Latest news with #Sordo
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Rally Portugal set to feature record-equaling WRC Rally1 line-up
Rally Portugal will welcome the strongest Rally1 line-up since 2022 when it hosts the next round of the World Rally Championship later this month. Twelve Rally1 cars are set to tackle Portugal's 24 gravel stages for round five of the season from 15-18 May. Advertisement Toyota will once again field five GR Yaris Rally1 cars with the most successful driver in Rally Portugal history, six-time winner Sebastien Ogier, set to make his third start of a partial campaign. The eight-time world champion, who won last year's round in Portugal, will join full-time Toyota drivers, including championship leader Elfyn Evans, Kalle Rovanpera, Takamoto Katsuta and Sami Pajari. The round will also feature the debut of Toyota's recently revealed silver paint scheme that will replace the black livery for the summer events. Hyundai will field its trio of i20 N Rally cars for Thierry Neuville, Ott Tanak and Adrien Fourmaux, while M-Sport-Ford will be represented by four Pumas. Martins Sesks rejoins the squad for the second of six scheduled starts for the British team, alongside Gregoire Munster and Josh McErlean. The fourth Puma will be driven by experienced 55-year-old local privateer Diogo Salvi. The entry marks the largest line-up of Rally1 cars since Rally Spain in 2022. Toyota and M-Sport have already begun preparations for the round, conducting pre-event tests this week. Last time there were 12 Rally1 cars on the entry was Rally Spain in 2022 Last time there were 12 Rally1 cars on the entry was Rally Spain in 2022 Red Bull Content Pool Red Bull Content Pool Advertisement Meanwhile, a record 45 cars have been entered into the WRC2 class, which includes WRC rally winners Kris Meeke and Dani Sordo. Meeke and Sordo are both contesting the Portuguese national championship, which is hosting its fourth round of the season at the WRC event. Former factory Mini, Citroen and Toyota driver Meeke will pilot a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, that has so far edged works Hyundai WRC driver Sordo (i20 N Rally2) to victory in the previous two rounds of the championship. The entry list features several WRC2 title protagonists including Oliver Solberg, current points leader Yohan Rossel, Nikolay Gryazin, Gus Greensmith and Fabrizio Zaldivar. The round will also mark the return of WRC Rally1 driver Pierre-Louis Loubet, having agreed a deal to drive a Ford Fiesta Rally2 for M-Sport, rejoining the team he competed with in Rally1 in 2023. To read more articles visit our website.
Belfast Telegraph
05-05-2025
- Automotive
- Belfast Telegraph
‘It was a crazy rally' – Kris Meeke overcomes conditions for third straight win in Portugal
Meeke was caught out by the muddy road conditions three miles into the last stage of the event to see his nine-second lead over Team Hyundai Portugal's Dani Sordo evaporate. Incredibly, moments after Sordo had inherited top spot, he gave the position back again when he punctured the left-rear wheel on his Team Hyundai Portugal-run i20 N Rally2. It meant Meeke's 13th career victory on Portuguese soil was achieved by a margin of 27.6 seconds over Sordo, with Armindo Araujo rounding out the podium spots in third. Prior to the mistake on 'Aboboreira 2', Meeke had worked hard to keep a determined Sordo at arm's length, with scratch times on six of the 10 gravel speed tests helping his cause. Once again, fellow former World Rally Championship driver Sordo was the main thorn in the Dungannon man's side, as the challenge of WRC2 frontrunner Yohan Rossel (Citroen C3 Rally2) failed to materialise, while Martins Sesks — who entered the gravel meeting as a warm-up for Rally de Portugal next weekend — retired his Ford Fiesta Rally2 on stage five. 'Three out of three in the Portuguese Championship is special and three-times a winner in d'Aboboreira is also pretty nice, but the circumstances here this weekend — especially the weather just before the final stage — was crazy with torrential rain leaving the stage full mud,' said Meeke. 'I made a mistake, I spun, and I had to reverse 150 metres up the road. 'When I got going again I knew that my overall advantage was gone. I tried to push as hard as I could, but in those conditions, it was so slippery — you just can't imagine how slippery it was. I was aquaplaning quite a lot and I would even say it was scary at times. 'I really tried and unfortunately for Dani he picked up a puncture halfway through, so we took the win after what I can only describe as a crazy rally. As a team we have a lot of work to do between now and Rally de Portugal, especially the Hankook tyre we will be using.' Despite the last-minute drama taking a little of the shine off Meeke's achievement, he still spoke highly of the professionalism of the organising Club Automovel de Amarante and the areas the route passed through, including Amarante, Marco de Canaveses, and Baião. 'I enjoyed the event a lot, honestly,' said Meeke. 'This region, I have always said it and I will say it again: this is one of my favourite places in the world to come and drive a rally car.'
