The third and final leg of this year’s Vodafone Rally de Portugal, returning to the FIA World Rally Championship after a six-year absence, had a familiar feel to it. Sebastien Loeb controlled the pace throughout the day, to return to the Algarve Stadium as winner of the event, ahead of Marcus Gronholm and Mikko Hirvonen. The result puts him just two points behind Gronholm in the Drivers’ Championship but Ford maintains its position at the head of the Manufacturers’ table.
The final leg started clear but cold, with a run through a pair of stages to the north of Faro. Mikko Hirvonen took the win on both of the tests, saying he was pushing as hard as he could to ensure that Subaru’s Petter Solberg stayed behind him. By the end of the first pair, he had extended his margin to 18.5 seconds, a seemingly unassailable gap.
Behind him on both stages were leader Sebastien Loeb and Marcus Gronholm. Gronholm had accepted that Loeb’s 40-second lead from the previous day was too much to be able to realistically challenge and was driving with a second-place finish in mind. Loeb responded by reducing his pace slightly, saying that ensuring a finish was now also his main concern.
Dani Sordo held station in fifth, with Jari-Matti Latvala doing the same in sixth. The young Finn was 46 seconds adrift of Sordo and also realised that the gap was too great to risk his points position and settled into a rhythm that would preserve his car and position.
Behind him, Henning Solberg and Daniel Carlsson continued their battle, with Carlsson taking time from Solberg on the morning’s first stage and as a consequence, seventh place as well, with Solberg holding eighth.
Behind them came the two Citroen Xsara WRCs of Gigi Galli and Manfred Stohl, Galli losing his brakes on the morning’s first stage but regaining some braking power for the second. Stohl was still complaining of excessive understeer and was unhappy with the car.
Armindo Araujo had made set-up changes to his Mitsubishi Lancer WRC overnight and was coming to terms with it in the first stage but reported a much better feeling in the second and was happy to take time from Andreas Mikklesen, who was enjoying the morning’s stages.
Following the mid-morning service, the crews headed back to the same pair of stages, which would then be followed by a second run around the Algarve Stadium superspecial to round-off the event.
It was during the last two stages that Gronholm clawed-back some of Loeb’s lead, taking the win on both. But the 15.1 seconds he regained were only a small dent in Loeb’s 48.5-second cushion. The Frenchman went into the final superspecial stage as the near-certain rally winner; making his 31st career victory and his third of 2007.
The rest of the top ten remained the same through stage 16 with drivers protecting their positions and not pushing to overhaul the distances in front; championship points were the order of the final day. It was on stage 17, the penultimate stage, however where an unlucky Henning Solberg suffered clutch problems, dropping nearly three minutes and handing his 8th place, and the last drivers’ point, to Gigi Galli.
His brother Petter also set pulses racing with a road-side stop due to engine problems on his way to the stadium. There was a collective sigh of relieve from the fans as he made it to the final superspecial stage just in time to compete in his now down-on-pace Subaru Impreza WRC.
The result means that Loeb closes up to just two points behind Gronholm in the Drivers’ Championship while Ford maintains its position at the head of the Manufacturers’ table, with a 15-point lead over Citroen.
In the FIA Junior Rally Championship, event-long leader Urmo Aava saw his 40-second lead disappear and become a 2.7 deficit on the penultimate stage, when he cruelly picked up a puncture. The scene was set for a superspecial stage showdown between the Suzuki team-mates which eventually saw Andersson take the win, with a margin of 3.7 seconds after three days of competition.
The rally proved a big hit, with drivers, fans and the organisers. Praise from drivers was unanimous; all complimented the quality of the stages, the competition, the location and the impeccable behaviour of the legions of passionate Portuguese rally fans who turned out to witness their country’s return to the FIA World Rally Championship. The organisers also expressed their satisfaction with the way the event ran and their gratitude to the marshals, Police and local authorities, as well as the fans themselves, for their help in ensuring the event was a success.
2007 Vodafone Rally de Portugal
Provisional results
1. Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena Citroen C4 3:53:33.1
2. Marcus Gronholm/Timo Rautiainen Ford Focus RS +37.1
3. Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen Ford Focus RS +2:08.1
4. Petter Solberg/Phil Mills Subaru Impreza WRC +3:13.9
5. Dani Sordo/Marc Marti Citroen C4 +5:05.3
6. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miika Anttila Ford Focus WRC +5:44.9
7. Daniel Carlsson/Denis Giraudet Citroen Xsara WRC +8:13.2
8. Gigi Galli/Giovanni Bernacchni Citroen Xsara WRC +9:39.6
9. Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud Ford Focus RS +11:12.4
10. Manfred Stohl/Ilka Minor Citroen Xsara WRC +12:46.0
