2015 Rally de Portugal

The 2015 Rally de Portugal was the fifth round of the 2015 World Rally Championship season. For the first time since 2001, the Rally de Portugal returned to the north of Portugal, returning to the stage sections that earned the rally the world's best award 6 times,[1] and large crowds lined the stages.[2]

2015 Rally de Portugal
49º Rally de Portugal
Round 5 of the 2015 World Rally Championship season
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Host countryPortugal Portugal
Rally baseMatosinhos, Portugal
Dates run21 – 24 May 2015
Stages16 (351.71 km; 218.54 miles)
Stage surfaceGravel
Overall distance1,529.43 km (950.34 miles)
Statistics
Crews94 at start, 64 at finish
Overall results
Overall winnerFinland Jari-Matti Latvala
Finland Miikka Anttila
Germany Volkswagen Motorsport

Jari-Matti Latvala won the Rally de Portugal for the first time, taking his first victory of the 2015 season.[3]

Entry list

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Jari-Matti Latvala at 2015 Rally de Portugal
Notable entrants
No. Entrant Class Driver Co-driver Car Tyre
1   Volkswagen Motorsport WRC   Sébastien Ogier   Julien Ingrassia Volkswagen Polo R WRC M
2   Volkswagen Motorsport WRC   Jari-Matti Latvala   Miikka Anttila Volkswagen Polo R WRC M
3   Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT WRC   Kris Meeke   Paul Nagle Citroën DS3 WRC M
4   Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT WRC   Mads Østberg   Jonas Andersson Citroën DS3 WRC M
5   M-Sport Ltd WRC   Elfyn Evans   Daniel Barritt Ford Fiesta RS WRC M
6   M-Sport Ltd WRC   Ott Tänak   Raigo Mőlder Ford Fiesta RS WRC M
7   Hyundai Motorsport WRC   Thierry Neuville   Nicolas Gilsoul Hyundai i20 WRC M
8   Hyundai Motorsport WRC   Dani Sordo   Marc Martí Hyundai i20 WRC M
9   Volkswagen Motorsport II WRC   Andreas Mikkelsen   Ola Fløene Volkswagen Polo R WRC M
12   Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT WRC   Khalid Al Qassimi   Chris Patterson Citroën DS3 WRC M
14   RK World Rally Team WRC   Robert Kubica   Maciej Szczepaniak Ford Fiesta RS WRC M
16   Henning Solberg WRC   Henning Solberg   Ilka Minor Ford Fiesta RS WRC M
20   Hyundai Motorsport N WRC   Hayden Paddon   John Kennard Hyundai i20 WRC M
21   Jipocar Czech National Team WRC   Martin Prokop   Michal Ernst Ford Fiesta RS WRC P
31   Yazeed Racing WRC-2   Yazeed Al-Rajhi   Michael Orr Ford Fiesta RRC M
32   PH Sport WRC-2   Stéphane Lefebvre   Stéphane Prévot Citroën DS3 R5 M
33   www.Rallyproject.com srl WRC-2   Massimiliano Rendina   Mario Pizzuti Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X P
34   Quentin Giordano WRC-2   Quentin Giordano   Valentin Sarreaud Citroën DS3 R5 M
36   Karl Kruuda WRC-2   Karl Kruuda   Martin Järveoja Citroën DS3 R5 M
37   FWRT s.r.l. WRC   Lorenzo Bertelli   Giovanni Bernacchini Ford Fiesta RS WRC P
38   Enrico Brazzoli WRC-2   Enrico Brazzoli   Maurizio Barone Subaru Impreza WRX STi H
39   Saintéloc Junior Team WRC-2   Craig Breen   Scott Martin Peugeot 208 T16 R5 M
40   Drive Dmack WRC-2   Jari Ketomaa   Kaj Lindström Ford Fiesta R5 D
41   Drive Dmack WRC-2   Nicolás Fuchs   Fernando Mussano Ford Fiesta R5 D
42   Nasser Al-Attiyah WRC-2   Nasser Al-Attiyah   Matthieu Baumel Ford Fiesta RRC M
45   TAIF Rally Team WRC-2   Radik Shaymiev   Maxim Tsvetkov Ford Fiesta R5 M
45   Gianluca Linari WRC-2   Gianluca Linari   Nicola Arena Subaru Impreza STi N15 P
51   Napoca Rally Academy WRC-2   Simone Tempestini   Matteo Chiarcossi Subaru Impreza STi N14 P
52   Diego Domínguez WRC-2   Diego Domínguez   Edgardo Galindo Ford Fiesta R5 D
54   Didier Arias WRC-2   Didier Arias   Héctor Núñez Ford Fiesta R5 D
75   Youth & Sports Qatar Rally Team WRC-2   Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari   Marshall Clarke Ford Fiesta RRC M
Icon Class
WRC WRC entries eligible to
score manufacturer points
WRC WRC entries ineligible to
score manufacturer points
WRC-2 Registered to take part in
WRC-2 championship

