The Spanish driver took victory on the final round at Rallye Vidreiro Centro de Portugal by just 0.8 seconds to emerge triumphant from a three-way fight for the title

Victory on the final round of the season at Rallye Vidreiro Centro de Portugal secured the Portuguese Rally Championship title for Spanish driver Dani Sordo in his first full season in the series with the Hyundai i20 N Rally2 and Team Hyundai Portugal.

Sordo entered the event second in the standings in the middle of a three-way fight for the title where the contenders were split by only five points. However, the former WRC regular arrived having scored victory in the previous round and was immediately on the pace again on the opening stage to take a lead that – despite intense pressure – he would hold for the entirety of the season finale. The four-second advantage he enjoyed after SS1 was to be the largest gap he enjoyed all weekend. His advantage was cut to only nine-tenths over the following two stages before the overnight halt.

Four consecutive stage victories to start the final day of the rally added to his margin, though it only grew to 2.8 seconds, before being cut down to less than a second once more. Sordo and his title rival started the final stage split by just 0.6 seconds with the win and the potentially vital three bonus points for Power Stage victory on the line. Sordo and co-driver Cándido Carrera won both to take the total by seven points.

The win was their third of the season, following successes at June’s Rali de Castelo Branco and the penultimate round at Rali da Água. Sordo also finished second on the first three events of the season, including on the gravel stages of Rali Terras d’Aboboreira alongside co-driver Patricia Saiz Ruiloba, and crucially only failed to score at a single round.

Time in Team Hyundai Portugal’s second i20 N Rally2 was split between two drivers during the season. Hugo Lopes scored a best finish of sixth from his four events at Rali de Castelo Branco. However, it was Gonçalo Henriques who took a stunning podium at Rallye Casinos do Algarve alongside co-driver Inês Veiga on his debut in Rally2 machinery. The duo narrowly missed another podium at the national event of Rally de Portugal, before completing the season with a third place at the season finale as Sordo clinched the title.

The title success is the fourth time that Team Hyundai Portugal crews have topped the national standings, having previously delivered titles for Armindo Araújo, Ricardo Teodósio and Kris Meeke.

Dani Sordo said:

“It was a tough year, considering the need to adapt to a series of circumstances, as almost everything was new to me in this championship, but we never gave up. We worked hard, alongside the team, to develop the Hyundai i20 N Rally2 and managed to finish the season on a high. I thoroughly enjoyed this challenge and this battle to the tenth of a second with Kris [Meeke], but I think we deserved the champions’ title. This ending was very special!”

Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing Manager Benoit Nogier said:

“Dani Sordo, Team Hyundai Portugal and the i20 N Rally2 delivered exactly the kind of performance that was needed at the final round of the Portuguese Rally Championship. The season was incredibly close between crews representing three different manufacturers, so that the speed and reliability of the i20 N Rally2 on the stages gave Sordo the title a clear sign of the quality of the car. We know from his record in WRC that Dani is a huge talent, but for him to join the series in a car he has limited experience of and on largely unfamiliar stages against crews with far more experience on the national events is a great achievement.”