Martins Sesks immediately made his intentions clear by setting the pace on the opening stage of the morning, putting himself at the front of the FIA European Rally Championship field in Portugal. This early surge instantly applied psychological pressure on his closest rivals across notoriously demanding gravel tracks.
His team-mate, Roope Korhonen, provided an intense challenge, finishing just 0.6 seconds off the benchmark. However, rapidly changing surface conditions forced the Finnish driver to fight hard for grip. Korhonen admitted that the terrain pushed his car's mechanical limits to the edge. “Really slippery and very deep ruts. The second pass could be very interesting,” Korhonen said, describing the tricky track conditions.
Major drama unfolded on the third stage as previous-round winner Kris Meeke was forced into retirement. The British driver's misfortunes began on Friday after sustaining damage during the qualifying stage, forcing him to sweep the road first. At the time of his retirement, Meeke was running sixth overall.
Despite reporting a minor technical glitch with his car, Martins Sesks maintained stellar consistency and clinched the fastest time on the loop's final test. “It wasn’t perfect driving, but I really enjoyed this final stage. We perhaps didn’t find the best possible set-up in testing, but the car is starting to feel good now,” Sesks stated. Thanks to this strong run, he holds a 5.7-second lead over his nearest pursuer.
Further down the order, Sarah Rumeau delivered an impressive charge by gaining eight positions on the second stage, though she later suffered communication issues with her co-driver. Meanwhile, Ville Vatanen tackling his maiden gravel rally in a Rally2 machine adopted a cautious approach before unlocking more pace to sit 17th overall.
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