WRC | Rally Portugal, PS18: Hyundai double with Tanak-Neuville

Apparently, the 8.69-kilometer Special Stage 18 Montim of the Rally of Portugal did not bring about any changes to the general classification of the fourth event of the WRC 2022. In fact, it defined certain situations even better, in particular those related to the top 4 positions of the classification general.

The test was won by Ott Tanak and Martin Jarveoja. The Hyundai Motorsport crew beat teammates Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe by just one tenth, giving the Korean manufacturer a small smile. But it is almost irrelevant.

The attention was in fact placed on the duel between Kalle Rovanpera and Elfyn Evans for the victory. Also in this test, the young Finn from Toyota Racing did better than his Welsh teammate, but by just a tenth of a second.

Now between the two there are 8 “5 with just 3 races to go. If Evans wants to try to repeat the victory obtained in Portugal last year, he will have to break the delay in PS19 also to put pressure on Rovanpera.

The duel also continues for the third place in the general classification between Dani Sordo and Takamoto Katsuta. The Spaniard from Hyundai Motorsport continues to be faster than the Japanese. In this case it was 3 tenths, so the gap between the two drops to 9 tenths in favor of the Toyota driver.

Rally of Portugal – Ranking after SS18