Portuguese national rally champion Armindo Araújo had a dream result Saturday afternoon, winning the 2006 PT-Rally de Portugal ahead of former works Skoda driver Janne Tuohino and Swedish rising star, Patrik Flodin. The event, a Candidate for the FIA World Rally Championship, ran flawlessly despite atrocious weather in the region, with heavy rain falling almost continuously throughout the two day event.
Araújo had pledged to go ‘maximum attack’ from the outset, to assess his speed, compared to the WRC regulars, and he did just that. He set fastest time on four of the first leg’s six stages, to start the second day with a 1m30s lead over Markko Martin. Araújo eased his pace a little over the opening two stages to see if he could afford to relax but was beaten by Touhino and Flodin on both. So he upped the speed again, taking a further win on the third test of the morning.
“This afternoon, I plan to reduce my pace a little and make sure I stay away from rocks and punctures,” he said at the penultimate service of the event. “For me, to win this event would be a perfect result.” He made adjustments to his suspension settings for the second run over the stages, anticipating rougher conditions than the morning. These settings didn’t work though, and he lost time on all three stages to Touhino and Flodin. However, such was the lead he had built up that he could not be caught and arrived at the finish ramp with a winning margin of 1m17s.
“I am delighted with this result. I built up an advantage on the first leg and was able then to adjust my pace as required on the second leg to control my position. The stages were very slippery and I had to be careful. But after the first round of the Portuguese championship, Casino da Povoa, which was wet, windy and snowy, I find I like these conditions! The car works very well and they suit my style.”
The main story of the morning was the battle between Janne Tuohino and Patrik Flodin. Tuohino had his car working well and was flying, despite overshooting a junction and having to reverse, as well as running out of water for the engine’s water injection system. “The feeling was very good,” he said at service. “I cannot catch Armindo – he is too far ahead but I must push hard if I want to keep Patrik behind me.” Flodin was revelling in the faster, more open stages. “I did not find the stages too slippery this morning,” he said. “But I think this afternoon, they will be much slippier, with more cars going over them. Of course, I will push, as being on the podium is good but I want to be in front of Janne.”
The pair swapped times over the three remaining stages but by the end of the event, it was Tuohino who won out, arriving just 18 seconds ahead of Flodin. “It was a good rally for us,” said the Finn. “I am not sure why we lost so much time on the first leg but it was fun. I think if the weather was good, this would have been a perfect rally. Even when the weather was bad, it was still very good.”
“I am very happy to be on the podium,” said a delighted Flodin. “On the second loop, we hit a rock and had some damage at the front, so that slowed us a little but it was a good fight with Janne. We have got lots of very useful experience here and have enjoyed it a lot. It is a very nice rally.”
2005 winner Daniel Carlsson was visibly slow over the three stages that made up the first loop and returned to service at lunchtime, having dropped from third at the start of the day to fifth. “We had a transmission problem and only had rear wheel drive. So we lost traction but also, the handling and braking were very unpredictable. It’s a shame because I was looking forward to a good fight with Markko.” Carlsson repeated the loop in the afternoon with a repaired transmission and was immediately back on the pace, overhauling local driver Miguel Campos for fourth and closing the gap to Flodin. However, it wasn’t quite enough for the Swede to make it onto the podium.
Campos was getting more and more used to his Impreza WRX as the event went on and was learning about the set-up and how to get the best from it. “There was so much water this morning! We should have cut the tyres more, because we were aquaplaning a lot in the stages.” He arrived at the finish in fifth place.
In the two-wheel drive category, Suzuki pilot Urmo Aava dominated the class from the beginning and finished the event sixth overall. Despite the conditions, he put in a series of consistently fast times, setting the 2WD scratch on all but one of the stages, when he suffered a puncture. “This has been a very tricky rally. Today, there was so much water; it was using so much engine power to keep going. I had hoped to be closer to the Group N cars and I think if it had been dry, I would have been. I think the stages are good for the S1600 cars. In the dry!”
The second day proved disastrous for Markko Martin, however. He suffered a puncture 10km into the first stage when the tyre came off the wheel. He and co-driver David Senior stopped to change it but realised that they had a slow puncture on the rear. They got out of the stage but now, with no spare, were forced to retire. “It’s a shame,” he said at the service park. “I was looking forward to a good fight with the other invited drivers. I think that second here was possible which, in a car I don’t know, with a new co-driver and in conditions I hate, would have been OK.
“It is a shame the weather was as bad as it was. But there were no problems with the running of the rally – the organisation, the safety, everything was fine. I think these stages would be fantastic in the dry.”
The 2005 S1600 winner, Dani Sordo, was driving the Citroen Xsara WRC ‘0’ car, a task he described before the event as a fine balancing act. His role was firstly to check the stages for safety but at the same time, validate them at almost full World Rally Car speeds. “I knew from last year that this was a good rally overall. And now I know that the stages are very good for a World Rally Car. They are challenging, fast in parts, technical in others but, in a World Rally Car, very nice. OK, they have been very slippery this weekend but, in fact, the weather has not been a problem for the rally. The security and safety have been fine, the organisation has no problems at all. Not very nice for the spectators but sometimes, that is how it is!”
PT-Rallye de Portugal Provisional Results
1. A Araújo/M Ramalho Mitsubishi Lancer Evo8 3:06:14.0
2. J Tuohino/M Markkula Subaru Impreza WRX 3:07:31.0 +1:17.0
3. P Flodin/M Anderson Subaru Impreza WRX 3:07:49.6 +1:35.6
4. D Carlsson/J Andersson Subaru Impreza WRX 3:09:37.7 +3:23.7
5. M Campos/C Magalhães Subaru Impreza WRX 3:10:15.0 +4:01.0
6. U Aava/K Sikk Suzuki Swift S1600 3:14:44.4 +8:30.4
7. F Peres/JP Silva Mitsubishi Lancer Evo8 3:20:48.3 +14:34.3
8. B Magalhães/P Grave Peugeot 206 S1600 3:25:18.7 +10:04.7
9. M Rauam/K Kraag Subaru Impreza WRX 3:28:07.9 +21:53.9
10. A Rodrigues/J Carhalho Mitsubishi Lancer Evo6 3:29:48.2 +23:34.2
