Rally de Portugal is out in the road and arrives in Porto this Saturday

The Rally de Portugal Super Special Stage in Foz do Douro does not allow general public in attendance. There will be a live broadcast by RTP and SportTV, starting at 7 pm.

The 54th edition of the rally de Portugal officially kicked off on 20 May, with the shakedown in Paredes and the symbolic starting pistol in Coimbra. However, it is as of today, 21 May that the best pilots in the world start warming up their engines in the north and centre of the country.

Following last year’s cancellation due to Covid-19 concerns, the organisation of the event kept the 2020 outlined circuit almost unchanged for this year’s event. So, pilots have to race a total of 346, 26 timed kilometres, set out in three stages, 21 specials and 15 districts.

From today, the rally de Portugal will race through the centre region of the country, namely Lousã, Góis and Arganil, and before it returns to the Super Special of Lousada, it stops by Mortágua, a first in 20 years.

On Saturday, the major stage of the rally starts in Vieira do Minho, follows to Serra da Cabreira and Amarante, and calls it a day with the only City Super Special of this edition, in the Foz do Douro, surrounding the Forte de São João Baptista, with circa 1.1 km, with pilots driving three laps around that circuit.

This event will not be open to fans, due to coronavirus concerns; however, the Porto Super Special Stage will be televised live by RTP2 and SpotTV2 and streamed to over 160 countries, starting at 7 pm.

As in previous editions, the Porto Special Stage will include a Sports Cars race, on 22nd May, as a warm-up for the main event, which will gather all the main drivers of the WRC, alongside the best national drivers, including the famous Renault 4L driven by António Pinto dos Santos.

The Vodafone Rally de Portugal ends on Sunday with another five specials, in Felgueiras, Montim and Fafe, returning then to Matosinhos for the podium ceremony.

As regards a new win record, this Portuguese stage that scores to the WRC- World Rally Championship, may be the stage of a new historic record by Sébastien Ogier. The Toyota pilot and current World Champion and leader of the pilot’s qualifying, shares the same number of wins with Markku Alen – five wins in the race organised by the ACP (Automóvel Club de Portugal).

Attention is also focused on the Hyundai team, which features Thierry Neuville (current second best in the WCR), Ott Tanak and Dani Sordo, as all of them have already won in Portugal.

In addition to the best international pilots, also the best national drivers will participate in the race, namely Armindo Araújo, defending champion, Ricardo Teodósio, current leader of CPR, Bruno Magalhães, José Pedro Fontes or Bernardo Sousa.

Also highlight for André Villas-Boas, former coach of FC Porto, Chelsea, and Marseille, who will be driving a Citroen C3.

Constraints regarding the day of the race

The day of the race, on 22 May, all traffic is to be halted, between the Jardim do Calém and the Castelo do Queijo, in the areas comprising the Avenue Dom Carlos I, the Street of the Passeio Alegre, the Esplanada do Castelo, the Street Coronel Raúl Peres, the Street of Senhora da Luz; the Avenue Montevideu and the Avenue Brasil, and the stretch to the Street of Agra. Several areas in the Foz Velha area will also be halted to traffic.

In addition, on 22 May, between 6.30 pm and 10.30 pm, the time of the race, any traffic circulation inside the conditioned are is strongly discouraged.

Porto City Hall provides a support line to clarify the population’s doubts, via the Linha Porto. 220 100 220, under the option 5. This line is operational on working days and on 22 May, between 9 am and 7 pm.

Moreover, there is a complement line, by the Municipal Police, via the phone number 939 012 402. This line is active from Monday to Friday, between 7.30 am and 8.30 pm, and on weekends between 9 am and 6 pm.

Programme – Super Special Stage

Saturday, 22 May

4.30 pm | 5.45 pm – Sports Classics - Qualifiers

6 pm – Sports Classics - Finals

6.30 pm - Sports Classics – Podium ceremony

7.30 pm - WRC

10 pm - Final (projection)

The Super Especial at Foz do Douro will be televised live by RTP and streamed to over 160 countries.