The Rally de Portugal (formerly: Rallye de Portugal) is a rally competition held in Portugal. First held in 1967, the seventh running of the race, the 7º TAP Rallye de Portugal was the third event in the inaugural FIA World Rally Championship in 1973. The rally remained on the WRC calendar for the next 29 years, and after being dropped for 2002–2006, the event returned to Portugal in 2007. During the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s, Rally de Portugal was a mixed event between asphalt and gravel. Currently it is an all-gravel event.
Rally de Portugal has been awarded "The Best Rally in the World" five times and in 2000 "The Most Improved Rally of the Year". The most successful driver in the history of the rally is Sébastien Ogier, who has won the event seven times (2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2024 and 2025).
History The Rally of Portugal was extremely popular but also infamous due to poor crowd control. During the 1970s and especially the 1980s, Portugal was known for spectators standing on the roadway even as the cars drove by, often resulting in near-collisions, and finally in the 1986 season a collision between cars and spectators. It was the last year the Group B cars dominated the WRC scene. And it was because of a tragic accident which occurred during the rally that the future of Group B cars came under scrutiny. The final blow came at the Tour de Corse later that year with the death of Henri Toivonen.
In the first section of the rally (Sintra), in the "Lagoa Azul" stage, Portuguese works Ford rally driver Joaquim Santos came over a crest in his RS200 getting too loose through the corner. Santos managed to avoid the crowd on the outside of the corner, but he was not able to avoid the crowd on the inside of the corner. The car left the road, plunging right into the crowd, killing three and injuring dozens more. After this accident all works teams withdrew from the rally.
The combination of poor crowd behavior, and the extreme speeds of Group B cars, was not only dangerous for the crowd, but also for the drivers themselves. Former world champion Timo Salonen admitted at the '86 edition that he was scared to run first on the road. Walter Röhrl had his own theory on the crowd situation: "You just have to see the crowd as a wall and not as spectators."
It did not necessarily go any better in following years. At the 1987 edition a privately entered, FR car driven by Portuguese rally car driver Joaquim Guedes plunged into the crowd. Unfortunately, this led to the death of spectator Manuel Carvalho Da Silva Peixoto, and injured 12 others, but the crowd control was not much improved. It was not until the early 1990s that the Portuguese rally improved crowd control. Crowds were no smaller, but were better-behaved and more aware of the risks involved in spectating.
In the 1980s, the rally had a special stage at the Autódromo do Estoril.
The last WRC edition of the Portugal rally for five years was run under heavy rain in 2001. It was won by Tommi Mäkinen in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. In 2002, it was replaced in favour of Germany's Rallye Deutschland. In 2005, the organisers of the Rally of Portugal announced their intentions to rejoin the WRC, this time switching locations to an area around the Algarve. This means the character of the rally has changed. It is now fully driven on gravel. This is frowned upon by the Portuguese fans, who consider the Algarve stages less exciting, which is also reflected in lower attendance numbers. In 2006, it ran as an official WRC candidate event for the 2007 WRC calendar and was formally incorporated into the 2007 calendar on 5 July 2006. The 2007 Rally Portugal was the fifth round of the season and was won by Citroën Total's Sébastien Loeb.
After a year in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge schedule, the Rally Portugal returned to the WRC calendar for the 2009 season. The competition in the 2009 Rally Portugal was set in the surroundings of Faro, capital of the Algarve region, on twisty hill sections, with fast blind corners and narrow sections. The first stage in the Estádio Algarve (Algarve Stadium) was won by Henning Solberg, but when the rally really began, Jari-Matti Latvala took the lead. However, he soon suffered a big crash, rolling his Ford Focus WRC 17 times down a steep mountain. The rally was eventually won by Loeb.
