A marathon weekend at Rally de Portugal, the fifth round of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) season, concluded with Hyundai Motorsport’s Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja securing a redemptive second place after a brilliant weekend drive.
The lengthy 24-stage round came to an end on Sunday with six final tests: crews faced two loops of Paredes (SS19/22, 16.09km), Felgueiras (SS20/23, 8.81km) and the iconic Fafe (SS21/24, 11.18km) with no services or tyre fitting zones.
Tänak and Järveoja once again demonstrated the outstanding pace that had powered them to the top of the standings for 15 stages of the event. The Estonians bounced back emphatically from their Saturday setback to claim five out of six stage wins on Sunday, underscoring the crew’s fantastic pace in the Hyundai i20 N Rally1. An exemplary effort on SS23 Felgueiras 2 was the fastest attempt by 5.1 seconds, while an incredible run through the final stage meant that Tänak and Järveoja not only reaped all of the Super Sunday and Power Stage rewards, but also delivered a second-place finish overall.
Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe’s strong showing continued on the day’s opening stages; the Belgians finished within the top three on SS19 Paredes 1, SS20 Felgueiras 1 and SS21 Fafe 1 to solidify third place in the Super Sunday standings. One final push on SS24 Fafe 2 brought home a Hyundai Motorsport 1-2, as well as seven additional points for the crew from the Power Stage and Super Sunday positions.
A difficult weekend for Adrien Fourmaux and Alexandre Coria ended prematurely as the Frenchmen retired before the Power Stage due to cooling system concerns. The crew had challenged their Estonian team-mates for the lead of the rally on Friday, and will be aiming to replicate that pace at Rally Italia Sardegna.
Tänak’s podium is Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team’s 11th at Rally de Portugal, cementing it as one of the most successful in the team’s history. With the next round, Rally Italia Sardegna, just a few weeks away, the team’s focus will be on continuing this momentum as it targets a fourth consecutive win on the island.
Crew Notes: Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (#8 Hyundai i20 N Rally1)
- Estonian clinch second-place finish after Saturday technical woes
- Tänak/Järveoja won 12 of weekend’s 24 stages
Tänak said: “In a way this weekend was very frustrating. I hate to lose like this, especially at an event that is very special to me. This is the first time in a long time that we were able to really enjoy our drive, and it was a lot of fun, but while our speed was there the car is maybe missing a bit of the robustness needed to win. Nevertheless, it was definitely a big improvement compared to Rally Islas Canarias, and we are definitely back in the game – now we need to build on that. We’ve only had Toyotas winning rallies so far this season, and it’s time to change that.”
Crew Notes: Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (#1 Hyundai i20 N Rally1)
- Solid final day performance to finish third in Super Sunday standings
- Second fastest Power Stage time also yielded bonus championship points
Neuville said: “We made a small mistake on Friday that maybe cost us a position for Saturday, but I think we finished in the same position we would have done without it. My instinct tells me I wouldn’t have been able to fight with Ott today. We didn’t struggle too much this weekend; the performance was there, and our times were good, so I think overall we are satisfied. There are a few things I know we can do to get a bit more speed out of the car, so if we can find that extra performance for Sardinia, we can get a better road position.”
Crew Notes: Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (#16 Hyundai i20 N Rally1)
- Unlucky weekend for Fourmaux/Coria ends in Sunday retirement
- French crew had challenged for overall victory on Friday
Fourmaux said: “Today was tough for us from the start. We were first on the road so we were doing a lot of sweeping for the rest of the field. We wanted to score some good Super Sunday points but unfortunately, it just wasn’t possible. The whole weekend has been frustrating for us after the great start we had on Friday, but the broken suspension took us out of the fight for the lead as well as made it really difficult to score any points. Despite this, we can still take away a lot of positives; the car has the pace and we got to know these Hankook tyres. We will now shift our focus to a strong weekend at Rally Italia Sardegna.”
Hyundai Motorsport President and Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul said:
“This weekend has been a return to the form we expect of ourselves. We have been incredibly competitive throughout the event, with Ott expertly spearheading the charge. He has been impeccable, leading for 15 stages and taking 12 wins; he was the man to beat out there. Ott deserved the win today after barely putting a foot wrong all weekend. Adrien was also a contender before his suspension failure, which was beyond his control and shouldn’t have happened. We regret that Ott’s reliability issue has handed the victory to Toyota, but everyone in the team should be proud of their efforts this weekend. It was a tough event, with long days, but we were a force to be reckoned with in Portugal. We have incredible momentum heading into Rally Italia Sardegna, and we’re going for the win.”
Next rally
- The 2025 FIA WRC returns to gravel for the sixth round of the season, Rally Italia Sardegna, taking place June 5-8.