Report

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The race began with the return of the mythical super special stage at Lousada rallycross track, with 15,000 spectators attending. As in the shakedown, Andreas Mikkelsen was the fastest, followed by Sébastien Ogier and Jari-Matti Latvala. Robert Kubica took the all-new Ford Fiesta RS WRC – as premiered by M-Sport – to 4th place.

On the second day of the event, the rally moved to the Minho Province, with the section of Caminha proving to be quite hard, causing several dropouts and mechanical breakdowns. Ogier, as championship leader, was first into the stages and suffered a flat tyre on the second stage and finished the day in 2nd overall. At the end of the fifth stage, Latvala was the leader by 11.1 seconds ahead of Kris Meeke, with Mikkelsen 16 seconds down in third. Dani Sordo, winner of the first stage of the day, was only 5th.

On Saturday, Ogier regained some time, winning all three afternoon stages and finished the day in 2nd place, 9.5 seconds behind the leader, Latvala. Meeke won two of the stages and was 3rd, 20 seconds behind Latvala. Mikkelsen – the day's other stage winner – was fourth, trailing Meeke by 1.1 seconds. Elfyn Evans retired after the day's first stage with electrical problems in his Ford Fiesta RS WRC, while Tanak and Sordo – already at more than a minute behind the lead – were out of the fight for a podium finish. Neuville overturned and Ostberg suffered engine problems in his Citroën.

On Sunday, three stages remained; two runs of the Fafe stage – the second being the power stage – with one pass through the Vieira do Minho. On the first pass of Fafe, and the benefit of a better road position, Ogier gained 1.7 seconds on Latvala. Latvala recovered the time loss and increased the advantage to 10.4 seconds, while Mikkelsen moved ahead of Meeke into a podium position. In the decisive power-stage, Ogier recovered 2.2 seconds on Latvala, and as a result, Latvala won the event by 8.2 seconds.

Results

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Event standings (top-10)

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[4]

Pos. No. Driver Co-driver Team Car Class Time Difference Points
Overall classification
1 2   Jari-Matti Latvala   Miikka Anttila   Volkswagen Motorsport Volkswagen Polo R WRC WRC 3:30:35.3 28
2 1   Sébastien Ogier   Julien Ingrassia   Volkswagen Motorsport Volkswagen Polo R WRC WRC 3:30:43.5 +8.2 21
3 9   Andreas Mikkelsen   Mikko Markkula   Volkswagen Motorsport II Volkswagen Polo R WRC WRC 3:31:03.9 +28.6 16
4 3   Kris Meeke   Paul Nagle   Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT Citroën DS3 WRC WRC 3:31:24.0 +48.7 12
5 6   Ott Tänak   Raigo Mõlder   M-Sport World Rally Team Ford Fiesta RS WRC WRC 3:32:32.1 +1:56.8 10
6 8   Dani Sordo   Marc Martí   Hyundai Motorsport Hyundai i20 WRC WRC 3:33:03.2 +2:27.9 8
7 4   Mads Østberg   Jonas Andersson   Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT Citroën DS3 WRC WRC 3:33:07.5 +2:32.2 6
8 20   Hayden Paddon   John Kennard   Hyundai Shell World Rally Team Hyundai i20 WRC WRC 3:33:29.6 +2:54.3 4
9 14   Robert Kubica   Maciej Szczepaniak   RK M-Sport World Rally Team Ford Fiesta RS WRC WRC 3:35:14.4 +4:39.1 2
10 21   Martin Prokop   Jan Tománek   Jipocar Czech National Team Ford Fiesta RS WRC WRC 3:38:06.5 +7:31.2 1

