Zoom Vouilloz races to the front once again

How quickly things change in Portugal. Before returning to the Algarve Stadium service park, where droplets of rain have made an appearance, the contenders of Rally Portugal covered the 16 kilomteres of the Bras de Alportel stage.

Luca Rossetti's Peugeot 207 Super 2000 was the fastest in covering the distance, taking 12:15.7 to do so, a few seconds ahead of François Duval's Fiat Grande Punto. 00:00.6 close behind the Belgian, Jan Kopecky's 207 accomplished the third-quickest time on this route.

Nicolas Vouilloz and Brice Tirabassi brought their respective Peugeot 207 S2000 cars within three seconds of each other into fourth and fifth positions.

The Abarth Grande Punto driven by Giandomenico Basso came next, followed by Manfred Stohl's Peugeot 207 and Dider Auriol's Fiat, thereby grouping the quickest eight competitors across this stage's finish line within a 12-second range.

On his maiden foray into the IRC, Stohl was worried earlier that his car would not make it through this gravel route: "It's a little frustrating, because I have so many engine problems. Sometimes it's OK but sometimes not. The brakes are also not so good. "

Bruno Magalhaes, who had taken the lead of his home event at the conclusion of the preceding run, went off-road and lost a punishing three minutes. An unfortunate turn of events for the Portuguese driver, who had predicted a better overall lead for himself before starting out on this stage...

Magalhaes' mistake was Nicolas Vouilloz's gain as the Frenchman now finds himself once again at the top of the overall rankings with a 5.9-second lead on Luca Rossetti, who jumps straight up into second position from fifth previously. Giandomenico Basso is in fourth place, exactly nine seconds away from the frontrunner but only 3.1 seconds behind Rossetti. François Duval and Jan Kopecky round off the top five of Rally Portugal.

The afternoon loop over this morning's stages will begin at 14:17 local time with Loulé 2.

Daniel BASTIEN
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