Sebastien Loeb has won Vodafone Rally de Portugal’s Power Stage to clinch three world championship bonus points in his Citroen DS3 WRC.
But Loeb wasn’t the only winner at the end of the 31.04-kilometre test, which was shown live on television, as team-mate Sebastien Ogier made it through unscathed to claim his second consecutive victory on the event.
“I’m very happy about that,” said Loeb after winning his first Power Stage of the season. “I tried hard and had a good feeling with the car. There were no moments on the stage.”
Jari-Matti Latvala was second fastest through the stage to claim two bonus points with Ogier third fastest to land the final bonus score.
Petter Solberg said a mistake in a corner had cost him victory on the stage although his pace was enough to snatch sixth position in the overall standings from Kimi Raikkonen.
Mikko Hirvonen’s efforts to win the Power Stage suffered a setback when a suspected rear damper failure slowed his Fiesta through the closing kilometres of the run.
Standings after SS17:
| Pos. | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | S. OGIER / J. INGRASSIA | Citroën DS3 WRC | 4h10m53.4s |
| 02 | S. LOEB / D. ELENA | Citroën DS3 WRC | +31.8s |
| 03 | J. LATVALA / M. ANTTILA | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +3m22.1s |
| 04 | M. HIRVONEN / J. LEHTINEN | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +6m13.3s |
| 05 | M. WILSON / S. MARTIN | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +7m48.5s |
| 06 | P. SOLBERG / C. PATTERSON | Citroën DS3 WRC | +10m17.4s |
| 07 | K. RAIKKONEN /K. LINDSTROM | Citroën DS3 WRC | +10m54.1s |
| 08 | F. VILLAGRA / J. PÉREZ COMPANC | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +11m38.8s |
| 09 | H. SOLBERG / I. MINOR | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +14m16.4s |
| 10 | D. KUIPERS / F. MICLOTTE | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +17m54.6s |
| 11 | H. PADDON / J. KENNARD | Subaru Impreza STI | +22m40.0s |
| 12 | B. MAGALHAES / P. GRAVE | Peugeot 207 S2000 | +24m02.2s |
| 13 | K. KRUUDA / M. JARVEOJA | Skoda Fabia S2000 | +26m23.5s |
| 14 | K. AL QASSIMI / M. ORR | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +27m10.1s |
| 15 | J. KETOMAKI / K. RISBERG | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X | +30m19.9s |