Tough weekend in Portugal sees Elfyn finish sixth

Welshman remains at the top of the WRC standings.

Elfyn endured a tough Rally Portugal to secure sixth place and maintain his lead at the top of the FIA World Rally Championship standings.

Portugal was the first of three consecutive hot and rough gravel rallies in the south of Europe that test cars, tyres and drivers. The first full day of the rally on Friday was one of the longest of the season so far with 10 stages punctuated only by two brief remote service halts. 

Running first on the road, Elfyn was hampered all day with the loose gravel on the surface of the stages and dropped time on both first and second passes. He held seventh at the end of Friday’s tough opening day, unable to match the pace of the cars following behind.

With the action turning to more soft and sandy stages, Saturday was a similar situation, with Elfyn also reporting missing quite a bit of performance during the day. He continued to drop time for most of the day and, with no retirements among the top runners, he remained in seventh going into the final day.

Sunday saw six stages including two runs over the fan-packed Fafe test. Elfyn tried a few slight changes to his driving style and overhauled Sami Pajari to claim sixth place. However, he didn’t take as many points from the weekend as he would have liked and admitted that he would have to work to try and be better on the next event in Sardinia.

It was another double podium for his Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team, extending its lead in the manufacturer championship, and Elfyn still retains a 30 point lead in the drivers’ championship.

The next event is Rally Sardinia from 5-8 June.