Rally de Portugal Kicks Off with Hotly Contested Early Stages

After a nearly month-long break, Volkswagen Motorsports’ three Polo R WRCs are back in action at the famous Vodafone Rally de Portugal. Although they have big hopes, they’ve started with a disadvantage.

With the activities starting last night, Volkswagen has looked quick, but not dominant. After the opening stage, Sebastien Ogier led the rally, but his time on top didn’t last long.

This morning, he was overtaken by Citroen’s Kris Meeke (who you might remember from his two appearances on Top Gear). As we go to press, eight stages have been run and Meeke leads the rally from Ogier by about 30 seconds, and he’s followed by Sordo and Mikkelsen, the next Volkswagen driver.

Despite not being on top, Volkswagen still have high hopes for this rally. Portugal is the course on which Ogier has won the most, and last year his teammate Latvala (currently in 9th) won the rally. That win started Volkswagen Motorsport on the their record-setting 12 win streak.

The Portuguese rally is the fifth stop on the WRC calendar, and the first European gravel rally. It’s also a somewhat special rally, because of its long history. Deep ruts, sandy roads, and a massive jump make finding grip difficult here, so tire selection will be important this weekend.

The festivities started last night, with a super special stage at the Lousada rallycross circuit. That’s followed by 19 regular stages, until the last one on Sunday.

The post Rally de Portugal Kicks Off with Hotly Contested Early Stages appeared first on VWVortex.

from VWVortex http://ift.tt/1WH3DKJ
via IFTTT

Comments

You can't scam VW by buying a dirty diesel now and still get full payout

Filed under: Government/Legal , Green , Volkswagen , Diesel VW's lawyers have naturally put in a clause that will prevent anyone from buying a known dirty TDI from getting the full buyout amount from the OEM. Continue reading You can't scam VW by buying a dirty diesel now and still get full payout You can't scam VW by buying a dirty diesel now and still get full payout originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 30 Jun 2016 14:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments from Autoblog Volkswagen http://ift.tt/297SxtR

2018 Lamborghini Aventador S Roadster Review

“Supercars just don’t excite me anymore.” These words, spoken to me over a month ago by another journalist, friend, and (so-called) enthusiast were echoing in my head for far too long, but they’ve finally been drowned out. Drowned out by the wail of a naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12 engine mounted in the middle of the new Lamborghini Aventador S Roadster. My friend’s point is that back in the good old days, there was a crop of supercars that captured the imagination with amazing style, sounds, performance, and more. Today, it seems like everything is capable of supercar performance, with large luxury sedans outdoing some of the best and most dedicated teams of car nuts, while former pillars of automotive excellence are suddenly pumping out family-friendly SUVs. Beyond that, another league of supercars, dubbed hypercars have cropped up with hybrid gas-electric powertrains that make magical things happen quickly, but at the cost of the acoustic drama, visual flair, and engag...

PZM 73rd Rally Poland Kicks Off

The WRC is in Poland and after only one stage there are three Volkswagens in the top five. Today’s special stage at the Mikolajki Arena is the first stage, but the rally doesn’t begin in earnest until Friday. Today’s super special stage was less than two minutes long, and less than a second separates the top five drivers. Hyundai Motorsport’s Thierry Neuville tops the charts today, followed closely by Volkswagen’s Andreas Mikkelsen. Sebastien Ogier and Jari-Matti Latvala are in fourth and fifth, respectively. Expect Ogier to climb the rankings, though. Not only did he win the rally last year, he has won every year since 2013. And with rain expected on Friday, Ogier’s chances are even better. “If it’s a bit wet then I hope I can make some good times,” said Ogier earlier today. “The best would be some good rain during the night so it’s a damp surface and then not too bad weather during the day so specators can enjoy the show without being too wet.” If it is dry, though, speed is on ...

Vorderman Volkswagen

Search This Blog