Neuville and Hyundai's redemption! Rally Portugal 2026 review

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What is it with late twists in the World Rally Championship in 2026?

Yet again, we had some Sunday drama at Rally Portugal last week,

a Sebastian Oje leading by just under 20 seconds stopped to change a wheel,

allowing Terry Neville to create the perfect redemption victory after what happened just

four weeks earlier in Croatia. Here to talk all about last week's event is me, Luke Barry,

and more importantly, Colin Clark. How are you, fella?

Yes, good morning, Luke. It's been a little while since you and I have done one of these.

Yeah, I'm pretty good. Thank you. Can I tell you where I am?

Of course. Still in bed.

Should we put any context out to listen to what time of day it is or not?

Should we just let them... It was quite early. It was the early morning,

and I thought, well, why not? I've got my computer. microphone. I'm all set to go,

so I've had my cup of tea. I'm just staying in bed to talk to you, Luke.

I don't know what to make of that, but I'll take it. I'm happy you with me.

That comes in. I think it works. But we do have, on the recording software we have,

we do have the option to turn cameras on. Colt tunes in before we start recording.

He's like, I'm not turning camera on. I'm like, why? He's like, I'm still in bed.

Probably sparing me that. Sparing a lot of people. Really quite a shock at this time

in the morning. But oh, you're right. Portugal, it was... How many events is that now that we've had

these last day dramas? It's three or four, isn't it?

Yeah. Monty and Sweden were okay. In fairness, Kenya wasn't the last day. It was the second

last day, but it was a bit crazy. But Croatia, Canaries, and it's three in a row.

I don't know what it is. There's something in the air. Someone's cooking some special sauce

somewhere, but yeah, it was quite... Well, I say dramatic. I don't think it was dramatic,

actually. It was surprising to see it happen. But yeah, I don't think it was necessarily drama.

But let's start then, I guess, with Thierry, you will. Obviously, the winner.

We've had a few days to think about it now since the event, but I imagine, Col, all those faces

at Hyundai Motorsport just now will still be beaming with joy with this victory. It's

obviously nobody wanted Croatia to happen, but in a weird way, it just kind of makes this

eventual victory even more special. Well, even more special, absolutely, because

you know, with obviously what happened with what happened in Croatia,

you know, I said at the start of the year, it is going to be very, very difficult for Hyundai to

win a rally this year. And then we get to Croatia and it looks odds on as if they are going to win

a rally. And then my goodness me, I mean, it was just baffling what happened in Croatia. Absolutely

baffling. And it was like, okay, that was an absolute guilt edge chance of winning a rally.

And they threw it all away. Are they going to get another opportunity? Now, the only reason

this opportunity came about is that Neville has upped his game again. You know, if this was,

say this time last year, Neville was so far off the pace that he possibly wouldn't have been in

position to take advantage of OJ's misfortune. And that's what it was. It was OJ's misfortune.

But there was something about Neville in Portugal this weekend that very much reminded me of 2024.

He had a bit of tenacity about him. He had a bit of fight about him. And he stuck at it. And he

wasn't the quickest driver over the course of the weekend. But he was the most consistent driver

over the course of the weekend. And that is what delivered the win for him. Now last year,

there was very little consistency in terms of his pace. In fact, there may have been, but it was

consistently by his standards, slow last year. So no, I think he really deserved it. And I think

it's great news. And I said on Sunday evening, the best news about this is the message that goes back

to Korea. And the message that goes back to Korea is that Hyundai are still very much a force

in the World Rally Championship. They can still very much deliver wins. And if they can sort of

few issues out for 2027 and cheese, we still don't know what 2027 is going to look like.

But if they can sort a few issues out, you know, championships are not a long way from where they

are at just now. They really aren't. The car is decent. The team is good. You know, had a good

long chat with Wheatley before the start of the event. And he said he's never seen a team

sold together. And I thought, I did say to him, come on, you know, everything we hear is that

the team is driven by division or it was driven by division. And he went, no, he said, I've never

seen a team sold together in your pooling for success. So, you know, there are very encouraging

signs there. But, but, you know, it needs to, to continue to progress. We

can't just say, okay, we've had a high and I can't say we've had a one win this year. That's

enough. Yeah, they have to continue to progress. They have to continue to show value. They have to

continue to show competitiveness in the championship. And then fingers crossed the big bosses at

high and I will commit to, to something more than just a rehashed, you know, rally two car for next

year. It is a fairly bizarre situation though, isn't it that we have a car that's essentially

not, well, not particularly good on tarmac, kind of not really there on snow, which is

admittedly one event of the year, but it seems to work on gravel. Now, of all the services to pick,

it's wonderful because there are the most rallies, but it is quite strange. We heard it from team

personnel heading into Portugal. There was this big conference that things would be better. And

they were right, but it is still quite bizarre. The car works there, but nowhere else. But I guess

they've got Japan next on tarmac, but then the season is only gravel after that. Yeah, you know,

again, this chat I had with Andrew Wheatley on, I think it was on the Wednesday. I forget it was

such a strange itinerary, wasn't it? I'm sure we'll come on to talk about that. But he said,

look, the problems that we're facing with the car in terms of its lack of consistency across

different types of grip. He said they go back to 22. He said mistakes were made, and those mistakes

cannot be rectified. So we have to work around those mistakes that were made with the design of

the car back then. And it's clearly frustrating because they clearly have a competitive car.

They have a fast car. Formos shows that. We put a graphic out this week that said Formos led

on the first day. And how many gravel rallies now? I can't remember what it was.

It's five of the last, I think in that streak, the only one he's missed is, so since,

which was first last year, since Paraguay, he's led every single one of them apart from Kenya

in that streak of gravel rallies. So it's quite a few, but most of the time on Friday.

Well, Friday and Friday, there's always reasons for that on the Friday, but you know,

it does show the car as quick. It does show the car as potential as we saw at the weekend

in Portugal. But it is that consistency that they're going to struggle with. And yeah,

you're right. They have some really, really good rallies coming up. New Sardinia will be a good

rally for them. Greece is always a good rally. The interesting thing will be again, when we get to

the fast gravel of Estonia and Finland, just to see how competitive they can be there. But,

you know, it gives them hope. It really does give them hope for the rest of the year. You know,

hope for titles. No, I don't think so. I really, really don't think so. You know, they're too far

behind in the drivers, I think, well, for most too far behind. And, and in the manufacturers,

they're a long way behind. And, you know, Toyota are so strong with their lineup this year that,

that I think titles are beyond them. But it has to be now, which actually takes a fair bit of

pressure off them. It has to be about identifying rallies where wins are seriously possible, and

then putting all their efforts and all the resources into making sure they're fully prepared

for those opportunities they've got. So just to put some maths on that, and I'll be honest,

I was checking the standings while you were talking. Carl, I don't actually have those in my

brain ingrained. What a shocking stat that is. But Adrien Fomil is Haingdai's lead driver in the

challenge. But if my maths is correct, he's 44 points behind Elvin, with Thierry, 14 points

behind Adrien. So what, that's 50, 60 almost points off the lead. Yeah, 58. Thank you.

