Ott Tänak leads Toyota team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Kris Meeke after the opening morning of Rally Portugal, as early leader Dani Sordo was stopped by an issue with his Hyundai.

Following Thursday evening’s ceremonial start in Coimbra, the rally began with a first loop of three stages in the Arganil area, which was last visited by the FIA WRC in 2001. Hot and dry weather in Portugal meant that the drivers had plenty of hanging dust to cope with, thrown up by the cars ahead.

Running second on the road, Tänak set an impressive performance from the start, already outpacing his championship rivals Sébastien Ogier and Thierry Neuville by more than 10 seconds on the first stage. Fastest by 4.2s was Sordo, benefitting from his position further back in the road order.

Tänak won SS2 to reduce Sordo’s advantage to just 0.5s, before disaster struck the Spaniard right at the start of the next test. Slowed by a problem in the fuel system of his Hyundai, he droppped over 18 minutes down. A similar issue cost his team-mate Sébastien Loeb more than 15 minutes in the same stage, and with no midday service in this first leg, it’s unclear whether either can fix the problem ahead of the afternoon loop.

Another fastest time from Tänak ensured the Estonian finished the morning in the lead, six seconds in front of Latvala. Meeke was hampered by a loss of intercom on SS2 but completed the Toyota 1-2-3, 7.1s behind Latvala.

M-Sport Ford drivers Teemu Suninen and Elfyn Evans both made a promising start in SS1, scoring third and fifth, before dropping back on the following stage. After Sordo’s issue, they ended the loop fourth and fifth overall.

Having struggled on SS1 with their road opening positions, Ogier and Neuville found the going easier on the next stages and are sixth and seventh respectively. Ogier is 1.4s from Evans, with Neuville just 0.5s further back after he recovered from a stall in SS2 to go second quickest in SS3.

In his first ever stage in a World Rally Car, M-Sport Ford’s Gus Greensmith outpaced Ogier, Neuville and Loeb, and ended the morning in eighth place. Esapekka Lappi was sixth before a front-left puncture in SS3 cost him around a minute and dropped him to ninth.

Finland’s Kalle Rovanperä is 10th overall and leads the FIA WRC 2 Pro, setting the class pace in all three stages on the debut for the Škoda Fabia R5 Evo. Norway’s Mads Østberg is 20.2s back in second for Citroën, while Ole Christian Veiby and Takamoto Katsuta are separated by only 0.6s in the fight for the FIA WRC 2 lead.