Zoom Mark one for Maghales

The first day of Rally Portugal's 42nd edition was completed with a second passage over the S. Bras de Alportel stage, counting over sixteen kilometres of timed sectors. With a running time of 12:01.4 at the wheel of a Peugeot 207 S2000, Bruno Maghales ended the day in fashion by taking a first stage win on his home rally, 1.3 seconds ahead of Luca Rossetti aboard another Peugeot.

Nearly three seconds behind, François Duval's Fiat Grande Punto claimed the third spot after racing slightly faster than Nicolas Vouilloz's fourth-placed Peugeot S2000.

Alternating between car makes, the Peugeots of Jan Kopecky and Brice Tirabassi took fifth and seventh positions, while the Fiats of Didier Auriol and Giandomenico Basso occupied positions six and eight.

In a tie with the best Group N performance so far, Andreas Aigner took ninth place with his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX, 13.4 seconds down from the stage leader. Another Group N closely followed in tenth place with Juho Hanninen at the wheel of a same-make car.

This first day of racing was eventful and saw many unexpected changes in the standings. Of the six stages appearing on today's programme, no less than five different drivers accomplished fastest runs, with the rally lead changing hands on each occasion.

Luca Rossetti has now taken command of Rally Portugal. The Italian's 2.4-second lead is far from secure however with French driver Nicolas Vouilloz much too close for comfort. François Duval might be a dozen seconds away, but his good performance today means he is still a contender for the win. Jan Kopecky is in a fourth-position buffer zone, standing in the middle of a 47.1-second gap between Duval and Didier Auriol.

The second and final day of Rally Portugal begins tommorrow morning with the Santana de Serra 1 stage at 09:40 local time. Saturday's programme consists of two loops over three trails... and surely more unexpected events.

Daniel BASTIEN
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