Rally de Portugal (17-20 May) marks the start of four European summer events on the FIA World Rally Championship calendar and is the second of four consecutive gravel rallies. Based in Porto, in the north of the country, the event is hugely popular and draws fans in their thousands to the technical and tricky gravel roads around Matosinhos.

The rally was first held in 1967 as a mixed surface event and was one of the founding events in the inaugural 1973 FIA World Rally Championship. Having lost its place on the calendar in the early 2000s, the WRC came back to Portugal in 2007 with competition held in the southern Algarve region. The event returned to the north in 2015 where it has been based ever since.

A bumper entry of 88 crews reflects the popularity of the event and while Citroën, M-Sport Ford and Toyota will all be fielding three cars, Hyundai has entered all four of its crews for the sixth round of the series. The FIA WRC 2 Championship category remains hard-fought with 17 entries and Portugal also marks the mid-point of the five-round FIA Junior WRC Championship. Fourteen crews will be vying for honours in their identically prepared Fiesta R2s.

Five stages will be broadcast live on television: SS1, SS8/9, SS13 and both runs through Fafe on Sunday. All stages are also available live on WRC All Live on the WRC+ platform.

ROUTE GRAPHICS

THE 2018 ROUTE

This year’s route remains all-but identical to last year with a different layout for Friday’s Porto Street Stage being the only major change. After the start ceremony in the World Heritage town of Guimarães, crews head straight to the Lousada rallycross circuit for the opening super special stage. Two loops of three stages to the north lay in wait on Friday, the day rounded off with two runs through the redesigned street stage. Saturday is the longest day competitively with another two loops of three stages, including the longest of the event: Amarante at 37.60 kilometres. Sunday covers five stages, most notably two runs over the famous Fafe stage with its iconic jump, the second passage counting as the Power Stage.

RALLY DATA

MEDIA ACCREDITATION

The Accreditation Centre is located in the Exponor Feira Internacional do Porto, Av. Dr. António Macedo, 574 – 4454-515 Matosinhos. The opening hours are:

RALLY DE PORTUGAL TIMETABLE AND MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES ORGANISED BY THE FIA

FIA PRESS CONFERENCE ATTENDANCE

MANUFACTURER ENTRIES, RALLY DE PORTUGAL

ADDITIONAL MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES 

Autograph Signing Session: On Friday and Saturday selected crews will be available for a 15 minute autograph session. This will take place in the service park during the end of day service at the teams’ service areas. 

FIA Volunteers Weekend: The 2018 FIA Volunteers Weekend will take place on 19-20 May, celebrating those who dedicate their time to make motor sport possible around the world. Capitalising on a busy weekend of FIA competitions, the FIA and Rally de Portugal will be supporting, raising awareness and thanking the volunteers who carry out the wide variety of essential roles without which motor sport would simply not happen. The entire motor sport community - from volunteers and officials to fans, drivers and members of the media - are encouraged to join in and show their appreciation on social media using the hashtag #FIAVolunteersWeekend. More information can be found on the following link: 

https://www.fia.com/2018-fia-volunteers-weekend-resource-page

FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP CLASSIFICATIONS

The provisional classifications for all the WRC Championships can be found on the following link:

www.fia.com/events/world-rally-championship/season-2018/standings

STAGE CHART

Shortly after the finish of the event, a downloadable stage chart showing the progressive positions of the leading crews during the rally will be available. This is copyright free for editorial purposes and available at the following link:

www.fia.com/events/world-rally-championship/season-2018/stage-chart-4