Wrc.com stage summary
Stage data: SS7, Felizes 2 (21.31 kilometres)
Stage description:
By Team Abu Dhabi co-driver Michael Orr: “The stage starts very fast on a very wide road for about six kilometres, which is flat-out basically. Then we go quite steep downhill where there’s a lot of loose gravel, which makes braking areas very tricky. It was on this section that Jari-Matti [Latvala] had his world famous roll shown on YouTube back in 2009. Then the stage climbs down into a valley and then opens up a little bit fast to the finish. The biggest challenge is trying not to do what Jari-Matti did in ‘09. But the big drops are not something you think about because it was a freak incident that Jari-Matti’s car actually leapt over the barrier back then.”
How the action unfolded:
Jari-Matti Latvala has bagged his third stage win of Vodafone Rally de Portugal to move into the lead of the world championship event.
While Citroen drivers Sebastien Loeb and Sebastien Ogier dropped their pace on the test to avoid running first on the road on Saturday, Latvala went on a charge to beat Ford team-mate Mikko Hirvonen by 6.4 seconds.
As a result he will take a lead of 11.5s over team-mate Mikko Hirvonen into day two with Loeb third and Ogier fourth, 16.7s adrift of first place.
Petter Solberg elected not to complete the stage after losing several minutes with a third puncture of the afternoon. With no spare available to make it back to service in Faro, Solberg decided to retire from the day and will restart on Saturday morning under SupeRally regulations with a 10-minute time penalty.
Portuguese hero Bernardo Sousa was in ninth overall on his debut in a Ford Fiesta RS WRC prior to the stage start but is reported to have gone off the road.
Key moment:
Solberg suffers third puncture and retires from day one.
Wrc.com rally results links:
NEW... LIVE... TEXT... SERVICE... WRC.com users can keep up to date with all the action from the World Rally Championship with our new live text service. The service will be constantly updated when stages are live to provide a detailed record as the battle for WRC glory unfolds. This link will take you straight to the Vodafone Rally de Portugal live text page
Credit: World Rally Championship (www.wrc.com)
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