WRC2 leader Esapekka Lappi completed the leaderboard.

Pierre-Louis Loubet was the rally’s first major casualty after crashing his i20 in Góis.

STANDINGS AFTER SS3 /20: