The Toyota Gazoo Racing driver Elfyn Evans who won last year’s Rally de Portugal gets the fastest time through the runs at the Paredes Shakedown this morning just ahead of Craig Breen and Ott Tänak which were in similar pace.
Evans set the benchmark time of 2:56.1 followed up by the M-Sport Ford driver Breen and Hyundai’s Tänak just within 0.7 second behind.
Tänak’s teammate Thierry Neuville posted the fourth fastest time just a tenth of a second behind Tänak and Pierre-Louis Loubet impressed all with a fifth fastest time, the Frenchman is only doing his second outting in the M-Sport’s Ford Puma Rally1 car.
Hyundai’s Dani Sordo has never competed in the new Hyundai i20 N Rally1 until now this weekend, the Spaniard posted the fastest time on the first run but after the shakedown was completed he had the sixth fastest time, just a tenth after Loubet.
The regining world champion Sébastien Ogier who returns this weekend in the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 was seventh fastest while the nine-time champion and Rallye Monte-Carlo winner Sébastien Loeb only managed a tenth fastest time, 2.4 seconds down on Evans.
Current points leader Kalle Rovanperä was eight fastest and M-Sport’s Gus Greensmith ninth fastest as they splitted the two Frenchmen. Takamoto Katsuta and Adrien Fourmaux rounded-up the Rally1 class with eleventh and twelfth respectively.
In the support class of WRC2 it was the Finn Teemu Suninen who tops the timing board ahead of Oliver Solberg and Marco Bulacia.
The Rally de Portugal is starting officially later this evening with the Super Special Stage of Coimbra at 19:03 local time.
