After the last stage of the day, a short super-special duel on a rallycross circuit, the Toyota Yaris of the Briton, 9th in the championship, was 13 seconds ahead of the current leader, the Finn Kalle Rovanperä, and 44 seconds the Hyundai i20 of Spaniard Dani Sordo.

"I'm pretty happy to be here, there were extreme conditions and everyone was trying to make their way. It was a lottery at times," the 2021 Rally Portugal winner said at the end of the day. who won four specials on Friday.

"It was slippery as expected (...) it was not easy to be the first car. I think otherwise we did a good job today!" Reacted Kalle Rovanperä, whose Toyota had 1 min 32 sec ahead of Thierry Neuville's Hyundai.

'Small mistakes'

Runner-up to the Finn at the start of this 4th round of the World Rally Championship (WRC), the Belgian was unable to take advantage of this handicap.

"We could have been in the fight for the lead and we can't because we had a technical problem. It's frustrating because these small mistakes can cost us the title", complained Neuville at the end of the super special.

Sébastien Loeb and Sébastien Ogier, legends with 17 titles out of 18 possible since 2004, have already given up on victory on Portuguese soil.

Sébastien Loeb's Ford off the road during a special stage of the Rally of Portugal in Arganil, May 20, 2022 MIGUEL RIOPA AFP

Now "freelancers", respectively at Ford and Toyota, the two Frenchmen were trapped on the rocky roads of Portugal and were forced to give up.

Loeb hit a safety wall and broke his right rear wheel when he took control of the race in the morning, setting the fastest time on SS4.

"Sorry...", the 48-year-old pilot soberly declared in a post on Twitter, accompanied by a photo of his damaged car.

"Hard on the tires"

For his part, Sébastien Ogier also had to throw in the towel shortly after a good performance.

Winner of SS5, the Gapençais first punctured once in SS6 and then again in SS7.

Without a new spare wheel at his disposal, the 38-year-old driver was forced to retire.

"It will be a hot, difficult afternoon for the tyres, let's see what we can do," Ogier predicted.

Toyota driver Sébastien Ogier in the 13th special of Rally Portugal shortly before his retirement at Arganil, May 20, 2022 MIGUEL RIOPA AFP

"It's strange because we were trying to avoid punctures!", breathed the eight-time reigning world champion after his first misadventure on SS6, a special during which the Estonian Ott Tänak (Hyundai) and the Irishman Craig Breen (Ford) also punctured.

Ogier is joint holder of the record for victories in the Rally of Portugal with five successes, like the Finn Markku Alén.

If the two Sébastiens leave on Saturday, they will receive a major penalty, making success almost impossible on the often tricky Portuguese roads.

For this new day, the WRC organization has planned two loops of three stages in the regions of Braga and Porto (north), before a timed stage on a 3.3 km urban route in Porto.

© 2022 AFP