Based around the city of Porto, the event is a classic gravel round of the FIA World Rally Championship, with fast but technical roads and a soft, sandy surface that becomes rocky and rutted as more cars pass through.

Hikaru Kogure and Yuki Yamamoto were competing in Portugal for the second year in succession in their GR Yaris Rally2 cars - although they had limited previous experience of the stages having both been forced to retire on the first full day one year ago. As their first gravel rally of the year, it was also their first event with the Hankook gravel tyres introduced to the WRC for 2025.

Competing in a huge field of over 50 Rally2 cars, Yamamoto and his co-driver James Fulton made a solid start to the event during a marathon Friday of 10 stages, sitting 16th in WRC2 after the first loop. Unfortunately, they lost time later in SS6 with a puncture before a gearbox-related issue forced them to drive cautiously to finish the day. Hikaru Kogure and co-driver Topi Luhtinen sustained damage in SS2 after running wide but managed to make a repair and complete the day 15th in WRC2.

Both drivers continued to gather experience on Saturday in some increasingly rough conditions, before hitting trouble in the last full-length stage of the day. Yamamoto sustained damage when he ran wide in an asphalt section and couldn’t complete the day, but was able to return on Sunday and reach the finish of the rally. Kogure picked up a puncture in SS17, losing further time, but completed every stage of the rally and climbed back up to 15th in the class.

For Shotaro Goto and Takumi Matsushita, this would be not only their first gravel rally since stepping up from Rally4 to Rally3 machinery for this season, but also their first ever gravel rallies outside of Finland, where the roads are usually smoother and faster than in southern Europe. Unfortunately for Goto and co-driver Jussi Lindberg, they would be unable to start the rally after a roll in Thursday’s pre-event shakedown damaged the rollcage of their Renault Clio Rally3 car.

Matsushita and his co-driver Pekka Kelander showed a good performance from the start, climbing up to third place in a competitive WRC3 class before a puncture in SS10 dropped them back to sixth. Matsushita lost some further time on Saturday with a broken crossmember and another puncture, but went on to claim a maiden WRC3 stage win in the Lousada super special and finish sixth in WRC3.

Quotes:
Juho Hänninen (TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRC Challenge Program instructor):
“Hikaru and Yuki weren’t able to complete so many kilometres in Portugal last year, so it was good to see them both be patient and find a suitable pace with which they could gain that mileage. Yuki showed some good pace before his mistake late on Saturday, which was quite unfortunate but also quite an easy one to make, and at least he could restart on Sunday without missing too many kilometres. Hopefully the experience that they both gained here can pay off in Sardinia and they can find some improvements in pace. For Shotaro it was unfortunately a short week as he paid a big price for a very small mistake, and wasn’t able to gain that valuable first experience on this kind of technical gravel rally. Takumi on the other hand did great work through the weekend, setting good times while also driving cleverly according to the conditions, which was really positive to see.”

Hikaru Kogure:
“I feel quite relieved to finish this rally, because last year in Portugal I had to retire after only a few stages and missed out on a lot of experience, but this time I could get through all the stages. It was tough with quite rough and rutted conditions but still I could have some good feeling in the car, try to find some improvements in my driving and complete the rally, which was very nice. It was good for me to get this mileage and good preparation for the next rally in Sardinia.”

Yuki Yamamoto:
“This has been a tough rally but it was really nice to gain so many competitive stage kilometres. Saturday unfortunately ended a bit early but I tried to switch my focus and keep gaining experience on Sunday; I didn’t take any big risks but still I could keep up with the pace, which was a good way to finish the rally looking ahead to Sardinia. Overall I gained so much experience and knowledge and it was a really important rally that will help for the future.”

Shotaro Goto:
“Unfortunately it was a short rally week for me. Near the end of the shakedown I think there were some ruts which helped the car to roll. I really didn’t expect the car to roll in that corner as it was relatively slow. We were OK but the rollcage was bent and we couldn’t start the rally. It was frustrating but I need to accept what happened and at least I can take some experience of the roads in Portugal from the testing and reconnaissance.”

Takumi Matsushita:
“It has been a good weekend. On Friday morning I was struggling a bit with the setup of the car but we were able to make some changes to find a good feeling and we could set some nice times as well. We suffered some punctures and an issue with the suspension, but overall it was really positive. I could experience a lot of different conditions that are typical in this rally and I could learn how I can manage rougher rallies to look after the car.”