In the manufacturers. Yeah, mine's awful. Mine used to be good, actually, but I just

haven't had to use it for years, which is quite bad. Haingdai are 218 to Toyota 311

in the manufacturer. So it's just under 100 points. And they're 93 points, if I'm correct with that,

deficit. So you wouldn't say it's utterly impossible, but given how strong Toyota is,

I think it's going to be a bit of a struggle. So I agree. I think thinking about the challenge,

maybe as a team, they have to tell themselves that's a target because it keeps them motivated. But

even the most optimistic Haingdai people probably know that it's going to be difficult.

But who knows, genuinely, who knows? It's the thing with rallying, you can never quite predict it.

We may see some really strange events over the next few rallies, but yeah. I wasn't going to talk

about this early on, but I think we've kind of come into a situation where it feels like the right

moment is Mr. Formo. Because let's not forget, and again, as you said, it's a one week. So it

first and the second day won the first stage. And then this sort of strange mistake that sent

him off and punctured two of his tires, both in the right hand side of the car over Solberg,

it must be said, made the same error. Didn't deal in that Friday afternoon. Formo paid a bigger

price for that than Solberg did. But is it fair to say there's potentially a theme developing with

Adrian? He's quick. He gets himself in these situations, but we just haven't yet seen that

fully complete performance that he was ahead of Thierry, wasn't he? And you can't sit here and

say, oh, if one thing didn't happen, then that's the result because you could do that for anybody.

But is there an argument to say that it probably could or maybe should have been him that picked

up that victory? Yeah, I think there is. again, Formo this week will

be looking back saying, geez, that was a real opportunity, particularly with the issues that

OJ did encounter on the final day. Yeah, here's the thing. Here's the thing with

the issue he had in that stage was unfortunate. It was obviously quite a difficult corner. OJ

had picked it. He knew it was going to be a difficult corner. And he'd actually, you know,

very strangely, he'd talked to young Solberg about it. And for whatever reason, Solberg

perhaps didn't put quite enough focus on that corner and the information that OJ gave him.

But here's the thing that if you're talking about patterns, the pattern for me is that

Adrian gets himself into a very strong position. And then invariably, something happens. You know,

what we've seen from the likes of young Solberg is they have those setbacks,

and then they fight back. They find pace. They find the same kind of pace they had before

whatever the issue might have been. With Formo, he's really struggled to maintain that early

pace after a setback. And that for me is the pattern. You know, you look at his pace Thursday,

afternoon, Friday morning, and it was fantastic. He was right up there winning stages. He has a

setback. And then where was he in terms of stage times? Well, they weren't as punchy as they were

when he was leading the rally. And that's the issue for me. That's the issue. You know, Formo

has to find consistently stage winning pace, even when he's had a setback. Now, is that a

motivational thing? Is it a focused thing, a concentration thing? Is it a psychological thing?

I don't know. But there's a reasonable pattern that's emerged there that says that Formo isn't

able to claw his way back after a small setback or hasn't been able to, not isn't able to, because

he's perfectly capable of doing it in the future. But he hasn't been able to find that kind of early

pace once things have started to go wrong for him. So, you know, he sorted out, Formo's a

massively impressive driver. He sorted out lots of issues over the past couple of years. He sorted

out his attitude, and it's fair to say that his attitude was questioned early on in his career,

particularly when things went wrong. He sorted all that out. He is the most positive driver to be

around these days. He's fantastically good for the championship. But, you know, he's not the

complete driver yet, and he will know that. He there are areas

that he has to focus on, concentrate on, and up his game with. So, you know,

I don't think there's anything that's particularly worrying. Formo is a winner in waiting. That is

without any question. But, you know, he needs to take every opportunity to improve his performance

every single small place that he can. Yeah, I just think it's quite an interesting,

I guess, glimpse as to where he versus Thierry are at this point in their careers. And over the

course of this year, I think most people would agree that Formo has been the stronger of the two

drivers. When it came to that opportunity to win, it was Thierry that was there to take it.

So, it's interesting, isn't it? It's interesting. But, as you say, Formo will get there. He is,

we can't forget, Saudi, but for a time penalty, he probably could have maybe won that event.

Absolutely. He's ready to win. He just needs that. I mean, it's not a attacker, didn't we? You get

one win, and suddenly the fudge is open, and it becomes far easier to get your second. But,

yeah, it's still a deeply encouraging performance from Adran, I think, for the place.

I think from Hyundai's perspective as well, it's really encouraging, because, you know,

they needed two drivers who could work together to bring them wins. And I think when they had

Tanak and Thierry, that was a strange situation. You had two world champions, you had two

ultra-competitive drivers, two drivers who were at very similar points in their careers.

And sometimes that doesn't work, and I'm not sure that did work for Hyundai. I think the

combination they have this year is working for them, and it's working really well for them.

For Thierry, for Adran, and for whoever that third driver might be as they parachute in

on each event. So, you know, for me it's a lot more positive than, say, after Sweden. After Sweden,

I could see a complete whitewash. It was Toyota all the way this year. That's now not the case,

and realistically not the case. They could expect another, I think, a couple of wins this year.

Yeah, I think so too. I never liked making too many bull predictions.

Yeah, I think, as we said at the top of this, it's encouraging to see that

all that talk that Hyundai had about the upturned performance was true. And there were some people

admittedly wearing Toyota shirts that were kind of saying, well, why are we all surprised? We all

knew the car was good on gravel, but when Hyundai had been this bad, and it's fair to say they were

bad at the start of the year, you sort of just lose hope a little bit, lose faith that they can do it.

So it was nice to see that, yeah, we do have a competitive championship,

certainly on the rallies going forward. But let's touch on Toyota now, and I guess the obvious one

here is Sebastian Oji. For me, genuinely, and we say this a lot, but just stunning rally management

yet again, Saturday afternoon is what stood out to me was when he lifted the pace when he knew he

had to. And that is what's quite depressing in a way for some others is that's what you can really

do when he needs to. All the time you see Oji winning rallies and he's not at his limit and he's

still managing to leave. And that's why he's a nine time world champion. But yeah, I don't

like saying I feel sorry for drivers because it's elite sport and things happen. But he did

everything right, didn't he? I guess he would have deserved to win this one.

Oh, 100%. 100% did everything right.

You know, is he driving at the limit? I suspect he is driving at his limit right now. But what

he's doing is he's showing that he's still the very best driver out there, the very best driver.

And when we say the best driver, it doesn't necessarily mean the fastest driver.

You know, there are some youngsters, Oliver Solberg, for example, who are stunningly quick

on a given stage. But what Oji does is he manages, as you said, Luke, he manages the rallies

better than anyone. And he manages the situations that he comes across. You know, remember Thursday,

he wasn't particularly happy, was he? Wasn't particularly happy with the setup of the car,

wasn't particularly happy with how he was performing. But he knows how to manage those

situations to allow himself the opportunity then to hit back, as you say Saturday afternoon,

was utterly stunning. He keeps himself very much there. His safe pace is good enough to put pressure

on the others. And he was utterly brilliant once again. And you know, that puncture, well,

it happens, particularly when you have soft stages that are rutting. And if you're in those ruts,

and there's something in the rut, you have absolutely no choice, you have no choice,

you have to stick to the line, and just pray that the tire doesn't puncture. You know, if you're on

a hard, fast corner, and there are rocks in the way, you can occasionally do something to try and

mitigate, to try and maybe take the rock on the sump or whatever. But when you're in the ruts,

and the rocks are in the ruts, that there is no choice, option. You hit those rocks,

and you pray that you haven't punctured. And sadly, Osier did pick up a puncture then. He is the best

driver out there. If Osier had elected to do the full season, he would have been world champion.

