Motorsport: Ogier holds slender Rally de Portugal lead over Neuville

Josh McErlean, who is ninth, incurred a 50s road penalty when his car wouldn't start at the remote service; Jon Armstrong had no power steering for several stages.

Sat, 09 May, 2026 - 05:14

Martin Walsh

There's a familiar name at the top in the Vodafone Rally de Portugal, round six of the World Rally Championship with French driver and seven-time winner Sebastien Ogier (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) holding a slender 3.7s lead over the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 of Belgian Thierry Neuville following the second leg where the Irish duo of Josh McErlean and Jon Armstrong both lost time.

McErlean, who is ninth, incurred a 50s road penalty when his car wouldn't start at the remote service; Armstrong had no power steering for several stages.

The lead changed on the morning's first stage as Fourmaux, who began the day 3.4s behind opening leg leader Oliver Solberg, moved in front and with a consistent performance on all three stages prior to the remote service, the French ace held a 7.7s advantage over Toyota's Sami Pajari, who won the day's opening pair of stages, moving from sixth to second as Ogier, 0.3s behind, remained in third.

The chase for third was intense as Neuville and Solberg were within a 1.9s margin of incumbent Ogier, who wasn't satisfied with the performance of his Toyota with Oliver Solberg in a similar vein.

McErlean and Armstrong completed the top ten - separated by 3.8s - both recorded the same time - equal sixth on SS6 - Lousa.

Difficulty in starting his Ford Puma as he departed remote service saw McErlean incur a 50s penalty for arriving five minutes late at the time control, Armstrong was in more serious trouble as his Ford Puma lost power steering on SS7.

"We got through this one and let's see if we can do another stage."

He dropped to 11th with McErlean's penalty demoting him to 10th.

There was double drama on SS8 Góis when Fourmaux lost the lead after his Hyundai went off the road on a tightening left-hander - the impact puncturing both right-hand tyres as he lost almost 30s to new rally leader Ogier. Solberg had a moment at the very same location.

McErlean picked up his pace and duly posted the sixth fastest stage time on both SS8 and 9 as Armstrong continued to lose time without power steering, his co-driver Shane Byrne drove on the road sections to give him some respite and also activated the handbrake out on stages.

In the afternoon, Ogier took a pair of stage wins and leads overnight but Neuville is hot on his heels and with heavy rain predicted, the outcome is far from over.

McErlean heads the Irish charge as Armstrong hampered by the power steering issue is 16th.

Meanwhile, heading into Friday's second leg of the Manx National Rally, Tyrone's Ryan Loughran (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) holds a lead of 17.4s over the VW Polo GTi R5 of Strabane's Niall McGonigle with Clonakilty's Cal McCarthy (Citroen C3 Rally3) 12.8s further behind in an all-Irish top three.

The night's final stage was due to begin close to 11pm with twelve stages today (Saturday).

Vodafone Rally de Portugal (Round 6, World Rally Championship) Matosinhos, Porto (Positions after Leg 2): 1. S. Ogier/V. Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 1h. 28m. 25.2s; 2. T. Neuville/M. Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1)+7.4s; 3. S. Pajari/M. Salminen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1)+15.2s; 4. O. Solberg/E. Edmondson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1)+16.4s; 5. E. Evans/S. Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1)+32.5s; 6. A. Fourmaux/A. Coria (Hyundai i20 N Rally1)+34.ss; 7. T. Katsuta/A. Johnston (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1)+50.1s; 8. D. Sordo/C. Carrera (Hyundai i20 N Rally1)+1m. 23.3s; 9. J. McErlean/E. Treacy (Ford Puma Rally1)+2m. 20.7s; 10. N. Gryazin/K. Aleksandrov (Lancia Ypsilon Rally2)+4m. 34,8s; 16. J. Armstrong/S. Byrne (Ford Puma Rally1)+4m. 55.9s.