The 59th edition of the Vodafone Rally de Portugal is just hours away from hitting the country’s national and forest roads across the Northern and Central regions, with its operational base once again located at Exponor, in Matosinhos.
With 23 special stages starting on Thursday, following a ceremonial start on the left bank of the Mondego River in Coimbra, near the University Stadium, team activity will be focused this Wednesday on the shakedown in Baltar. Organised by the Automóvel Club de Portugal, the rally counts towards the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) and includes the Rally1, WRC2, WRC3 and Junior WRC categories.
Over four action-packed days, drivers and machines will battle across 17 municipalities in the North and Centre of the country, namely Águeda, Albergaria-a-Velha, Amarante, Arganil, Cabeceiras de Basto, Coimbra, Fafe, Felgueiras, Figueira da Foz, Góis, Lousã, Lousada, Matosinhos, Mortágua, Paredes, Sever do Vouga and Vieira do Minho.
As mentioned, the start will take place in Coimbra on Thursday at 14:00, preceded, as usual, by an autograph session approximately one hour earlier. This will be followed by the stages of Águeda/Sever (15:05) and Sever/Albergaria (16:05), with the day concluding with the iconic super special stage in Figueira da Foz (18:05).
On Friday, and taking into account FIA scheduling requirements, the Mortágua stage will be run twice, while Góis will be held only once (13:12). After departing from Figueira da Foz at 06:00, the rally will feature six stages, including passes through Mortágua (07:35 and 15:40), Arganil (08:55 and 12:25), Lousã (10:13 and 14:03) and Góis (13:12).
Saturday is reserved for two runs through four stages. Starting from Matosinhos at 06:00, crews will tackle Felgueiras (07:00 and 14:00), Cabeceiras de Basto (08:05 and 15:05), Amarante (09:35 and 16:35) and Paredes (11:05 and 18:05), culminating in the Lousada super special stage (19:05).
Finally, on Sunday, following the start from Exponor at 06:30, the competition includes two runs through Vieira do Minho (08:05 and 10:35) and Fafe (09:35 and 13:15). The power stage will once again be held in Fafe during the second pass, with the final podium ceremony also taking place in Fafe instead of Matosinhos.