I have absolutely no doubt about that whatsoever. He is a level above in terms of consistency,

where Oliver Solberg is right now. I don't think he's quicker than Oliver Solberg. I think Solberg,

at his best right now, has got the ability to put in stunning stage times, maybe even quicker than

Osier. But what he is, he's far, far more clever, far more experienced than Solberg, and he is,

I think, still quicker than Evans. So yeah, you know, had he elected to do the full season,

he'd have been world champion, but that's not where he's at. And we just enjoy him every time

we see him. A lot of people say it's ridiculous, it's not fair and all the rest. Don't be silly.

You know, this man is the best driver out there, possibly, in my view, certainly the best driver

we have ever seen. We don't want him anywhere other than the World Rally Championship. And while

he wants to drive, we should welcome him back with open arms. And I tell you what, if he does

ever decide, well, I'm going to take a season or two off, he will still walk back into a top team.

Really, I think at any point in the next five or six or seven years, and be competitive. So

now make the most of him and enjoy his brilliance because we saw plenty of it at the weekend.

You're right. We will miss him whenever he goes. And I guess we only have to look at the impact

that Robin Perrin and Tanak have had when they leave. I've got to appreciate these drivers when

we have them, don't you? Yeah, absolutely. By the way, I think we'll have both of those drivers back

before. Robin Perrin, maybe a few more years, but I think Tanak will be back for the next 18 months

or so. I think there's no question. I think there's absolutely no question that Tanak

will be a man in demand. And someone will pay a megabucks and he will be motivated by

a car that he, Tanak is a man that just wants to win championships. Never mind win rallies.

OJ right now just wants to win rallies. It's all he wants to do turn up win rallies. Tanak wants

more than that. Tanak wants almost to prove a point, almost to prove a point that one championship

was not all he had in him. And he wants to come back with a car that can win championships. So

let's see what kind of offers he may get for 27. I think there'll be a few.

Yeah. No, I would love to be all spicy and disagree with you, but pretty much everything

you've said in the last few minutes, I agree with it. Just very quickly on Tanak. I'm going to get

two bogged down on it because obviously he wasn't in Portugal as much. He was advising again,

Tanak and Otokatsu. He wasn't there. But I always think he's a little bit like

the Fernando Lanz of WRC in a sense. He was brilliant. He got this championship relatively

early on in his career. Then there's a couple of moves didn't really quite work and everybody

knew was better than the stats made him look. But it's like this big quest there to get that

other one along the line. So yeah, we'll be curious to see if that does happen.

I'll tell you, you're right. He won in 2019. In 2020, he made the biggest mistake of his life.

And I think what he wants to prove is that it wasn't a mistake. It was because you were in 2026

now. Tanak would have been had he stayed with Toyota a three or four or five times World Rally

champion by now. There is no question in my mind about that, but he didn't. He elected to go

for whatever reasons. And that's a story that will be told one day. And I'm absolutely certain

will be a fascinating story. Why did he go to Hyundai? Was it purely for the money? Well,

that doesn't actually fit in with what we know about Tanak. What we know about Tanak is he's

motivated by winning and being champion. But he was offered the Kings Ransom were told to go to

Hyundai. But it was a bizarre decision at the time. And it proved to be a bad decision for

Tanak. So I think there's a little bit of he'll prove them wrong motivation there in his desire,

I believe. And I say, I haven't spoken to him. I'm just I'm just offering this conjecture on what

I know about the man and what I've read recently about him and what he's doing recently. You know,

he is a man that is absolutely driven. He's one of the most driven people. He's one of the most

focus driven people you'll ever meet. And yeah, he's still got business to do as for sure.

Just for anyone who isn't aware as well, if you have been living under a rally rock for the last

few weeks, and Tanak, of course, is performing a testing role with Toyota for next year's car as

well. So he's got himself involved already in a small way, no guarantee that's going to lead to

a seat with Toyota next year. But stranger things have happened. That's what they have like, like,

Tanak leaving Toyota, stranger things have happened. But it's a delay, man. I don't know,

we've written about this and Tom Fowler has spoken about it. Your Toyota, I'm sure,

if Tanak makes himself available next year, Toyota would very much like to see him involved

somehow. But how do they fit him in? How do they fit him in? You know, you've got Oliver Solberg,

who when he finds that consistency will be very much the man to be. You've got Elvin Evans,

who is an absolute winner. We know that. You've got Sammy Pirie, looking like a winner. You've

got Kat Suta, who's a proven winner. And then you've got Oshie, just flirting around in the wings.

I mean, will you fit another world champion into that team? I don't know.

Yeah, I suspect it probably is going to hinge on whether Oshie wants to continue

into this new cycle, doesn't it? I think that will be possibly the question. If he does that,

then as you say, there is potentially space. But otherwise, where do you go?

But look, even if you did say Oshie would hang up his helmet for good at the end of this year,

really? Does that create an opportunity? I mean, I think they're accommodating Oshie just now,

because who wouldn't? Who wouldn't accommodate a nine times world champion?

Do they need Oshie right now? Probably not. Probably not. But they're accommodating him.

So if he were to go, does that create another opportunity? I don't think it does.

I don't think it does. I think they've got they've got plenty of options there,

with Taka-san, with Piary. I think they have an issue. I think they have a dilemma. But

they clearly know what they're doing. They would not have taken them on as a test driver,

unless they saw potential for further involvement. I mean, you wouldn't, would you? Would you just

take them all as test drivers? I'm not sure you would. I'm sure there has to be some

some bigger plan in place somewhere or some potential bigger plan in place somewhere.

Either way, they can't lose with this, can they? Because you get Tanak's experience

he's developing a car. And I think the big thing is you haven't got he hasn't got any other experience

of the Toyota rally one car. Yes, he's driven rally one cars for high-end I and M sport in

recent years, which helps in terms of what he knows. But of course, these new cars aren't

particularly like the current rally ones either. So Tanak is fully in that mindset. The rally drivers

I was about to call them the race drivers that have been a Cardinals in the rally drivers are

jump if you're jumping between the two cars, it can potentially sort of shift their perspective.

Once you've got a whole season to think about, so Tanak is just available.

So yeah, it's a master stroke, isn't it? But let's talk about some other Toyota drivers from

Portugal. Solberg is kind of where I wanted to go next, because I think he described it as a bit

of a you maybe didn't use the phrase yo-yo. It's how I translated it. But he was kind of up and

down the leaderboard like a yo-yo throughout the event leading down to fourth

again eventually finishes second. Weirdly, the first podium of his career that isn't a victory.

