Gilbert on course for Junior WRC honours
Frenchman extends Portugal lead through Saturday's competition
Two out of two for Gilbert
Winner of the opening round in Monaco, Quentin Gilbert, added a second FIA Junior WRC win at Vodafone Rally de Portugal on Sunday.
The Frenchman took the lead of the category for under-28 year-olds on the opening day, and began the final leg with a 2m46s lead over his compatriot Pierre-Louis Loubet.
Gilbert used his advantage wisely, adopting a cautious approach where necessary over Sunday's three stages to end the rally 3m40.6s ahead.
"We took it fairly steadily at the start of the race to get our bearings but once we were in front, we managed to hold position despite the difficulties of the road surface," said Gilbert. "With two wins from two outings, it’s been a perfect start to the season.”
In only the second rally of his fledgling career, Loubet finished 1min27sec ahead of Finland's Henri Haapamaki. “I’m really happy because I wasn’t expecting a result like this," said Loubet. "It was very difficult to stay focused for the whole three days. It was important to make it to the end in terms of experience.”
Jean-Rene Perry was fourth, with early front-runner Ole Christian Veiby fifth having re-started after a roll on Saturday. Another re-starter, Simone Tempestini, was sixth, with Federico Della Casa seventh and Daniel McKenna eighth. Kornel Lukacs, Charlotte Dalmasso and Terry Folb completed the 11 finishers.
The result keeps Gilbert firmly in the championship lead with a total of 50 points. Veiby is second with 25 points while Tempestini is third with 30. The next round will be held at Lotos 72nd Rally Poland in July.
