It was in front of a memorable human frame that the Rally de Portugal took off today. The SSS1 on the Lousada rallycross track set the tone for the Rally de Portugal, which returns to the north of the country 14 years later.
Arriving in Lousada and seeing 20 thousand people vibrating with the machines that were gladiating on the track, was to start this 49th edition of the Rally de Portugal on the right foot. To all of you who were there and didn't budge until the end and to those who couldn't go but followed all the action through Periscope, our thanks.
The stage was marked by the dominance of Volkswagen, which placed Andreas Mikkelsen, Sébastien Ogier (+0.5s) and Latvala (+0.8s) in the first three places. Next up is Polish Robert Kubica (+1.4s) who failed to start in the top 3 at the wheel of the new Ford Fiest RS WRC.
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Finishing the top five places was Thierry Neuville at the wheel of the Hyundai i20 WRC. The Belgian driver was 2.1s slower than Mikkelsen. In 6th place is the Brit Kris Meeke (+2.2s) in the Citröen DS3 WRC.
As you can see in the images, two accidents also marked this start of the Rally de Portugal in Lousada. A fire at Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari's Fiesta, due to a gasoline leak, was quickly resolved allowing the pilot to reach the park. And a touch on the cement partitions caused Frenchman Eric Camili to lose two wheels of his Fiesta R5.
In WRC2 the highlight goes to the defending champion, Nasser Al-Attiyah, who is ahead. Among the Portuguese, Miguel Campos (Peugeot) stood out, the fastest on the Lousada rallycross track, followed by Bernardo Sousa (Peugeot) and João Barros (Ford).
Tomorrow there are more images of Rally de Portugal here at Razão Automóvel. Until then follow us on Instagram for live footage and don't miss the live footage on our Periscope.
Images: Thom Van Esveld/Car Ledger