So that's a fun stat for you stat people out there, me included. So I created that graphic if

you saw it. I love that kind of stuff. But what what do we make Collins? I guess it was it was a

what was it encouraging? I guess that's the question. What is the assessment on Solberg's

Portugal? It was a solid result and it's what he needed. You know, he needed a solid result after

two enormously disappointing results. It was interesting. I saw that. I saw Panilla, his

mum posting something on Instagram saying Oliver's third podium of his WRC career and I thought that

can't be right. I thought, yeah, of course, it's right. Of He has only been

around for a handful of top level events. Look, Solberg is a massive talent. We know that we saw

that in Croatia last year and sorry in Estonia last year, particularly in Monte Carlo this year.

He does have a little way to go and for his opponents, it's a little bit worrying because

there are some quite clear issues that he needs to iron out. You know, consistency is one of them.

He makes too many mistakes. There are mistakes every rally and sometimes he gets away with it

as he did in Monte Carlo. Sometimes he doesn't. You know, he kind of got away with it here. The

big plus in Solberg's favour is that when he does make mistakes, when he does drop down the

leaderboard, he is able to refocus almost immediately and he's back on the pace almost

immediately. Contrast that to formal. It's very different, very, very different. So that already

works in Solberg's favour. When Solberg finds, I don't know what it is. I don't know whether it's

a focus thing. I don't know whether it's a, I don't know what it is. I don't know whether it's

anything. It may be nothing. It may have just been a series of bad luck for young Oliver Solberg.

But you know, you go back to Monte Carlo every single rally. There are some very, very big mistakes

that he's gotten away with. Once he manages to find an approach that eliminates those mistakes,

he will be unbeatable. He will be unbeatable and that for the opposition must be a little bit

scary because what we know about Solberg is he does learn. He does learn rather rapidly and

he can guarantee that the whole of the Solberg family will be fully aware of this and will be

looking at it and they'll be looking at reasons why and they'll be looking at solutions. And when

they find the solution, bye bye everyone else. Oliver Solberg will be off into the distance.

He will be off into the distance and we'll see Monte Carlo like performances minus the mistakes

on every event. That's scary. That is scary. Yeah, it's a frightening thought, isn't it?

But I guess it does and we don't like to big it up too much, but it does kind of add weight to

the theory that this kind of has to be Elvin Evans' year. This fielding everything's kind of,

though, there was that couple of events, Blippin, Kenya and Croatia with two non-scores. Again,

the reverse of the win for Taka, hadn't had a retirement a year and a half. Then the second one

comes along straight after, but he's arrested that back on the podium again in Portugal. From

first on the road, which don't forget last year, Portugal was one of his worst performances of

the year from first. This time, I think it was sixth last year, maybe two and a half minutes,

setting off the lead this time, only 30 odd seconds, third overall. So a big improvement in

that regard, which is the encouraging thing. And he only lost two points to Solberg as well.

So this happened when we grew over Taka, who's still second, but even his rivals chasing him

didn't take all out of him. So this to me feels like with everything you're saying there about

Solberg trying to work out his rough edges, Evans is at his peak. Is he? This is peak Elvin Evans.

This is his chance to win the World Championship.

Well, he's worked it out. He has worked it out. He's worked out that, you know, he has to be,

as Ogie always is, or always was first on the road. That is the critical day.

Critical days is Friday or Thursday or whenever first on the road might be.

You know, and then I suppose you could argue that then Sunday is the critical day because Evans

didn't lose the championship because of the final rally last year. Evans lost the championship because

of some really poor performances from first on the road. And then it may have been Portugal,

it may have been Sardinia, where he was battling with Sammy Pirey and he couldn't get past Pirey,

you know, later on in the rally. Those were the moments that lost Evans the championship last

year, not his performance in the last couple of rallies. And he knows that. And he's put that

right. I mean, Thursday, Friday, 10 stages, 10 stages where he was first on the road. It's a

it's a huge amount. You're quite often you can run first on the roads for six stages, sometimes

less. But it was 10 stages where he was first on the road. And that was a heck of a, it was a heck

of a shift from him. And he was, he was really, really good. He was consistent. He was as quick

as he possibly could be. And he gave himself the opportunity. And then he took that opportunity

throughout the course of the weekend, as you say, to claim that podium. He was potentially Evans at

his best. You know, we've seen some, I wouldn't say it was because you look back to that wonderful

victory in Finland, when we had that, that autumn event, you look back, oh, 2021, I think it was

when he won in Sweden, when we had a hard day in Snow and Ice. Those were magnificent events from

Melbourne Evans. This one was really, really positive, really encouraging. And it's absolutely

what he has to do if he's going to be world champion this year. And yeah, you know, a good result

in Japan. And Evans, Evans starts to, you know, at the halfway point in the season,

he starts to put a bit of pressure on, let's face, let's be honest about this, it is just

Solberg, who is his competition this year, might have been different if Oji had won in Portugal,

but Oji didn't win. So it is just, I think, Solberg, who is Evans' competition this year.

Yeah, a victory or a very good result ahead of, ahead of young Solberg in Japan. And Evans

starts to look good this year. Yeah, I think you're right. We've said it a few times. Is it his

real opportunity, maybe even his last opportunity to be world champion? I don't know about that,

because we don't really know what to expect in 2017. We just don't know what to expect looking

in 2017. This is madness. It is madness that we're 67 months away, and we haven't got any

sporting regs. Your technical regs are apparently concluded, or are they? Some people say they're

not. It's madness. It's utter madness. We don't know what to expect yet next year. But Evans knows,

Evans knows he's got a real chance this year. He is, he is the, in terms of our, you know, in terms

of our full-time drivers. Yeah, he's right there. He's right there. And it was massively encouraging

for Melbourne, particularly Thursday and Friday. Best case scenario for him, actually, just looking

at the chapter table games. I've still got that tab open on my computer. And with Solberg now up to

third in the chapter, for Japan, real business is going to make barely any difference. But best

case scenario for Elvin, and he won't wish for this, of course, because it's his teammate,

and it's his teammate, Taka Katsuta, at home. But he could do with Taka having a

poor score in Japan, winning the event himself, and having Solberg climb to second in the

chapter. Because that could be what potentially holds him a little bit back, is we get to the

gravel rallies, and there is a little bit of disparity between them and the road order. Yes,

second is still better than first, but third is better than second. So, yeah, Elvin's dream

scenario is to have a big points gap and have his closest rival, i.e. Solberg, second on the road

behind him. But yeah, as you see, it's going to be an interesting one. Yeah, thank you.

But yeah, there's been a lot of things that are going to work against that. I have a feeling that

Taka will do it this year in Japan. I think he's been phenomenally quick when he's had clean runs

in previous years. He understands these roads. No one else does it this time of year. I was talking

to him about what we can expect in terms of weather, and he said that it could be really warm,

but he said it could also be unbelievably wet. You know, the wet season, I can't remember what he

said, the wet season's coming or it's just going. I can't remember. But he said there is a potential

that the event may just creep into the wet season. And he said, if that happens, it'll be

unbelievably testing. We've seen that before, haven't we, in the autumn time when it's rained.

Remember that a couple of years ago, two or three years ago, where everyone chucked their car off.

