Rally Portugal conditions should improve, says leader Evans

Evans – who is chasing a first win of the 2022 campaign with Scott Martin – holds a 13.6 second lead over team-mate Kalle Rovanpera following Friday’s eight stages.

While many of the series’ leading crews fell foul of the deteriorating roads, the two-time WRC runner-up escaped the worst of what event had to throw at him early on.

8-time champion Sebastien Ogier, on his return to the Toyota squad for the first time since finishing second at January’s Rallye Monte Carlo, suffered a double puncture on the afternoon loop and ended the day outside the top 50.

Two stages before that, then rally leader Sebastien Loeb was caught out by a gravelly patch on a left-hander, with the rear of his Puma Rally1 washing wide and hitting a wall. Despite his best efforts to carry on, the damage to the right-rear wheel was too severe.

Others who suffered mishaps included M-Sport Ford’s Gus Greensmith and Craig Breen, while Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville haemorrhaged time late in the day after is Hyundai i20 N Rally1 car developed driveshaft problems.

Looking ahead, Evans is predicting a surface that should prove less punishing on the tyres and make the job of car preservation slightly easier.

“It’s been a really long and tough day, pretty hot in the car and really demanding conditions, especially this afternoon,” said the Welshman.

“Everything worked really well immediately in the first stage this morning. We were maybe a bit brave with our tyre choice and struggled a little bit after that, but overall it was a good start.

“This afternoon it was extremely rough and a bit of a lottery but we managed to get through it and hopefully we’ve seen the worst of the conditions now this weekend.

“We maybe left a bit of a speed out there but it was a balancing act between surviving and going quickly. It’s good to be in the fight but it’s the result on Sunday that counts and there’s still a long way to go before then,” he added.

At 165km, the Saturday leg of Rally de Portugal makes up nearly half of event’s competitive distance, with tests based in the Cabreira Mountains. Unlike Friday, though, crews will have the luxury of a midday service and not purely a tyre fitting zone.