Sebastien Ogier takes lead in Rally Portugal after Kalle Rovanpera crashes
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France's Sebastien Ogier in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally 1 on May 11 in the Rally Portugal, part of the World Rally Championship.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
Overnight leader Kalle Rovanpera rolled out of Rally Portugal contention on May 11, as Toyota teammate Sebastien Ogier took over at the top with his sights set on a record sixth success in the event.
The eight-time world champion, now competing part-time like Rovanpera, led Hyundai's Ott Tanak by 11.9 seconds going into May 12's final leg on the fast gravel roads around Porto and Matosinhos.
Hyundai's world championship leader Thierry Neuville was in third place and 59.5 seconds behind Tanak, with the Belgian's main title rival Elfyn Evans a distant sixth overall.
Toyota had started the day one-two-three in the standings but Rovanpera misjudged a right-hander, hit a tree and rolled with the crew unhurt and expecting to rejoin on the final day.
Teammate Takamoto Katsuta, third on May 10 night, meanwhile suffered a broken suspension after hitting a rock.
That left Ogier as Toyota's sole remaining hope and he took four stage wins out of the day's nine.
Overall victory would be one more than Finnish great Markku Alen achieved in Portugal.
"It's been a good day," said the Frenchman. "A tricky one, we didn't expect so many things happening today. Unfortunately on Toyota’s side it was not a perfect day. For me it was good, but we lost two cars.
"We have to try and finish the job tomorrow now."
The final day features four stages. REUTERS
