Toyota driver Elvin Evans took control of the first day of Rally Portugal, the fourth round of the 2022 World Rally Championship, by defeating teammate Kali Rovanpera.
The morning stages of this day witnessed a thrilling battle that turned into a real eagerness from the drivers to finish the stages of the second part of the day without experiencing any mechanical problems or accidents, as dust and rugged rocky roads caused a lot of problems for the participants in this rally.
Evans managed to win four stages in his Toyota Yaris, while Finn Rovanpera won two of the eight stages, while the victory in the remaining two stages (4th and 5th) went to the French world champions Sebastien Loeb and Sebastien Ogier.
The Welshman had a very good starting position, which gave him the mechanical grip he needed on the poles on the rally tracks. On the contrary, leader Rovanpera suffered from the worst conditions due to his starting position on the track.
Evans removed Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville to the top of the rally standings, as the latter won the opening special stage on Thursday night on the streets of Coimbra, having won the first stage on Friday. After that, Evans managed to win the next stage, but then failed to challenge the French times Sebastien Loeb in the fourth special stage (Arganel), which was 18.72 km long, where the 9 times world champion led the provisional standings by 0.5 seconds.
However, Evans returned to the top of the rally standings in the next stage, with Loeb forced to withdraw from the rally due to an accident just meters from the end of the fifth special stage.
Describing the conditions of the first day as a game of chance, Evans said: “The conditions were very tough. Everyone was trying to find their way, you have to drive faster too. You could say you could have been faster, but will you be able to continue the rally?”
Runner-up Rovanpera said: “We could see a lot of dust getting into the car. I couldn’t breathe or see at times.”
Dani Sordo was third in the provisional rally standings in a Hyundai i20, half a minute behind. The Spaniard beat Takamoto Sato, with another Toyota, by 5.2 seconds, as the Japanese lost a lot of time due to his skidding.
Sebastien Ogier, returning to the World Rally Championship, was on his way to complete a good day for Toyota, as he was third in the standings after the fifth special stage. However, he suffered two punctures in the second part of the day, which led to his regression, with no spare tires available on his car.
Driver Gus Greensmith had a rough day after his Ford Puma fell off twice and his cockpit filled with dust, but the Briton eventually finished fifth in the provisional rally by a minute to the top.
Greensmith’s teammate Pierre-Louis Loubet finished sixth. In front of seventh place, it went to Neuville, who was Evans’ closest challenger to the top of the rally, but his accident at the Wasl stage forced him to enter the last two stages of the day with a broken steering column in his Hyundai i20.
Craig Brin was late on this day for several problems with his Ford Puma, including a puncture and a car accident. As a result, the Irishman settled for eighth place in front of his teammate, Adrian Formo. Estonian Ott Tanak completed the top ten after suffering two coups in his Hyundai i20.