Sebastien Ogier won the Rally of Portugal for a record sixth time on Sunday after safely holding onto his overnight lead on the punishing gravel roads.
The French driver, behind the wheel of a Toyota Yaris, moved one ahead of Finland's Markku Alen, a five-time champion with Fiat and Lancia in the 1970s and 1980s.
"I had nothing against being tied with Markku Alen," said Ogier, also a winner in Portugal in 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2017.
"He is a legend, but I heard for many years 'when will you beat this record?'
"It was not a great weekend for the whole team, but it was a good rally for us and I am glad we could bring some points."
Ogier, who is only racing part-time in the 2024 world championship, finished 7.9 seconds clear of Ott Tanak to salvage an otherwise challenging weekend for his team.
Check out how the Championship Standings shape up after this weekend 🏆#WRC | #RallydePortugal 🇵🇹 pic.twitter.com/Hek7VUHxeq
— World Rally Championship (@OfficialWRC) May 12, 2024
Reigning world champion Kalle Rovanpera, a teammate of Ogier at Toyota, crashed out on Saturday after Japan's Takamoto Katsuta saw his hopes hit by a broken suspension.
Championship leader Thierry Neuville of Belgium came a distant third overall, but stretched his lead over Elfyn Evans to 24 points after five of 13 events.
Evans was more than six minutes off the pace in sixth place in the other Toyota.
How the points were spread in Portugal 🎯#WRC | #RallydePortugal 🇵🇹 pic.twitter.com/W3KZnusbRv
— World Rally Championship (@OfficialWRC) May 12, 2024
Results
1. Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (FRA/Toyota) 3h41min 32.3sec, 2. Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (EST/Hyundai) +7.9sec, 3. Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (BEL/Hyundai) +1min 09.8sec, 4. Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (FRA/Ford) +1min 47.8sec, 5. Daniel Sordo/Candido Carrera (ESP/Hyundai) +2min 48.9 sec
World championship standings (after five legs of 13)
Drivers
1. Thierry Neuville (BEL) 110 pts, 2. Elfyn Evans (GBR) 86, 3. Ott Tanak (EST) 79, 4. Adrien Fourmaux (FRA) 71, 5. Sebastien Ogier (FRA) 70