WRC – Milestone man Tänak in front after fierce Portuguese Friday

Ott Tänak leads Portugal Rally after a punishing opening leg on Friday, with only 7.0 seconds dividing the driver of Hyundai and Sébastien Ogier after almost 150 kilometers or gravel action.

Tänak, at the wheel of an I20 N Rally1, also scored a personal milestone when reaching the 400 victories of the FIA ​​World Rally Championship, the last final test of the day, Sever / Albergaria. Previously he had taken the advantage of Thursday night, the super special winner, Elfyn Elfyn Evans, in Friday’s first game and won four of the 10 stages of the day in total.

Adrien Fourmuux combined Tänak’s early rhythm and responded with two victories in stages to close the gap with only two dyes or a second at noon. But his challenge ended in the afternoon when he cut a rock hidden in a fork, breaking the front direction of the left in his hyundai and retiring on the spot.

That briefly promoted Takamoto Katsuta to the second, but it didn’t spend much time before Ogier moved. The Frenchman fought with a soft and excessive configuration in the morning, but made changes and found shape in the second loop, taking 20.1 seconds free of Katsuta at the end of the day.

“If there were so many championship titles [as stage wins]It would be better, “Tänak joked.” But still a good number. It is demanding in the leg, especially the second loop. We couldn’t really find the optimal point and we were fighting a little. But the last two internships were clean, so that is good. “

Kalle Rovanperä made him three toyotas in the top four, ending the day only 1.2 seconds behind Katsuta. The two -time world champion admitted that the surface felt more slippery than expected, but now the Toyota teammate, Elfyn Elfyn Elfyn Elfyn Elfyn Elfyn, the leader of the championship with the Welshman in the seventh, behind the defense champion Neuville and Sami Pajar.

Neuville was lucky to avoid damage after hitting a bank in SS2. He recovered to finish his leg only 4.4 seconds behind Rovanperä, while Evans, loaded with opening tasks of the road, fought for the traction and returned to more than a minute of the lead rhythm.

Grégoire Munster and Josh Mcerlean occupied the eighth and ninth place respectively for M-Sport Ford, while Oliver Solberg led WRC2 and completed the Top 10.

There was a disappointment by Shakedown Pacesetter Mārtiņš Sesks, whose day was unbalanced early with a wheel change in SS2. His problems got worse when he picked up a penalty of three minutes later on his leg.

Saturday’s route presents seven more exhausting internships, which cover 122.92 competitive kilometers, including two passes through the iconic loving test.