Rali Portugal: Drivers complain about tire wear in the Figueira superspecial – Motores

The drivers participating in the Rally de Portugal today criticized the wear on the tires caused by the super special on tarmac, which took place this late afternoon, in Figueira da Foz, district of Coimbra.

“We have a difficult weekend ahead, and I tried to be clean. I don’t want to ruin the atmosphere, but to do this stage with the same tires that we have to do tomorrow [sexta-feira] It’s nonsense. We’ve said it several times, but it seems like no one wants to listen to us”, said Belgian Thierry Neuville (Hyundai), who still achieved the best time, with 2.24.2 minutes, beating Frenchman Sébastien Ogier (Toyota Yaris) by 0.6 seconds, with Estonian Ott Tänak (Hyundai i20) in third position, two seconds behind his teammate.

Neuville highlighted the large and effusive presence of the public, with thousands of people watching this super special, but pointed out that if he hadn’t had to save the tires he could have provided a better spectacle.

“I hope the public liked it, but we could have done much better”, added the Belgian.

A similar speech was made by Frenchman Sébastien Ogier (Toyota), who set the second best time in this initial round of 2.94 kilometers.

“It’s not smart to ask us to do an asphalt special where we have to go cautiously without making a spectacle of it. This type of special has to be at the end of a section. I tried to be careful with the tires and do our best with what we have”, said the Frenchman, who has won the world title eight times.

The Finnish Kalle Rovanpera (Toyota), winner of the Rally de Portugal in the last two years, did not go beyond the fifth time of the super special, and pointed out that “there were too many pedestrians to do it with the same tires that will be used the next day”.

Also Dani Sordo, a Spaniard who competes for Hyundai, and who this morning was the fastest in the ‘shakedown’, being seventh in this super special, lamented the degradation of the tires but left a guarantee: “Tomorrow is a long day, the tires will be gone. worn out, but I will try to win this weekend.”

One of the most applauded at the start of the Rally de Portugal was Armindo Araújo, driving a Skoda, who achieved the 13th best time in Figueira da Foz, and the best performance among Portuguese drivers.

“It was a fantastic super special. We felt the public’s enthusiasm and did our best to put on a good show,” she said.

Equally applauded was the defending national champion, Ricardo Teodósio (Hyundai), who set the 17th best time, but also showed dissatisfaction with the tire issue.

“These super specials are always very complicated. I used to like them a lot, but not so much now. We have to manage the tires, and it is something that is not correct, and that does not happen in our national championship. It could have been better, but we had to manage. Still, we didn’t have bad weather”, said the Algarve native.

Still among the drivers competing in the Portuguese Rally Championship (CPR), the best time (11th) went to Englishman Kris Meek (Hyundai), who promised to also be in the fight for victory in the WRC2 category.

“Tomorrow will be a difficult day, with many rocks, it will be a question of survival. I know that the younger ones will give me a fight and a few more gray hairs,” she shared, smiling.

The Portugal Rally is the fifth of 13 rounds of the 2024 World Rally Championship and runs until Sunday, with 22 timed specials, in the north and center of the country.