It's unbelievably difficult. But what we know is Taka, I think, has got a better understanding

of those conditions than just about anyone. So no, I'm keeping my fingers crossed. So that might

just scupper your little scenario there, Luke. But who knows? Who knows? It could be for most,

for most, really quick last year in Japan. So it could be for most events in this one where

he breaks his duck. I don't know. Whatever happens, I'm looking forward to it. I can't wait for it.

Yeah, me too. Me too. But just let's briefly talk about Taka's Portugal as well, given we've

mentioned him there. Not the best, was it sadly? I think there was a time where we kind of had to

consider him as a championship contender because he was leading the World Championship with two

victories. But I think this kind of performance proves it. And in fairness, he's effectively said

it himself. He's not really targeting the championship this year. But this kind of performance

is not what you'd expect for somebody in the fight for the championship, is it? But I don't

want to hold that against him because I don't think that's really how we should be judging Taka. But

he was a bit lost on the first couple of days and maybe refound a little bit towards the end.

Well, he got a bit of a nosebleed on Thursday and Friday. He's not used to being that high up,

is he? I mean, he's not. And we know that, yeah, he's had experience of running first on the road

because he's made mistakes on Thursday and Friday or Friday, generally. The first day, shall we say,

in the past. And then he's had to run first on the road. But running first on the road to start

the rally, something, and he wasn't quite first on the road, he was right there in second, wasn't

he? Yeah. You know, running that high up is something he is not used to. And whereas Elvin has

sussed it out, has worked out how to make the most of that position, Taka Sam was lost. He was

completely lost for 10 stages. And he just didn't look or sound like a championship contender. But

we've been caught out in the past before. Taka Sam had consistency throughout the weekend. And

that's what he has managed on the face of it to change in his approach over the past six or eight

months, shall we say, you know, he has managed to find some consistency. So if he keeps taking

results and points, if he wins in Japan, anything could happen, particularly with Solberg and Evans

having some strange situations where, you know, where they're binning it and they're not scoring

any points, anything could happen. Yeah, he doesn't look like a world championship contender. He

really doesn't. Someone that's won two out of the first six rallies, doesn't look like a championship

contender. What a strange thing to say. But he doesn't. But he doesn't, he just doesn't sound

like you listen to him at the stage ends. And he sounded completely lost, completely lost.

I almost said disinterested. I don't think he sounded disinterested, but he sounded very

disheartened at the stage ends. And that's odd. But, but he keeps banging in results,

whether they be fifth or sixth or seventh, keeps picking up points, picks up the odd win before

the end of the year, you'll need more than Japan. But you know, it's a funny old season that we're

playing. And he might well get more than Japan if he wins them. Who knows? Who knows? Look Barry,

who knows? But yeah, you're right. It doesn't sound to look like a world champion.

What do we make of Sammy Pyeri, then potentially on for five consecutive pollings, which would

have been a room before is remarkable itself, but five would have been even more remarkable.

Same situation as OJ wasn't on that penultimate stage. Same results, same outcome. He dropped

to seventh. OJ was, was sixth. But this as a performance was really encouraging from Sammy.

Whatever he's found since that disastrous Monte Carlo continues to work.

It does. It does. Monte Carlo's, as you say, a disaster. He was awful. He made some very,

very poor choices in Monte Carlo and he paid the consequences. He's a clever young man.

He's a clever young man. He listens. He picks things up and he changes things around quite

quickly and he changes things around in a way where he can pick it up and run with it. You know,

quite often when we see drivers having to make changes, it takes them a while. It takes them a

while to consolidate, to rework and then to move forward with those changes. With Pyeri, he can

do it like that. You know, he's in there. Yeah, I'm doing that wrong. This is what I should be doing

and it works. And he looks really good to me. And again, but like for more, he can look back

at this one and think, hmm, you know, has I not had that puncture? I'd have been pretty close to

winning this one. Really pretty close. He was winning stages. He's consistently quick. He's

doing everything he has to do. A lot of pressure on that young man from Estonia last year where

Solberg turns up, wins a rally, does exactly the same in Monte Carlo and Pyeri's thinking, well,

what's my place in this team? Well, I have to prove my place in this team. I have to prove my

worth. And that is exactly what he continues to do on every rally, every single rally. And yeah,

you know, he didn't score a podium in Portugal, but the performers deserved it. The performers

deserved it. Yeah, I think so. But I think now the question is going to be, it's almost like

a race, isn't it? Taka beat them both, but it's Sammy versus Fomo racing for that first win.

Could I get it this year? It's a great question, you know, I think,

I don't, you've caught me out. I wasn't expecting to be asked a question, but it's difficult because

I was going to say that Fomos may be more complete, but actually there's a case to say that's not

really true at all. Sammy's got the better equipment in most scenarios. Yeah. But does that

mean he's going to, he has to beat all of his teammates to win? That's Sammy's big problem.

Is it such a strong team that he has to get ahead of them all? Yeah, but Fomos has to beat all

Sammy's teammates as well. Very fair point. Egg on face, very good. But let's not do it, Daly.

Let's just, I'm going to go with my heart immediately said Fomo. So I'll say Fomo,

but it could be either. And I think it'll be one of them this year. I think one of the two of them,

maybe even both could well win a rally this year with Evans and Solberg running probably at the

head of the field on gravel. I think that could create the scenario. Same question for you Colin,

very quickly. I'm with you. I think Fomo, I think Fomo. And I do think that we will

see a little less of OGA towards the end of the season. I think how do you want here? I think

we might have seen more of OGA. The fact he didn't win in Portugal, I don't think we're going to see

quite so much of him. And that presents opportunities for everyone, for everyone who has potentially

a slight road position advantage on the gravel on the Friday. So yeah, you know,

when OGA turns up and you're fourth or fifth on the road, and OGA turns up fifth or sixth on the

road, you're up against it, aren't you? But if he doesn't turn up, then Pairi and Fomo have real

chances. I'm going for more though. I'm going for more. Yeah. Okay. Let's see who, I was going to

say who comes out on top. We both said the same thing. Let's just see if it comes through

at some point. M Sport forward. Welcome back, Martin Sess. The team for the first time since

February is almost maybe the first time Colin that he came back and there wasn't this massive

outtrain behind him, which blessing me, he didn't really enjoy it so much last year, but it was a

consequence of the results he'd had the previous year in 2024, but came back into the team obviously

alongside Josh McElane and John Armstrong finished in ninth overall. Armstrong didn't make the end

after that accident on Saturday. McElane, I think was inside the top 20 somewhere, not the top 10

after he put it off and the Super Special and got a puncture on the Paris stage as there was a bit

of, I don't know if it was a massive narrative, but there's a bit of intrigue in terms of the

intra team competition there. I think Josh at one point called it the Puma Cup. I think McElane

was actually in fairness ahead for most of it. Obviously John had para-steering issues in the

afternoon, but I'm making a very labor attempt at this question. Quite simply, what were your

impressions from M Sport's three youngsters in Portugal? Look, we've seen positives from Armstrong

this year, a bit of a positive from McElane this time round and that before he had his issues,

he was looking a little more consistent, shall we say. Armstrong's shown more glimpses of real

pace throughout the year. Sesx was done. Yeah, it's a tricky one to judge. He had a couple of

really good stages where he had top three times. That's clearly a real positive. I don't know.

