Rally - Portugal Day 1

When Mikko Hirvonen topped the overnight leaderboard today, he became the third different driver to lead during this opening day of Rally Portugal and leads the similarly Ford Fiesta of the remarkable Ott Tanak by 3.7 seconds. Sebastien Ogier lies third in his Polo though, just 6 seconds behind the rally leader, with two days to go. Mads Ostberg is top Citroen in fourth place but the drive of the day was surely put in by Dani Sordo who set two fastest stage times this morning, the first for the Hyundai i20. Thierry Neuville added to Hyundai’s joy completing the top six at the end of Day 1.

And those are the lucky ones. Stage 4 wasn’t good for the Brits. Young Elfyn Evans rolled his Fiesta in there and on the second run, Kris Meeke rolled his Citroen at more or less the same point. That same corner also accounted for Robert Kubica who tore a wheel off his Fiesta and Jari-Matti Latvala rolled his Polo in the same stage.

At close of play, Mikko reflected: “It was really slippery and tricky for us out there, but I have a really good feeling with the car and the pace has been good. The more time I have behind the wheel, the better it's getting. I don't have to think so much about the driving any more, it just works.

"The most difficult thing from this morning was that although the surface looks similar from one corner to the next, the grip level is changing all the time. It's really tricky to find a consistent rhythm.”

 “The tyres moved about a lot in the final stage, but it’s fantastic to be ahead,” said Hirvonen. “We’re in a good fight but Ogier won’t be happy with the situation, so I’m sure he’ll attack tomorrow.”

Leaderboard

1.	M. HIRVONEN	M	1:25:05.6
2.	O. TANAK		1:25:09.3	+3.7	+3.7
3.	S. OGIER	M	1:25:12.1	+2.8	+6.5
4.	M. OSTBERG	M	1:25:31.2	+19.1	+25.6
5.	D. SORDO	T	1:25:31.3	+0.1	+25.7
6.	T. NEUVILLE	M	1:25:47.6	+16.3	+42.0
7.	H. SOLBERG		1:26:47.9	+1:00.3	+1:42.3
8.	A. MIKKELSEN	T	1:27:21.8	+33.9	+2:16.2
9.	M. PROKOP	T	1:28:04.8	+43.0	+2:59.2
10.	J. KETOMAA	WRC2	1:28:52.8	+48.0	+3:47.2
20	R Barrable	WRC2	1:32:49.6	+16.4	+7:44.0
23.	M. McCORMACK	WRC2	1:33:50.6	+17.5	+8:45.0
30.	A. FISHER	WRC3	1:36:28.6	+21.8	+11:23.0
33.	K. MEEKE	M	1:37:06.7	+8.3	+12:01.1
57.	T. CAVE		1:42:24.0	+8.6	+17:18.4
63.	E. EVANS	M	1:45:18.4	+7.7	+20:12.8