The first victory of the season has arrived for reigning World Champion Kalle Rovamperä in the WRC in Portugal. After a few rounds in which the Finn was unable to express himself at his best, in the fifth of the calendar Kalle together with his co-driver Jonne Halttunen managed to impose his dominance, in a practically perfect weekend. The Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID No. 69 crossed the finish line first, almost a minute ahead of its rivals, thus also regaining the lead in the World Championship.
Rovamperä has already shown that he has a good feeling with the Lusitanian nation, as he also came out last year's winner of the Portuguese stage. He had already made a solid start on Friday, when he won SS3 (Special Stage 3), SS5 and SS6, also setting the fastest time. At the end of the day the Finn was leading the overall standings by more than 10 seconds.
Takamoto Katsuta managed to keep up with Rovamperä until the second stage before running into an alternator problem that kept him out of the other special stages. Evans' third Toyota No. 33 ran into more difficulties on the gravel track of The Rally de Portugal, finishing off the track in SS7, fortunately without consequences for the driver and the co-driver.
On Saturday, Kalle extended his lead by taking five out of seven special stages on the day. It was a dominating performance for the Finnish champion and his GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID that confirmed the crew firmly at the top of the overall standings with an impressive 57-second lead over their runners-up.
After a technical problem on Friday, Katsuta found himself driving in the most slippery conditions, being the first to open the special stages, but despite this he managed to bring home the second best performance in SS15. Due to the damage sustained by the Toyota of Evans and Martin in the accident on the seventh special stage, Team Gazoo Racing decided to withdraw the car from the race, while the crew underwent further medical checks.
The final day of the weekend opened with a one-two for the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team with Katsuta edging out Rovamperä in the SS16 of Paredes. The Finnish pair then also won the double special stage at Fafe while the Japanese driver took the podium in SS18. An event that was tinged with the colours of the Nordic country, the homeland of Kalle and Jonne, who won by showing strength and tenacity. A result that allows the reigning World Champion and the Japanese team to return to the top of the world ranking with a 17-point lead over the first opponents.
Next round is the Sardinia Rally in the first weekend of June from 1 to 4.