Surface:
Gravel

Most recent winner:
Sebastien Loeb (2009)

Rally website:
www.rallydeportugal.pt

Portugal is a country with a long rallying tradition. The first Portuguese round of the WRC came in 1973, and over the next 29 years it went on to become one of the most difficult and notorious rallies on earth.

In the 1980s the event earned a reputation for tricky road conditions (often a mix of gravel and asphalt) and unruly crowds of spectators, while in more recent years Portugal was a gravel-only event, based on the west coast near Porto. In 2001, however, it was dropped - replaced on the calendar by Rallye Deutschland.

In 2007, after two years of candidacy, Portugal's return to the WRC with a new base on the south coast represented a fresh start. And after a year out in 2008, the rally was one of the highlights of the 2009 season. The 'new' Rally Portugal features a base in the Algarve Stadium - which also hosts a Super Special stage - and a spectacular selection of gravel stages in the Algarve and Alentejo regions to the north.

Shakedown Timing

1. OGIER. Citroen C4 WRC. 3:05.0
2. P. SOLBERG. Citroen C4 WRC. 3:06.3
3. LOEB. Citroen C4 WRC. 3:07.3
4. SORDO. Citroen C4 WRC. 3:07.9
5. HIRVONEN. Ford Focus RS WRC 09. 3:08.0
6. LATVALA. Ford Focus RS WRC 09. 3:08.4
7. H. SOLBERG. Ford Focus RS WRC 08. 3:09.2
8. RAIKKONEN. Citroen C4 WRC. 3:10.0
9. VILLAGRA. Ford Focus RS WRC 08. 3:11.1
10. WILSON. Ford Focus RS WRC 08. 3:12.1
11. Al QASSIMI. Ford Focus RS WRC 09. 3:12.2
12. BLOCK. Ford Focus RS WRC 08. 3:15.7

Ohh...Petter Solberg looks in good nick.

Solberg's View at Shakedown

http://vtx.sharp-stream.com/video.php?o ... RC1614.wmv

Overall results after SS7 -- Silves 2
1. Sebastien OGIER M 1:20:34.4 0.0 0.0
2. Dani SORDO M 1:21:01.0 +26.6 +26.6
3. Sebastien LOEB M 1:21:19.2 +18.2 +44.8
4.Mikko HIRVONEN M 1:21:21.3 +2.1 +46.9
5.Petter SOLBERG 1:21:24.3 +3.0 +49.9
6.Jari-Matti LATVALA M 1:21:37.2 +12.9 +1:02.8
7.Henning SOLBERG M 1:21:55.1 +17.9 +1:20.7
8.Matthew WILSON M 1:22:29.0 +33.9 +1:54.6
9.Mads OSTBERG 1:23:11.7 +42.7 +2:37.3
10.Kimi RAIKKONEN M 1:23:52.5 +40.8 +3:18.1

This Ogier guy seems to be really good man.

Nice to see F1 boy Kimi's name in the list.

Kimi recently stated on FB that he has a lot to learn but its great to see him consistently in the top 10..

Ogier beats Loeb to win Vodafone Rally de Portugal



Sebastien Ogier has claimed his first world championship victory by narrowly defeating Sebastien Loeb on Vodafone Rally de Portugal.

Overall
Pos No Driver Time Diff Next
1. 7 Sebastien OGIER M 3:51:16.1 0.0
2. 1 Sebastien LOEB M 3:51:24.0 +7.9
3. 2 Dani SORDO M 3:52:33.7 +1:09.7
4. 3 Mikko HIRVONEN M 3:52:48.1 +14.4
5. 11 Petter SOLBERG 3:52:51.8 +3.7
6. 5 Matthew WILSON M 3:58:26.2 +5:34.4
7. 12 Mads OSTBERG 3:58:44.4 +18.2
8. 9 Federico VILLAGRA M 4:01:52.2 +3:07.8
9. 14 Khalid AL QASSIMI 4:02:11.9 +19.7
10. 8 Kimi RAIKKONEN M 4:02:50.4 +38.5

Source:
http://www.wrc.com/jsp/index.jsp?lnk=10 ... e+Portugal

A new WRC champ in the making?

Yes Tom, see the WRC news

Ogier ‘faster than anybody else in the Championship’, says Loeb



Sebastien Loeb has paid tribute to Rally de Portugal winner Sebastien Ogier and acknowledged that his Citroen stable-mate was the fastest man at the weekend.
Loeb mounted an all-out attack on Sunday’s five stages in a bid to overturn Ogier’s overnight 21sec lead, but despite a more advantageous road position on the two morning stages he fell 7.9sec short.
At the end of the decisive Super Special Loeb was one of the first to congratulate Ogier on his maiden WRC victory, and later revealed just how hard he had been pushing:
“I took the risks I had to take to fight. I was pushing as hard as possible and I was confident I was driving well,” said Loeb. “I tried but he was really strong all the weekend, especially on the second pass he was very, very fast and we couldn’t make any difference in the afternoon.
“Maybe I was not fast enough the first day; I was thinking to the mistake in New Zealand and didn’t want the same risk - I was waiting a bit that it happens. Finally, we lost a bit of time and we couldn’t catch it again. He showed me here he is faster than anybody else in the Championship. We couldn’t do anything,” he added.
Asked how he felt about the challenge of another man backed by the French motorsports Federations (FFSA) and Citroen, Loeb said: “A few years ago we thought French drivers aren’t able to drive on gravel, now it seems to be okay! Now we are both French drivers fighting, it’s good for the team and for us.”

http://www.wrc.com/jsp/index.jsp?lnk=10 ... says+Loeb+

Awesome!!