The 2024 Rally de Portugal will be one of the most interesting races of the World Rally Championship. Firstly, by registering four cars by Toyota with the presence of “part-time” pilots. Secondly due to the presence of Dani Sordo, a reliable driver who can join the fight for the first places. Finally, due to the rich list of entries in the WRC2 category. The race also counts towards the Portuguese Rally Championship, but only the first stage divided between Thursday and Friday.
The World Rally Championship is in full swing thanks to the new scoring system. Judged by some and approved by others, the truth is that at the end of four races the top two are separated by six points. Thierry Neuville won emphatically in Monte Carlo, while Esapekka Lappi won in Sweden. Toyota responded to Hyundai and with both drivers the “part time” won in Safari (Kalle Rovanpera) and in Croatia (Sebastien Ogier).
Portugal Rally will be nerve-wracking
Portugal will certainly be the tiebreaker between the teams led by Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota) and Cyril Abitboul (Hyundai). Portugal is the first event of the European tour on dirt surfaces.
Thierry Neuville will open the road and will have great difficulty fighting for victory. With the dry weather, the road will be much cleaner and the Belgian has already admitted that he will have great difficulties in the Portuguese race. On the other hand, Elfyn Evans will be second on the road in the first stage and he, too, will have difficulty fighting for victory.
Naturally, Sunday will be the most important day for these drivers – and for Adrien Fourmaux, third on the road – as “Super Sunday”, the day on which more points are awarded, will no longer have the constraint of the starting order.
This means that Toyota’s part-time workers could be the biggest beneficiaries. Ogier and Rovanpera will start further back and the first certainly wants to break the tie with Markku Alen as the most successful driver in Portugal. The second wants to win the Rally of Portugal for the third time.
Dani Sordo returns to the Hyundai i20N Rally1 and leaving behind Gregoire Munster will not have an easy task. Firstly because it has been out of the car for several months. Secondly because being the ninth car on the road you will find the sections somewhat deteriorated.
New scoring changes strategy
The strategy for the Portuguese race involves the judicious choice of tires to use – Pirelli’s soft tires are the main choice, the hard ones are the alternatives – and attacking stages that can make a difference.
The Lousã, Góis and Arganil sequence will be terrible, the Amarante section with more than 37 km decisive. On the other hand, teams have to deal with the fact that Saturday offers points and Sunday, like Powerstage, also offers points.
After all, on Saturday points are awarded to the first 10 (18, 15, 13, 10, 8, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1) which are suspended from the driver’s performance on the last day of the race. In case of abandonment, the points won will be lost, passing them on to the next competitor.
“Super Sunday” awards points at the end of Sunday to the seven fastest drivers that day (7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1). In other words, only the special stages count (in Portugal there will be 4 sections: Cabeceiras de Basto and Fafe covered twice) on that day.
Finally, the Powerstage (which will be Fafe’s second stint) will distribute 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 to the top five. At the end of the race there will only be one winner (there are no interim winners) who will count the points won at the end of Saturday, powerstage and end of Sunday. Complicated? A little and, above all, it causes some injustices, but for now it keeps the championship lively.
If the old points system were used, Thierry Neuville would be ahead with four points ahead of Elfyn Evans and Fourmaux would be much further away, 30 points behind Neuville. And he would be fourth behind Ogier. The only one affected is Takamoto Katsuta who is one position lower on the leaderboard.
The details of the Portugal Rally
The 2024 edition of the Rally de Portugal will have 22 special classification races that total 337.04 km, making this edition the biggest since 2012. What’s new is the change of the Figueira da Foz section to Thursday night and the Mortágua section is done twice, opening and closing the first stage. The rally will not go to Vieira do Minho, the Paredes section is longer and double passes on Saturday, the Montim special returns after being held in 2022 and Cabeceiras de Basto has a double pass on the final day of the race.
The program includes double passes through Lousã (12.28 km), Góis (14.30 km), Arganil (18.72 km), Mortágua (18.15 km), Amarante (37.24 km) , Paredes (16.09 km), Felgueiras (8.81 km), Montim (8.69 km), Cabeceiras de Basto (19.91 km) and Fafe (11.18 km). Two super specials will be contested in Figueira da Foz (2.94 km) and Lousada (3.36 km).
For those who will follow the race, the Rally de Portugal organization created an interactive guide that you can consult here.
Here is also Escape Livre’s advice for this Rally de Portugal 2024: watch the rally safely, respect the orders of the stewards and the “Marshalls” who will be everywhere, choose the show areas for greater comfort, do not build bonfires that could create fires (the weather will be hot) and respect traffic laws. Make the Portuguese World Rally Championship a party and don’t contribute to the end of this party! See you there?
| STAGE | DISTANCE | HOUR |
|---|---|---|
| May 9, Thursday | ||
| Shakedown — Baltar (Walls) | 4.61 km | 08:01 |
| Departure Ceremony — Coimbra | 17:00 | |
| PEC1 — SSS Figueira da Foz | 2.94 km | 19:05 |
| May 10th, Friday | ||
| PEC2 — Mortágua 1 | 18.15 km | 08:05 |
| PEC3 — Lousã 1 | 12.28 km | 09:35 |
| PEC4 — Góis 1 | 14.30 km | 10:35 |
| PEC5 — Arganil 1 | 18.72 km | 11:35 |
| PEC6 — Lousã 2 | 12.28 km | 14:05 |
| PEC7 — Góis 2 | 14.30 km | 15:05 |
| PEC8 — Arganil 2 | 18.72 km | 16:05 |
| PEC9 — Mortágua 2 | 18.15 km | 17:35 |
| May 11, Saturday | ||
| PEC10 — Felgueiras 1 | 8.81 km | 08:05 |
| PEC11 — Montim 1 | 8.69 km | 09:05 |
| PEC12 — Amarante 1 | 37.24 km | 10:05 |
| PEC13 — Paredes 1 | 16.09km | 11:35 |
| PEC14 — Felgueiras 2 | 8.81km | 14:35 |
| PEC15 — Montim 2 | 8.69 km | 15:35 |
| PEC16 — Amarante 2 | 37.24km | 16:35 |
| PEC17 — Paredes 2 | 16.09km | 18:05 |
| PEC18 — SSS Lousada | 3.36 km | 19:05 |
| May 12, Sunday | ||
| PEC19 — Cabeceiras de Basto 1 | 19.91km | 07:05 |
| PEC20 — Fafe 1 | 11.18 km | 08:35 |
| PEC21 — Cabeceiras de Basto 2 | 19.91km | 09:35 |
| PEC22 — Fafe 2 (Power Stage) | 11.18 km | 12:15 |
