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Portugal debrief: Part one

In the opening part of our Vodafone Rally de Portugal review, we take a look at who had a near-perfect weekend and the key turning point on what was a chaotic return to europe.

Drive of the rally

It was tough to pick a drive of the rally in Portugal, with a number of eye-catching performances. But Teemu Suninen was head and shoulders above the rest as he kept calm and took his first WRC podium.

In only his sixth start, it would have been easy for the Finn to crack under the pressure but he drove on the limit on every stage and finished with 13.6sec in hand.

Quote of the rally

With dark clouds rolling into the service park, strategists and drivers took a gamble on tyres in the hope that the gloomy conditions would continue on the stages.

Unfortunately for them, blue skies and blazing sunshine greeted them and for drivers like Dani Sordo - who took five soft tyres - it was questionable whether he could actually get through the stages: "I made a mistake in the tyre choice, I looked at the tyres after the first stage this afternoon and I can't believe I'm here!"

Meeke battled around the streets of Porto with just three tyres
Save of the rally

Speaking of tyres, Kris Meeke pulled off a masterclass in how to compete in a three-wheeler around the streets of Porto.

Having taken just the one spare, the Citroën driver was inflicted with two punctures on the afternoon run - one tyre was completely shredded, while the other deflated.

Needing to use the deflated tyre on the road section to keep the C3 road legal, the now bare wheel was bolted on for the street stage and Meeke just about limped home.

Stage of the rally

SS7 - Ponte de Lima 2 - was blink and you'll miss it: Hayden Paddon had his heart-stopping crash, Craig Breen had a puncture while Meeke had to struggle on with his tyres. On the other side, Elfyn Evans used the stage to slingshot himself up from seventh to second and Thierry Neuville leaped from fourth to first. It was chaotic and action-packed, like a good WRC stage should be.

Zdroj: wrc.com