The Braga driver Miguel Correia (Skoda Fábia) finished the morning stage this Saturday, the second day of the 56th edition of the Rally de Portugal, as the best Portuguese driver of the race.
The Skoda driver, who finished the day in second place among the Portuguese on Friday, won the first two stages on Saturday, in Vieira do Minho and Amarante, tying with Armindo Araújo (Skoda Fábia) in the third, in Felgueiras, at finals tomorrow.
Miguel Correia arrived at the service park with a time of 2:22.26.5 hours, 3.3 seconds ahead of Araújo, who is now second.
“Miguel [Correia] it’s going well, and this morning we didn’t have the car to our liking”, the Santo Tirso driver told the Portuguese agency, pointing out some difficulties with the settings “in terms of suspension and bars [estabilizadoras] back”.
Armindo Araújo stresses that “the goal is to be the best Portuguese” and that “he will do whatever is possible for that”.
Miguel Correia promises to keep up the pace during the afternoon, with another visit to Vieira do Minho, Amarante and Felgueiras and the Lousada super special.
“[O objetivo é] we tried to win stages and consolidate the advantage over Armindo to go tomorrow [domingo] first and, if possible, with some advantage so that we don’t take risks to achieve our objective, which is to be the best Portuguese at the end of the rally”, he promised, in statements to the Portuguese news agency.
Miguel Correia is currently 16th overall, led by Finn Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota Yaris). Armindo Araujo is 17.
Nuno Pinto (Citroën C3), who is participating in this rally with a charity project, occupies third place among the Portuguese, more than 12 minutes from Correia.
“We don’t even look at the times. Yesterday was a very hard day. Today’s stages are wonderful. I reach the end with a smile. In the fast sections you need more confidence, but in the slow sections I feel more comfortable. ease “, she said this morning, to the Sport TV microphones.
The Rally de Portugal is the fifth round of the world championship and, simultaneously, the fourth of the Portuguese Championship (CPR), whose classification for all-wheel drive closed at the end of Friday, with the victory of Armindo Araújo and second place for Miguel Correia , new leader of the championship, with 82 points, 20 more than Ricardo Teodósio (Hyundai i20), who did not reach the end of the day due to a breakdown.
Today, the qualifying race for the two-wheel drive championship, in which Ricardo Sousa (Peugeot 208) leads at the end of the morning.
Source: TSF
