Rally Portugal: Sebastien Ogier leads WRC field as Ott…

A critical power steering failure severely dented Ott Tanak’s hopes of a first win of the World Rally Championship season, handing Sébastien Ogier the Rally Portugal lead.

Until the mechanical trouble, the Hyundai driver appeared to be in command of the rally having led the rally since Friday’s stage 2, holding off the Toyota of eight-time world champion and six-time Portugal winner Ogier.

After opening up a seven-second lead following a brutal 10 stage leg on Friday, Tanak managed to survive pressure from Ogier on Saturday morning as he witnessed his lead shrink to just two seconds.

Ott Tänak, Martin Järveoja, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1 (Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool)

Despite also suffering from a left rear puncture, Tanak was able to respond, thanks to an inspired set up tweak to his i20 N Rally 1. Three consecutive stage wins extended his advantage over Ogier to 13.9s, before a power steering failure struck midway through stage 17 [Amarsante, 22.10km].

Tanak dropped 45.6s in the stage as he wrestled the car through the stage as co-driver Martin Jarveoja helped change gear to allow Tanak to concentrate on steering the car. The 2019 world champion nursed the car through the day’s final stage at the Lousada rallycross circuit, dropping to third overall, 36.1 adrift of Ogier’s Toyota.

“[It is] part of the game I guess. Very unfortunate, but we gave everything from our side. What else can I say,” said Tanak.

Tanak’s problem moved Ogier into a 27.6 lead over Toyota team-mate Kalle Rovanperä.

"It's not the way you want to win any fight. We were both pushing really hard, trying to keep the pressure. It's still not over, tomorrow is a long day,” said Ogier.

Takamoto Katsuta, Aaron Johnston, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 (Photo by: Toyota Racing)

Before Tanak’s drama, Rovanpera had been locked in a fierce battle for the final podium spot with Toyota team-mate Takamoto Katsuta.

After battling through a marathon Friday, starting second on the road, Rovanpera held a 1.2s margin over Katsuta on Saturday. Rovnapera struggled to find the sweet spot having opted to take two hard compound tyres as part of his package and slipped behind Katsuta on stage 13.

However, Rovanpera bounced back to regain third spot after the next test [Amarante 1, 22.10 km]. Despite admitting it was “impossible” to get the Hankook tyres working in the second pass of the stages, Rovanpera pulled clear of Katsuta.

Katsuta, struggling in the rough and rutted afternoon stages, fell into the clutches of Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville. The Belgian had been fighting with the rear end of his i20 N in the morning loop before delivering a brave run through the incredibly rough stage 16 [Cabeceiras de Basto 2 - 19.91km] to heap pressure on Katsuta.

Neuville managed to overhaul the Toyota by 2.9s in stage 17 to move into fourth [+44.6s].

Sami Pajari, Marko Salminen, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 (Photo by: Toyota Racing)

Sami Pajari enjoyed a trouble free drive to end the day in sixth, 17.5s ahead of championship leader Elfyn Evans, who lost time after an overnight set up change went in the wrong direction.

Josh McErlean came out on top in the battle of the M-Sport-Fords to sit eighth [+4m13.2s] in front of Gregoire Munster, who managed to close the gap too his team-mate to 28.5s.

The top 10 was completed by leading WRC2 runner Oliver Solberg, the Swede navigated through the seven stages with a 50.1s advantage over Gus Greensmith.

Rally Portugal will conclude on Sunday after six stages, comprising 72.16km.