The Toyota Gazoo Racing driver took control of the FIA World Rally Championship event on SS2, Sever – Albergaria, where his fastest time on the day’s longest test moved him to the head of the field.
After three stages and 37.25 kilometres of competition, Solberg leads Fourmaux by 3.4s, with Sébastien Ogier, Thierry Neuville and Elfyn Evans split by just three-tenths behind.
Fourmaux was quickest out of the blocks on Águeda – Sever, edging road-opener Evans by just 0.1s. Solberg was only another tenth behind, while Dani Sordo and Sami Pajari completed the early top five.
The Frenchman’s advantage lasted just one stage. Solberg produced the benchmark on Sever – Albergaria, beating Neuville by 1.4s and taking 3.6s out of Fourmaux to move into the rally lead.
With no overnight service following the evening’s Figueira da Foz superspecial, Solberg took no risks on the short mixed-layout test and protected his lead. Ogier and Evans shared the fastest time there, but the gaps remained tight at the front.
“I just tried to be clean and take it easy,” Solberg explained. “We have no service [overnight], so you don’t want to touch anything. It has been an okay start. It’s a long way to go and every day is going to be different.”
Ogier ended the day third overall, 7.2s from the lead, after recovering from a difficult opening stage. The seven-time Portugal winner had complained about the balance of his GR Yaris Rally1 on SS1 but found some improvement as the afternoon progressed.
“It wasn’t the ideal start for us,” he admitted. “We really struggled in the first stage and we managed to change the car a bit in the second. We were fighting a bit this afternoon. We have to try to do better tomorrow.”
Neuville holds fourth, just 0.2s behind Ogier, after a more encouraging start for Hyundai Motorsport. The Belgian was second-fastest on SS2 and remained within 7.4s of the lead despite losing time with a half-spin on the final stage.
Points leader Evans completes the top five, 7.5s down, after a solid performance opening the road on Portugal’s loose gravel. Pajari is sixth after admitting he lacked full confidence in the balance of his Toyota, while Sordo holds seventh, encouraged by the feeling in his Hyundai.
Takamoto Katsuta ends the day eighth, 15.9s from the lead, ahead of M-Sport Ford’s Josh McErlean and Jon Armstrong. Mārtiņš Sesks is just 0.1s further back in 11th after a cautious return to Rally1 competition.
In FIA WRC2, Jan Solans set the early pace, with Alejandro Cachón and Yohan Rossel all close behind after the opening loop. Ali Türkkan and Gil Membrado are 3.0s apart in the battle for FIA WRC3 and FIA Junior WRC honours.
A far sterner test awaits tomorrow (Friday). A remote service splits two passes of Mortágua, Arganil and Lousã, plus a single run through Góis in the afternoon. The action begins at 07:35 local time.
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