Special stages

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Day Stage Name Length Winner Car Time Rally leader
Leg 1
(21–22 May)
SS1 SSS Lousada 3.36 km   Andreas Mikkelsen Volkswagen Polo R WRC 2:41.1   Andreas Mikkelsen
SS2 Ponte de Lima 1 27.53 km   Dani Sordo Hyundai i20 WRC 19:41.5   Dani Sordo
SS3 Caminha 1 18.05 km   Mads Østberg Citroën DS3 WRC 10:48.9   Andreas Mikkelsen
SS4 Viana do Castelo 1 18.73 km   Jari-Matti Latvala Volkswagen Polo R WRC 11:38.3   Jari-Matti Latvala
SS5 Ponte de Lima 2 27.53 km Stage cancelled
SS6 Caminha 2 18.05 km   Sébastien Ogier Volkswagen Polo R WRC 10:49.6
SS7 Viana do Castelo 2 18.73 km   Jari-Matti Latvala Volkswagen Polo R WRC 11:30.1
Leg 2
(23 May)
SS8 Baião 1 18.57 km   Andreas Mikkelsen Volkswagen Polo R WRC 11:48.3
SS9 Marão 1 26.30 km   Kris Meeke Citroën DS3 WRC 17:11.1
SS10 Fridão 1 37.67 km   Kris Meeke Citroën DS3 WRC 25:40.5
SS11 Baião 2 18.57 km   Sébastien Ogier Volkswagen Polo R WRC 11:43.0
SS12 Marão 2 26.30 km   Sébastien Ogier Volkswagen Polo R WRC 16:58.7
SS13 Fridão 2 37.67 km   Sébastien Ogier Volkswagen Polo R WRC 25:17.9
Leg 3
(24 May)
SS14 Fafe 1 11.15 km   Sébastien Ogier Volkswagen Polo R WRC 6:49.8
SS15 Vieira do Minho 32.35 km   Jari-Matti Latvala Volkswagen Polo R WRC 20:38.7
SS16 Fafe 2 (Power Stage) 11.15 km   Sébastien Ogier Volkswagen Polo R WRC 6:43.0

Power Stage

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The "Power stage" was a 11.15 km (6.93 mi) stage at the end of the rally.

Pos Driver Car Time Diff. Pts
1   Sébastien Ogier Volkswagen Polo R WRC 6:43.0 0.0 3
2   Jari-Matti Latvala Volkswagen Polo R WRC 6:45.2 +2.2 2
3   Andreas Mikkelsen Volkswagen Polo R WRC 6:47.0 +4.0 1

References

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  1. ^ Figueiredo, João Tiago (22 May 2015). "O que não pode perder no regresso do "melhor Rali do mundo"". Maisfutebol (in Portuguese). A Media Capital Digital, S.A. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  2. ^ "Obrigado aos dois milhões de espectadores" [Thanks to two million spectators]. iol.pt (in Portuguese). A Media Capital Digital, S.A. 25 May 2015. Archived from the original on 19 June 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  3. ^ "Latvala ends barren run with Portugal win". World Rally Championship. WRC Promoter GmbH. 24 May 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  4. ^ "49. Vodafone Rally de Portugal 2015". EWRC-Results.com. EWRC-Results. 26 May 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2015.