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Neuville is the first leader after the super special stage of Rally de Portugal
Belgian driver Thierry Neuville (Hyundai i20) is the first leader of the 57th edition of the Rally of Portugal, the fifth round of the World Rally Championship (WRC), which started today with the Figueira da Foz super special stage.
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Auto Rali de Portugal
Neuville completed the 2.94 timed kilometers in that coastal city with a time of 2.24.2 minutes, beating Frenchman Sébastien Ogier (Toyota Yaris) by 0.6 seconds, with Estonian Ott Tänak (Hyundai i20) in third position, two seconds behind his teammate.
The asphalt surface in a dirt rally was criticized by some drivers, namely the winner of the super special stage, who was unhappy with the fact that he had to use the same tires on Friday's long stage, where preserving the tires could make the difference in achieving a good result.
"I don't want to spoil the atmosphere, but doing this stage with the same tires we have to do tomorrow is nonsense. We have said it several times, but it seems that nobody wants to listen to us. I hope the public enjoyed it, but we could have done much better," said the Belgian driver, winner of the Portuguese event in 2018.
Sébastien Ogier was also annoyed by the choice of the organization, in charge of the Automóvel Club de Portugal (ACP), to include an asphalt special stage before the eight dirt special stages scheduled for Friday.
"It's not smart to ask us to do an asphalt special stage where we have to be cautious without putting on a show. This type of special stage has to be at the end of a section. I tried to be careful with the tires. We tried our best with what we have," said Ogier, who is trying to win for the sixth time on Portuguese soil.
The reigning world champion, Finland's Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota Yaris), finished in fifth position, 2.4 seconds behind Ogier and 0.4 seconds behind Japan's Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota Yaris), fourth fastest in the super special stage.
Thierry Neuville won the 27th stage of the season and on Friday will be the first driver on the track, having to clear the track for his opponents.
Northern Irishman Kris Meeke (Hyundai i20) was the best driver among those competing in the Portuguese Rally Championship (CPR), recording the 10th best provisional time.
Meeke beat Armindo Araújo (Skoda Fábia) by 0.7 seconds, with the driver from Santo Tirso being the best Portuguese, provisionally in 12th place overall.
Friday will be the first full day of the Portuguese event, with eight stages and 126.9 timed kilometers, out of a total of 529.83.
Thierry Neuville arrives at the Rally of Portugal as leader of the World Championship, with 86 points, six more than the British Elfyn Evans (Toyota Yaris), who today was only eighth.
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