Thierry Neuville set the quickest time around the 2.94km opening stage of Rally de Portugal 0.6 seconds quicker than Sebastian Ogier.
The championship leader knows he’s in for a tough day sweeping the roads in his Hyundai.
Earlier in the day, Dani Sordo, competing for the first time since the Forum8 Rally Japan last year, was quickest in the shakedown stage.
Tyres will play an important role over the two days: on Friday, two loops of 63.45km are scheduled; a tyre fitting zone will be welcomed by the crews after the first four stages but there’s no service across the 126.9km of gravel stages.
Let battle commence…
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