2015 Rally de Portugal

2015 Rally de Portugal
*49º Rally de Portugal*
2015 Rally de Portugal; 49º Rally de Portugal
Round 5 of the 2015 World Rally Championship season
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Host country	Portugal
Rally base	Matosinhos, Portugal
Dates run	21 – 24 May 2015
Stages	16 (351.71 km; 218.54 miles)
Stage surface	Gravel
Overall distance	1,529.43 km (950.34 miles)
Statistics
Crews	94 at start, 64 at finish
Overall results
Overall winner	Jari-Matti Latvala; Miikka Anttila; Volkswagen Motorsport

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]

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

Entry list

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

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

Event standings (top-10)

^[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

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

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

^ 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.
^ "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.
^ "Latvala ends barren run with Portugal win". World Rally Championship. WRC Promoter GmbH. 24 May 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
^ "49. Vodafone Rally de Portugal 2015". EWRC-Results.com. EWRC-Results. 26 May 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2015.

[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.

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