Ireland’s Craig Breen and co-driver Scott Martin scored another fine result as Sebastien Ogier claimed a landmark fifth Vodafone Rally de Portugal win, the sixth round of the World Rally Championship.

Ogier, who scored his maiden WRC win in Portugal seven years ago, took the lead of the four-day dirt road encounter on Saturday morning in his Ford Fiesta. Holding a comfortable advantage, he eased through the final leg to add to his season-opening win in Monte-Carlo.

Belgian Thierry Neuville, targeting a hat-trick after victories in Corsica and Argentina, changed his driving style in a bid to regain top spot but conceded defeat early on Sunday morning. Nevertheless he moved up to second in the title battle, 22 points behind Ogier.

Team-mate Dani Sordo finished a further 46.1sec behind in third. The Spaniard struggled with the handling of his i20 on the dusty gravel roads and could not fend off Ogier and Neuville after lying second earlier in the weekend.

Ott Tänak looked to be the man to beat on Saturday. He led before swiping a bank and breaking his Fiesta’s suspension and brakes. He recovered to finish fourth, almost half a minute adrift of Sordo.

Ireland’s Craig Breen was the leading Citroën C3 driver in fifth on the Portuguese Rally. This is the fourth occasion in six rallies he has occupied that position. He was 27.2 seconds adrift of Tänak but well over a minute clear of Elfyn Evans’ Fiesta.
Breen is currently seventh overall in the drivers’ championship. For the next round of the World Rally Championship the team go to Sardinia on June 11.