I don't know what to make. I don't know what to make. You look back to Saudi and Sesx was at his

swashbuckling best and it was swashbuckling. It was absolutely throw at all and throw everything

at it and dam the consequences and it paid off right until that last day for Sesx. He was spectacular.

So he is very capable and the car is very capable. I don't know. What does he need? What does Sesx need?

I don't know. A more consistent programme? Possibly. Possibly. A little less hype around him,

probably. Just the chance to learn and to grow. Absolutely needs that. Has he got the potential

to be a podium sitting potentially rally-winning driver? I think he does. does have

the potential. But he needs a number of things to work for him before he can find himself in that

position. Armstrong's the other one that I think he's a bit older. Yeah, I called him a youngster

and he started one. He started one. But let's not, you know, he could still have a 10-year career

in front of him at 31. Easily. Yeah. Easily have a 10-year career in front of him. And what he's

shown again this year, Armstrong's had some remarkably good stage times. And he's shown

some consistency battling with the high undies on a number of rallies. And yeah, that might have been

partly as a consequence of the issues that high undies have had. But Armstrong's been in there.

No Puma driver other than Sesx in Saudi has been doing that over the past year or so. And Armstrong's

got himself in that position. And I think has potential. He really does have potential. But

I guess M Sport will look at it as being a bit of a disappointing rally for them.

They might have expected a bit more consistency from one of their three drivers

to give them maybe a top six finish, top seven finish. And that didn't happen, sadly. So yeah,

I think all in all, just a little bit disappointing from M Sport's point of view.

Because they all had decent road positions with that 10-stage effective first day

to take advantage of. And none of them managed to do that, sadly.

Yeah. Yeah, it's hard to disagree. But I think the thing with Sesx is interesting,

and that he said it himself, didn't he, after that first stage that you felt rusty.

It's a great British word, rusty. But he hadn't, obviously I said he hadn't driven in the WRC

since Rally Sweden. He hadn't driven anything since Rally Sweden, which hasn't always been the case

when he's had these gaps in his program. He's sometimes done other events in the way things

have fallen. Like even next weekend, he's back in the European Championship with MRF and a Skoda.

So he's getting that bit of extra seat time again. And that all helps when you're competing against

the world's very best drivers. To be out for three months cold is not what you need. And yeah,

from there he was kind of on the back foot. But yeah, it's the lemma, isn't it? It's the lemma

for someone like Sesx. I remember discussing this at the end of last year, saying, what should

someone like Sesx do? Should he spend all of his budget this year, your massive amounts of money

getting a five or six round program? Or should he just knowing the way the championship is going

next year, it's going rally to it's going, you know, WRC 27 or whatever, I think they've changed

the name of it again. Whatever we're going to call this new formula. But we know roughly where

it's going next year. And for me, it's a big dilemma for young drivers. The seat time is so

important. So, so, so important. And we've seen other guys like Mabelini in the ERC. You know,

Mabelini is not the fastest driver out there, but he gets a huge amount of seat time, which then

results in him being competitive, because he's consistent, really consistent. You know, so what

what does Sesx do? Does he does he go and blow a few million on your five or six rounds in a rally

one car? As it does, he say, I'm going to drive a rally car on a rally every second weekend. And I

am going to be at the peak of my performance for Monte Carlo in a potentially rally winning rally

two car at the start of next year. It is a dilemma because, you know, the drivers will tell you,

I'm the right, you need to be in it. If you've got a chance in rally one, you have to take it.

Yeah, but these cars are obsolete at the end of the year. I think it's a difficult situation. And I

think it's one that that would have required an awful, awful lot of consideration. You know,

whole season in a rally two car, why not? You know, Sesx has got ambitions, clearly, to be a

your top line rally driver, but there are a lot of gaps in terms of his experience. Who could have

filled those gaps this year, potentially, potentially could have filled those gaps in a rally two car.

I don't know. It's a difficult one. You know, I think the kid is doing a fantastic

job every time he gets in the car. But is it the right thing to do? Don't know.

It is an interesting argument. I guess in Sesx's case, it's slightly different to maybe most in

that he'd already driven this car before. And if you were to know, again, I don't know what

opportunities he had, but I know Johann Rossell, currently with Lance in WRC two, he sounded quite

frustrated that he's still in rally two. But I think part of him knows that realistically,

it's pointless to learn rally one. It's what we've seen from Armstrong, which is why that was

potentially surprising for him to get that drive, is that all that experience of the car

that he's learning isn't really going to do him much for next year. And he was getting very near

the top of rally two. So you could have argued that maybe putting him in that car in the world

championship would have made more sense. But I guess if there was a chance from everyone behind

the motorsport, I want to put him in that car, you're not going to not do it. It's an interesting

debate, isn't it? As you say, because the direction, as you say, we don't quite know

how it's all going to work with rally one versus rally two, but they're going to be

similar in characteristics. So it's not going to be quite like driving these big aero cars that

we have just now. Absolutely. Yeah. It's an interesting one. But what we know is that Sesx

is a talent. He prospect. And that with the right sort of management,

with the right sort of programme, he'll be a contender. I think that's inevitable. Over the

next two or three years, Sesx will be a contender. And that's exciting.

Massively. And as I say, I feel like I'm agreeing with you far too much today.

That's right. You're right too. It's early morning. It's too early to argue too much, really, isn't

it? I do think we need to address the slight elephant in the room, though, when it comes to

last week's event. I'm sure you've all seen what happened, especially on Friday and especially to

Elvin Evans with the tow truck in the road in front of him. I shouldn't re-giggle it.

It's not a laughing matter. But if you haven't read up on what's happened,

they would urge you to go to dirtbridge.com. There is an article and they're written by

Alastair Lindsay explaining, I guess, from the organising perspective, what happened.

There was a steward decision. They've got a 15,000 euro suspended

fine subject to something like this happening again. All the detail is in there. So it's far

better you read that than us repeat all of it. But Colin, you were there on the ground and it's

just one of these things that you should never, ever see on a rally stage. I think you made the

point and some of our coverage content that the one benefit of being first on the road is on gravel.

You're not meant to come across dust. No. And that's exactly what Elvin found.

It must be. I can't imagine how that must feel in the rally car to suddenly come across something

like that. It's just, it's remarkable. Absolute confusion. And to be honest, we saw Elvin at

the airport and we asked him and we came back on the same flight as us. You might have seen

pictures of, you might have seen pictures of Takasan and Thierry Neville and their little

entourage is heading back to Nice on a private jet. Elvin Evans was on EasyJet with us. Fair play,

Elvin Evans. Fair play. Fair play, Elvin Evans. So we saw him at the airport and he said, look,

he said, yeah, I was confused. He said, that dust shouldn't have been there. And he said,

instantly, as you would, he thought maybe a course car, maybe the zero car had had a problem.

That in itself was the one and only positive from the whole situation is that Evans was

alert to an issue. He was alert to the fact that something wasn't right. He obviously didn't,

in his wildest dreams, think it was a tow truck in front of him. But he was alert to the fact that

something wasn't right. Look, it's a disaster. It's a disaster for the rally. Because it didn't

just happen once. It happened with a tow truck and then happened in the same stage with a car

as well. And it can't be allowed to happen. It is very strange that it happened in Portugal,

because Portugal is so heavily marshaled and policed. And they do that because in the past,

clearly, many, many decades ago, they've had issues. And, you know, it is this constant

dilemma in rallying. You know, we want to go to places where we have the potential for big

crowds, but then we get big crowds and big crowds in a countryside setting are difficult to manage.

There's no question about that. Difficult to manage. Portugal managed big crowds,

probably better than any other rally in the world. But they got it wrong. They And when

you get it wrong, you can't just sweep it under the carpet. You know, not in today's era, where

there is footage of that tow truck being caught by Alvin Evans. It was all over the internet

within five minutes. There's footage of the car in the stage again, all over the internet within

five minutes. You know, both of those vehicles were told went through three roadblocks, not just

question that's come out of all of this, you know, and it's a massive question about safety,

you know, the one sacrosanct part of rallying is that these drivers have closed roads with no

other vehicles on them. That is what makes rallying possible. You know, if there's any doubt as to

whether those roads are completely secure, then rallying is not possible. So these situations

have to be treated with the utmost seriousness. Remember back a couple of years ago, I had to

inform you, not suspended, he was actually fined. He had to pay 10,000 euros for using a mildly

swear word at the stage. Find 10,000 euros. Rally Portugal has a suspended 15,000 euro fine

for one of the most serious breaches of security that a rally can be accused of.

There is no consistency. You look to Japan, Japan had a couple of breaches. One where a

driver tried to get into a stage and didn't in front of Alvin Evans again, strangely enough.

And the other where a spectator car on an unmind that junction came into a stage,

that was horrible. Absolutely horrible. And rally Japan were hauled over the coals for it.

They were given a yellow card, which is a process that the FIA is able to enact to say,

look, you know, we're watching you, you have to improve your game. And if you don't,

there will be serious consequences. What happened to rally Portugal, a 15,000 euro

suspended fine. Now my understanding, there is, this is not the end of the process. There is

further investigation, there'll be a further report, and there is the potential for further

sanctions against rally Portugal. What do I think of that? Well, I think that's right.

I think that's absolutely right. I think a 15,000 euro suspended fine and it all goes away

would be wrong. It doesn't send out a good message. It really doesn't. And just because you run one

of the best rallies in the world doesn't mean you're immune to criticism,

scrutiny, and you're immune to punishment. It does not. You know, you run the best rally in

the world, one of the best rallies you have eyes on you, and you have to maintain standards.

And that was a serious breach, an unbelievably serious breach. And therefore, it is correct

that the process continues, and that a more detailed report is submitted that explains

why it happened. More importantly, fingers crossed will give us learnings for how we

can put processes in place for it never, ever, ever to happen again. But your rally Portugal

right now, I think, reasonably fortunate, fortunate in the fine from the stewards seems

to have been quite mild. And the reprimand seems to have been very mild. And, you know,

let's see what happens in the future. What is really important in all of this is, as I say,

that where the reports are done, when the submissions are all made from all the parties

involved, that we learn something, and we learn something that can then you'll be used to increase

the safety of the sport going forward. Because that could have been both of those incidents

could have been catastrophic, catastrophic. And we can't allow it to happen

again. Yeah, you're right. As you say, we can't wait for disaster to happen, or in the lesson,

it has to be learned now. But I think just to reiterate, as you said, there with the need

for further investigation, the yellow card could well come portals way, that's something that

stewards on the event can't give at that time. So that could well come. But yeah, as you said,

that the final is fully up to our discretion. So yeah, that was deeply unfortunate that it

happened. Mainly on Friday has to be said, I wasn't aware of any major issues after that.

Goodness me. No, you know, the security, and again, what's baffling from my perspective is

state security is at first class in Portugal. You know, it's difficult, even with all the

correct stickers on your car, all the correct accreditation, it's difficult to get anywhere

near the stages. On Saturday, it was almost impossible. Because the message had obviously

gone out. The reinforcement of the message had gone out. You know, this cannot be allowed to

happen again. No one is allowed near the stages when the stages are live. So, and that was very

obvious. It was very obvious on the Saturday and Sunday, they did a great job. And the question is,

why didn't they do a good, a great job on the Friday?

Colin and I stand between ourselves, we try and keep this podcast to 45 minutes,

we've blasted through that barrier. We have, but I don't know, I think we should very, very,

very quickly touch on double RC two, because for me, it was a very timely reminder of the

talents of one particular driver, that being Teemu Sunigun, who's kind of been in and out

of top class, rallying a few times over his career, but very clearly still has a talent. And

he's not, we talk about, he feels like he's this like driver from the past. He's only in his early

thirties. Plenty of time and said, I think it again, are massively stacked fields. This is a

deeply impressive drive for him and Yanni Hussiko driving. Deeply, deeply, deeply impressive.

The quality in WRC two this year, we say it every year, but that's because it's a fact.

The quality is as high as it's ever been. And the fact that Mickelson, you know, a three times

winner in the WRC is struggling to make any impression in WRC two is indicative of the quality

that's there. You know, Mickelson and Sunigun, Sunigun's at a different point in his career

from Mickelson. That is for sure. Listen, what we don't understand, you have to put some context

behind Sunigun's victory. Sunigun ran rally Portugal on an absolute shoestring, an absolute

shoestring. He told me something about tires on the, when we talked to him on the Sunday off record.

And I can't remember what it was. They didn't test or he had a very, very limited test because he

didn't have enough money to buy tires for the test. It was absolutely on a total shoestring.

And for him to put in such a consistent, intelligent performance, slightly on Sunigun's

issue was in the past. He had lots of opportunities. He made lots of mistakes,

lots of silly mistakes. But soon we've never really doubted his potential pace. What we've

doubted is his consistency. And what he showed was a remarkably consistent performance in Portugal.

And it sets him up beautifully for a title challenge. But the problem Sunigun's got is

budget. He's got no money. He's got absolutely no money. And fingers crossed, we'll see a bit

more of him. But he is clearly the man to mix it up this year. He's the surprise package,

I guess, a little bit. And it was a great performance. I'm great to see Yanni Houssi as

well. Her first time on the podium in WRC. And you know, for someone who was a radio host,

what, three years ago? I think three or four years ago. Yeah, it's really not a long time.

And she's gone from doing that to becoming a... Yeah, a challenge from Sammy Piety to co-drive on

some historic event to being a winner in WRC too. That is some career progression, isn't it?

So yeah, well, I just hope that we get some good news about Teimos Sunigun,

because he's a quality driver. He's another one that feels he's got a point to prove. He was

very, very disappointed not to have been considered for the Hyundai seat. He thought he was well

prepared for that, wasn't I don't think in the top 30 odd? I'm not sure. Did we ever get the 30

names? I'm not sure we did. We don't really know who was in or who was out, do we? But he feels he's

got a point to prove. He also feels that he, by performing this year, showing what he's capable

of in those rally two cars, that he puts himself in a strong position with potential, what are we

calling them now? Constructors, Luke or tuners? Constructors, I think is the official word they

want to use. So with constructors and potential new manufacturers, he puts himself back in the

limelight. And he reminds people that look, you know, I'm still a very, very good driver. He's a

very good development driver as well. So that's what that is his objective this year. Do what he

can. Hopefully someone will come along and pick him up for next year. I'm going to doth the cap

I'm not wearing to you, Colin, because that's very professional for me. You've been very respectful

of embargoes. And by the time this podcast comes out, we do know about Finland's nexus.

He will be in rally Finland competing with the sector labs team. So that's a fantastic

opportunity for him. And that would mean it's three rallies down and whether you can get any

more, as I say, it's probably going to be results dependent, but fantastic to see him with sector

as well be a big presence in the service park at rally Finland. So if you are there, go and see

them. I'm sure you won't miss them. It's we've seen the pictures already. It's looking like it's

going to be a manufacturer team setup. It's deeply impressive what they're they're trying to do there.

Cole, any other closing thoughts from rally port school before we wrap this up? Well, yeah. Well,

one closing thought, I guess, is a closing thought for Porto and for Matashino, which is where the

service park was, the X-menor service park. You know, we moved up there, what, 10 years ago?

Was it a bit more than that now? We went up from the Alba? 15, I think? 10, 11 years ago.

And we rediscovered the spirit of rally Portugal in the hills around Porto, and it was magnificent.

And it's been a fantastic rally. And again, a nod, doffing the cap to the organizers.

You know, that first event that ran out of Porto, there was massive concern about the crowd sizes,

about the crowd management. And they did a fabulous job, the organizers, and they continued to do a

fabulous job out of Porto. What we're hearing is that's it. You know, the service park, the X-menor

service park is each year we go back there, it gets a little bit, you know, the surrounding

developments just encroach a little more on the X-menor area. And our understanding is that

it is a little bit of an old and tired place, much as it's been very welcoming for us. It is a bit

old and a bit tired. And it's coming down. So the home of rally Portugal in Porto will be no more.

And we're moving next year. So, you know, just a final thought for Porto. It is one of the world's

most beautiful cities. And it's just one of the best places to base yourself for a rally.

And it will be missed. We're not going too far south. We're not heading back to the Algarve next

year. But it will have a very different feel to it, I'm sure, rally Portugal next year.

Yeah, that's a good closing thought. And it's worth seeing as well. And I'm sure you've read the

article on DirtVisual.com. If you haven't, Dave has done a good job of explaining what's going on with

that. But we don't know yet what effect that might have on the stages. It's probably not going to be

a massive one. Because as you say, we're not completely changing regions. So it might not

change the competitive field. But if everybody's there, it will be very different.

I did do a Google search from, you know, a Google Maps search from where the town or the city

where we're told the new service park is going to be up to Faf. Two and a half hours.

Two and a half hours. That's quite a lot. That makes for a challenging Sunday,

doesn't it? If they want to include Faf.

Yeah, that's true. Unless you put it somewhere else in the day and have a remote service, but then

maybe that format is inferior to the organiser. I'll give them this. They listened to what happened

last year. Do you remember in 2025, there was a lot of complaints about the intensity of the

schedule in Portugal. But what they did is they kept the same length of rally in the same schedule.

They just moved it a day forward. So Thursday was was now a far more

competitive day in terms of maybe 35 Ks of stages, which is quite unusual for WRC events.

So it was almost like four days of action. So yes, each individual day was shorter,

but it was still a quite taxing week. We jumped about it at the stop. You're in bed. I think it's

the place we all want to be after that week. It was quite exhausting. It was exhausting.

Yeah, I wasn't a fan of that schedule, I'd have to say. It was two full days and two half days.

Where does that make sense? Makes no sense to me. Three full days or two full days.

Why would you put two half days in? It's just nonsense in my view. It needs to be looked at.

I know it is being looked at going forward. If we're going to have endurance events,

have proper endurance events. Endurance are the type of days we had in Portugal last year.

Do it for two days. Two extreme long days. 350 Kms. Yeah, we can handle that over three days.

Not over four days. Goodness me. You just lose the will. I'm sorry, but you lose the will to live.

Yeah, I'll be honest. I felt a bit and it probably is because you get so used to the routine,

don't you? By Sunday, I felt just a bit like over it. We've had a lot of rallying there.

When is it finished? I didn't know what happened to me, but I was a little bit sort of like...

It needs to be looked at for sure, but I understood the issues that were faced again

by the organizers. It's a difficult thing, particularly somewhere like Rally Portugal,

where you have to involve so many different regions. Rallying these days costs a lot of money.

To put on a WRC event with all of the various fees that you have to pay, with all of the

logistical costs that are involved in running a rally, you get no change out of seven or eight

million euros, or very little change out of seven or 8000000 euros. That's a lot of money,

huge amount of money, and you're allowed to work for a lot of rallies. They have to go

to various different regions within their countries. You take the money off the regions,

and then you have to deliver something to those regions. In Portugal's case, they do just have

to make it a bit of a tour around the regions. I do feel for them in that regard, but there has to

be another solution. I would agree. I think that does finally bring us to the end of various

different avenues and facets of rally Portugal. Only final thing for me to say, and there'll be

plenty of you listening to this that already are. Thank you very much for joining us and being part

of the club. If you haven't joined the club, I urge you to consider it and just check out

what we're doing. Particularly on WRC weekends, there's lots and lots of exclusive behind-the-scenes

field content, extra bonus content, things like drivers uncut where you can watch every single

interview we do from the media zone throughout the weekend. There's even more of Colin Clark

talking to the drivers. We call it between the stages rather than the start in interviews. There's

exclusive podcasts like Park Fermi where we'll review each individual day of the championship.

There's lots going on there, and a fantastic community as well of like-minded fans all talking

to each other. It's definitely well worth checking out. I'm going to put you on the spot call and

ask you, of everything we do on Club DirtFish, what do you think is the best, or your personal

favorite content or thing that we do over there?

Do you know what? The bloopers. I love the bloopers because the bloopers show the drivers

and show the rallies in a quite different light. They really do. It shows a very

light-hearted, comical, fun, and relaxed atmosphere that you don't always see in elite

sport. So I like the bloopers. I always enjoy them.

Yeah, that's a valid check. As you see, there's loads of different things on there. So go and

check it out on the page on Search for Club DirtFish. You can listen to this very episode

actually, ad-free as well. So it's yet another perk for you. But that does wrap us up. Thanks

very much Colin for your time. Even if it was from your bed, I'm glad you made the effort to

We had a little issue, as you know. I had to extract myself from my bed. I'm now in the living

room in my dressing room. Oh, did you? Okay, sorry. That's a lesson learned for me. It can't be

done from my bed. So if it's not for laziness, it's the internet. Okay, that's good to know.

Very good. We do have another special edition of Spin coming very soon. Actually,

should be in a couple of days after this one, as well. We're speaking to a two-time world

champion that he's doing in America. So for those that know, you probably know already,

if you don't check your inboxes, subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast platform to

make sure you don't miss that episode or indeed any of them. And we'll see you very, very soon

for more WRC chatter and analysis. Thank you very much.

Neuville and Hyundai's redemption! Rally Portugal 2026 review

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tenacity

rehashed rally two car

types of grip

leaderboard yo-yo

refocus almost immediately

drop down the leaderboard

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