Brazil WRT Leg 1 Report

Oliveira made his way through leg one in Portugal

Brazil World Rally Team driver Daniel Oliveira completed a tough first leg of the Rally de Portugal, third round of the World Rally Championship (WRC), taking an important step forward in his WRC maiden event.

Oliveira had a smooth start and over the kilometres he began feeling more confident with his driving. He considerably improved his pace on the second and third stages until his MINI John Cooper Works S2000 troubled him.

On SS4 a bearing of the universal joint got loose causing some friction and forcing Daniel to slow down so he lost some valuable time. A minor electrical issue in the fuel pump sensor was also detected on other SS.

The Brazilian representative dropped down to 28th, but he still managed to climb several positions to finish 21th in the overall classification, fourth among the S2000-spec cars.

All in all, six special stages are scheduled for tomorrow in which the crews will tackle the longest of the three legs with 148.10 of competitive kilometres. At 10:17, the turn goes to SS 8 Almodovar.

More Info

- Daniel and Carlos is the 17thcrew in the departure line for tomorrow
- Daniel’s MINI John Cooper Works S2000 run with number 12

Daniel Oliveira (Driver)

“We were able to finish the day and that’s important since we have gained valuable kilometres and experience in the MINI John Cooper Works S2000. Competing is the best way for testing and improving both the car and ourselves”.

“On SS4 I started feeling something in the transmission so I decided to slow down so as not to cause any major problem. Luckily, it was just before heading to the midday service and the team could fix it for the second loop. In the afternoon, we had a minor issue with the fuel pump but the car arrived in one piece to the service area”.

“We look forward to keeping on the road and improving our pace tomorrow”.

-source: brazil wrt