The second day of this year’s Vodafone Rallye de Portugal – and the first full day of competition - takes the crews to the north of the event base at EXPONOR in Matosinhos, for two loops of three stages before two stages around the streets of Braga.
Running approximately 80Km north of the HQ and still close to the Atlantic coast, the first of the three stages is the 26.7Km Viana do Castelo test. The stage features almost 16Km of familiar roads but to give the crews a challenge to start the day on the first loop, there are 10.9Km of new roads to contend with.
Following is the first run through Caminha, using the same road as in 2016 but in the opposite direction, meaning a new set of pace notes for all the drivers. They then progress directly to the Ponte de Lima stage, again using the identical road to last year but with the direction reversed.
In addition, since the last time the crews drove the stage, much of the surrounding forests have been cut down, changing the feel and nature of the once-closed-in stages.
After the first loop of three stages, the crews will return to EXPONOR for the mid-day service, where the teams will have 30 minutes to carry out routine maintenance to the cars or provide repairs should they have sustained any damage during the morning.
Once this work has been undertaken, they return to the same three stages for a repeat of the morning’s action. However, with the passing of the entire field, the roads are likely to be more rough and so, they will need to find a good balance between speed and protecting their cars.
After the second run through Ponte de Lima, instead of returning to EXPONOR, all the cars will contest the street stage around the centre of the town of Braga, to the north-east of Oporto.
Having completed two back-to-back runs around Braga, the crews will finally return to EXPONOR and the service area, for dinner and some much needed rest.
10.09 - SS2, Viana do Castelo1
11.06 – SS3, Caminha1
11.46 – SS4, Ponte de Lima1
14.25 – Service, Exponor
16.09 – SS5, Viana do Castelo2
17.06 – SS6, Caminha2
17.46 – SS7, Ponte de Lima2
19.03 – SS8, Braga1
19.28 – SS9, Braga2
20.40 – Service, Exponor