Thierry Neuville competing at the Rally de Portugal
/ WRC
Luck played a decisive role in motorsport once again, and this time it hit Sébastien Ogier hard. The Frenchman entered the penultimate stage of the Rally de Portugal with a 17.3-second lead over Thierry Neuville. However, a puncture on the second pass of Vieira do Minho turned the tables. Neuville, finally putting his Croatian mistake behind him, secured his 23rd WRC win and Hyundai’s first of the season. Dani Sordo finished eighth in a race full of setbacks for the Spaniard.
Ogier started Sunday with a 21.9-second advantage over Neuville. Elfyn Evans posted the fastest time on the first run of Vieira do Minho, while Solberg, despite a slow front-left puncture, took second. Neuville faced his own troubles—stalling four or five times under braking—but still managed third, cutting Ogier’s lead to 14.3 seconds. The rain made conditions treacherous and slippery, and Ogier ended up fifth.
Josh McErlean gave Ford its only highlight by winning the tricky stage 21 in Rally1. Ogier extended his overall lead over the Belgian to 17.3 seconds before the fateful stage 22.
The decisive moment came on the second pass of Vieira do Minho, which had already seen punctures from Pajari (then third) and Katsuta. Adrien Fourmaux set the fastest time on this stage, and the bad luck struck the nine-time world champion. Ogier stopped to change a punctured rear-right tire, losing over a minute. He dropped to sixth overall, while Neuville took the lead with a 14.8-second margin over Solberg.
Solberg was the fastest driver on Sunday, and Fourmaux added five points by winning the Power Stage. With a second-place finish in the final stage, Neuville triumphed in Portugal: “This victory is very special after what happened in Croatia. We were always up there. Nothing was perfect, but we got it done somehow. We secured the win we deserved earlier this year,” said the Belgian.
Solberg finished second, 16.3 seconds behind the leader, after battling through issues, while Evans completed the podium after a late scare. Fourmaux took fourth, Katsuta fifth, and Ogier ended in sixth after leading most of the rally. “It should have been the win. There are things we can control, and we did everything right that we could control. Bad luck,” Ogier commented. Dani Sordo placed eighth, struggling for rhythm throughout a challenging rally.
Final Rally de Portugal Classification
Final Rally de Portugal Classification
/ WRC
Elfyn Evans (123 points) extended his championship lead, but the battle remains intense. Katsuta sits second with 111 points, 12 behind the leader, and Solberg holds third with 92. Fourmaux is fourth with 79, Pajari fifth with 78 after finishing seventh in Portugal. Ogier drops to sixth with 67 points following his Canary Islands win, while Neuville’s Portugal victory lifts him to seventh with 65.
The next WRC round takes place on asphalt in Japan from May 28 to 31, where Sébastien Ogier will return and Alejandro Cachón will defend his 2025 win. Dani Sordo will rejoin the competition at the Acropolis Rally from June 25 to 28.
