Tänak stays in the lead in Rally Portugal

The fifth round of the World Rally Championship (WRC) continues to unfold in Portugal with Ott Tänak as the new solo leader following the unexpected exit of his teammate Adrien Fourmaux, who until that moment had remained as his closest pursuer.

Tänak regains prominence on Portuguese stages

After a Rally Canary Islands to forget where he failed to win any special stage, Tänak showed a better version on the Portuguese gravel roads. The Hyundai driver started the day strong, claiming the first two special stages in Mortágua and Lousã to snatch the lead that Elfyn Evans had achieved in the opening super special.

However, the battle for first place remained extremely tight during the morning, with only 0.2 seconds separating Tänak from his teammate Fourmaux after completing the first four special stages. The Frenchman had chosen soft Hankook tires for the Goís and Arganil stages, which allowed him to match his Estonian teammate in performance.

Dramatic turn with Fourmaux's exit

The intense internal battle at Hyundai came to an abrupt end in the eighth special stage when Fourmaux's car suddenly stopped. During the run in Arganil, his i20 N began to spin before becoming completely immobile with damage to the left front suspension, although the images did not show an obvious impact that caused such a breakdown.

This incident created a complex situation on the route as officials decided not to show a red flag, forcing the following participants to carefully navigate around the stranded vehicle in the middle of the course.

New configuration in the leading positions

With Fourmaux's exit, Tänak consolidated his leadership. The Estonian now maintains a 7.0-second advantage over Sébastien Ogier, who managed to climb to second place. The Frenchman, a six-time winner of Rally Portugal, started the day with difficulties in the setup of his Toyota GR Yaris, considering it "too soft" for the conditions, but has managed to improve his performance as the competition progresses.

Toyota's Takamoto Katsuta completes the provisional podium in third position, 27.1 seconds behind. The Japanese driver has completed a consistent performance with two times among the top three in the special stages.

Rovanperä improves with dry conditions

Two-time world champion Kalle Rovanperä climbed to fourth position, 14.7 seconds behind the leader. The Finn faced complications during the morning special stages with wet sectors, expressing difficulties in understanding the behavior of the new Hankook gravel tires.

"It's really difficult to understand what would make it work, because the tire is simply very lazy and doesn't react to anything," Rovanperä commented about the soft compounds. However, when conditions became drier in the afternoon, he was able to find better rhythm with the hard tires.

It's really difficult to understand what would make it work, because the tire is simply very lazy and doesn't react to anything

Evans struggling as road opener

Championship leader Elfyn Evans faces the disadvantage of opening the route. The Welshman, who took the lead after winning the coastal super special of Figueira da Foz the night before, has fallen to seventh position with a 1:09.0 deficit to the leader. However, Evans considers that his problems go beyond road sweeping.

"It's not working so well this afternoon. I think there's more to this than just road sweeping, to be honest. The differences shouldn't be as big as they are. I don't have many answers right now," Evans explained.

Thierry Neuville completes the leading positions in fifth place, 23 seconds behind the leader. The Belgian achieved the best time in the eighth special stage, the same one where his teammate Fourmaux retired.

Overall Classification