Tanak and Toyota dominated Day 1 in Portugal

Ott Tänak and his co-driver Martin Järveoja led from the third stage to hold a lead of 17.3 seconds at the end of day one on Rally Portugal.

The Estonian crew won two timed tests and head an all-Toyota podium after seven gravel stages held in the heat and dust of a late spring day in central Portugal. Finland’s Jari-Matti Latvala reached the night halt in second overall and Ulster’s Kris Meeke rounded off the top three for the Japanese manufacturer.

Teemu Suninen had been challenging Latvala for second place on the sixth stage when he suffered brake issues with the lead  WRC. The Finn limped to the finish with the loss of nearly a minute and the delay dropped him to sixth. Meeke was the main beneficiary and the third Yaris WRC driver regained his third position.
 
Defending World Champion Sébastien Ogier was locked in a fascinating tussle with title rival Thierry Neuville for fifth during the afternoon. The Frenchman was 2.1 seconds ahead of the Belgian through five specials but Neuville moved in front in stage six and reached the night halt 1.6 seconds in front of his great adversary, setting two fastest times into the bargain.
 
The switch to a relatively short opening leg of just 94.50km, held in the Arganil region for the first time since 2001, threw up some fascinating developments. Fuel-feed related issues plagued both Sébastien Loeb and Dani Sordo in SS3. The Hyundai i20 duo was never able to recover from the 15 and 18 minutes they lost in Arganil 1. It was bitter pill for Sordo to swallow, as the Spaniard had won the first stage and maintained a slender overall lead after SS2.

Gus Greensmith made an impressive debut in the third M-Sport Ford Fiesta WRC and continued to improve as the day progressed. The Briton reached the night halt in seventh overall and managed to avoid having to open the track for day two.
 
Finland’s Esapekka Lappi suffered a puncture and overcame a delay in the dust behind Elfyn Evans to finish the day in eighth in the second of the factory Citroën C3s. Event officials agreed to give the Finn back 50 seconds that he had forfeited by running behind the Ford. A throttle sensor issue had cost Evans fifth in his Ford Fiesta, but the Welshman managed to overcome the four-minute on-stage delay to reach the night halt in the lower reaches of the top 20.
 
Kalle Rovanperä was the FIA WRC 2 Pro category pace-setter after the opening loop of three stages, but the Finn dropped over a minute in SS4 with a puncture. He then began a determined fight back on deteriorating stage surfaces to finish the leg just 4.8 seconds behind Czech team-mate Jan Kopecký in the second new Škoda Fabia R5 Evo, the latter making his first FIA WRC appearance since Spain last autumn and rounding off the top 10.

Ole-Christian Veiby led Takamuto Katsuta by six-tenths of a second in FIA WRC 2 after three stages, but a puncture for the Japanese in stage six opened the door for the Norwegian to finish the day with a comfortable lead of 25.2 seconds over Russian Nikolay Gryazin. The young Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 driver also found himself ahead of all the FIA WRC 2 Pro drivers in a superb ninth overall.

Rally Portugal – Unofficial results after Section 3: