Per-Gunnar Andersson took the victory last time out in the JRC in Norway and he is again likely to be one of, if not,
the front-runner this week. The
Suzuki Swift driver is likely to again come under pressure from his team-mate,
Urmo Aava, as well as reigning champion, Patrik Sandell.
Citroen will also be out in full force, with Martin Prokop likely to head the way in the C2, along with
Conrad Rautenbach.
“I’m feeling very optimistic about Portugal, even though it’s just the first of my registered events this year to score points,” said Prokop. “The C2 Junior Experience programme has given me a lot of motivation. I think we are well-prepared.
“We completed 300 kilometres of testing on gravel and my feeling with the car is a lot better than it was before. If I have no problems and avoid punctures, then I hope to be in the top five at the finish.”
Rautenbach is also feeling pretty confident: “We did some tests last week and the car seems to be in good shape for this rally. It’s my first Junior Championship rally of the year so I hope above all to finish. My goal is as always to get the best possible result, but of course I wouldn’t say no to a win either!”
Other significant entries:
Around 87 crews are due to start the Rally de Portugal, with 21 in World Rally Cars.
In addition to the manufacturer drivers’, Ford will also be represented by Britain’s Guy Wilks, Gareth MacHale and Andreas Mikkelsen. Wilks is keen to get to the finish after his error in Norway, when he went off on the first stage on day two.
"I am looking forward to Portugal. I want to get mileage. I am desperate for it in the new car - that is the most important thing," he told
Crash.net Radio recently.
"We want to see exactly where are pace lets us go too. We do not want to take any risks though. To be truthful we don't want to happen this time, what happened in Norway. We don't want to go off the road with what was a minor error. We can't afford to do that – it has consequences. So we have got to play a safe game. We are looking to make amends."