The 2020 edition of the rally was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Editions 1967–2001
Rally name Stages Podium finishersRankDriverco-driverTeamCarTime 1º Rallye de Portugal1967 8 stages 47.60 km*1 Carpinteiro Albino Silva Pereira Renault 8 Gordini 14758.9 pts2 António Peixinho João Canas Mendes Ford Cortina Lotus 15888.9 pts3 Joseph Bourdon Claude Bertrand Renault 8 Gordini 22560.5 pts 2º Rallye de Portugal1968 8 stages 94.60 km*1 Tony Fall R. Cellin Lancia Fulvia HF 16503.3 pts2 Paddy Hopkirk Tony Nash BMC Cooper S 1300 17989.6 pts3 António Peixinho João Canas Mendes Morris Cooper S 22661.8 pts 3º Rallye de Portugal1969 10 stages 140.00 km*1 Francisco Romãozinho "Jocames" Citroën DS 104759 pts2 José Lampreia Christian Melville Datsun 1600 SSS 113476 pts3 Chris van Stalle Robert Loyens Datsun 1600 SSS 113945 pts 4º TAP Rallye de Portugal1970 12 stages 205.50 km1 Simo Lampinen John Davenport Lancia Fulvia HF 7099 pts2 Sandro Munari Arnaldo Bernacchini Lancia Fulvia HF 1600 7486 pts3 Björn Waldegård Hans Thorszelius Porsche 911 S 7929 pts 5º TAP Rallye de Portugal7 to 10 October 1971 20 stages 304.50 km1 Jean-Pierre Nicolas Jean Todt Alpine Renault A110 19249 pts2 Simo Lampinen John Davenport Lancia Fulvia HF 1600 20664 pts3 Robert Neyret Jacques Terramorsi Alpine Renault A110 1600 23630 pts 6º TAP Rallye de Portugal11 to 15 October 1972 31 stages 389.60 km1 Achim Warmbold John Davenport BMW 2002 TI 5h 51m 03s2 Bernard Darniche Alan Mahe Alpine Renault A110 1800 6h 00m 05s3 Björn Waldegård Hans Thorszelius Citroën SM Proto 6h 08m 54s 7º TAP Rallye de Portugal 13 to 18 March 1973Round 3 of the 1973 World Rally Championship 32 stages 387 km1 Jean-Luc Thérier Jacques Jaubert Alpine Renault Alpine Renault A110 1800 5h 42m 16s2 Jean-Pierre Nicolas Michel Vial Alpine Renault Alpine Renault A110 1800 5h 48m 16s3 Francisco Romãozinho José Bernardo Citroën Competition Citroën DS 21 6h 7m 48s 8º TAP Rallye de Portugal 20 to 23 March 1974Round 1 of the 1974 World Rally Championship 455 km1 Raffaele Pinto Arnaldo Bernacchini Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye 6h 26m 15s2 Alcide Paganelli Nini Russo Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye 6h 30m 12s3 Markku Alén Ilkka Kivimäki Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye 6h 37m 17s 9º Rallye de Portugal Vinho do Porto 18 to 21 July 1975Round 6 of the 1975 World Rally Championship 512 km1 Markku Alén Ilkka Kivimäki Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye 6h 24m 15s2 Hannu Mikkola Jean Todt Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye 6h 26m 58s3 Ove Andersson Arne Hertz Toyota Team Europe Toyota Corolla 6h 29m 29s 10º Rallye de Portugal Vinho do Porto 10 to 14 March 1976Round 3 of the 1976 World Rally Championship 470 km1 Sandro Munari Silvio Maiga Lancia Stratos HF 5h 41m 26s2 Ove Andersson Arne Hertz Toyota Team Europe Toyota Celica 2000GT 5h 44m 24s3 "Mêquêpê" João Batista Opel Kadett GT/E 6h 26m 37s 11º Rallye de Portugal Vinho do Porto 1 to 6 March 1977Round 3 of the 1977 World Rally ChampionshipRound 4 of the 1977 FIA Cup for Rally Drivers 580 km1 Markku Alén Ilkka Kivimäki Fiat 131 Abarth 6h 51m 47s2 Björn Waldegård Hans Thorszelius Ford Escort RS1800 6h 55m 43s3 Ove Andersson Henry Liddon Toyota Team Europe Toyota Celica 2000GT 6h 56m 8s 12º Rallye de Portugal Vinho do Porto 19 to 23 April 1978Round 4 of the 1978 World Rally ChampionshipRound 5 of the 1978 FIA Cup for Rally Drivers 46 stages 627 km1 Markku Alén Ilkka Kivimäki Fiat 131 Abarth 7h 45m 33s2 Hannu Mikkola Arne Hertz Ford Escort RS1800 7h 50m 1s3 Jean-Pierre Nicolas Vincent Laverne Ford Escort RS1800 8h 1m 1s 13º Rallye de Portugal Vinho do Porto 6 to 11 March 1979Round 3 of the 1979 World Rally Championship 45 stages 735 km1 Hannu Mikkola Arne Hertz Ford Motor Company Ford Escort RS1800 9h 13m 52s2 Björn Waldegård Hans Thorszelius Ford Motor Company Ford Escort RS1800 9h 16m 36s3 Ove Andersson Henry Liddon Toyota Team Europe Toyota Celica 2000GT 9h 35m 0s 14º Rallye de Portugal Vinho do Porto 4 to 9 March 1980Round 3 of the 1980 World Rally Championship 47 stages 673.5 km1 Walter Röhrl Christian Geistdörfer Fiat Italia Fiat 131 Abarth 9h 13m 52s2 Markku Alén Ilkka Kivimäki Fiat Italia Fiat 131 Abarth 9h 16m 36s3 Guy Fréquelin Jean Todt Talbot Cars GB Talbot Sunbeam Lotus 9h 35m 0s 15º Rallye de Portugal Vinho do Porto 4 to 7 March 1981Round 3 of the 1981 World Rally Championship 46 stages 681 km1 Markku Alén Ilkka Kivimäki Fiat Auto Torino Fiat 131 Abarth 8h 27m 26s2 Henri Toivonen Fred Gallagher Talbot Talbot Sunbeam Lotus 8h 36m 36s3 Björn Waldegård Hans Thorszelius Toyota Team Europe Toyota Celica 2000GT 8h 43m 47s 16º Rallye de Portugal Vinho do Porto 3 to 6 March 1982Round 3 of the 1982 World Rally Championship 40 stages 639 km1 Michèle Mouton Fabrizia Pons Audi Sport Audi Quattro 7h 39m 36s2 Per Eklund Ragnar Spjuth Toyota Team Europe Toyota Celica 2000GT 7h 52m 43s3 Franz Wittmann Peter Diekmann Audi Sport Audi Quattro 8h 7m 25s 17º Rallye de Portugal Vinho do Porto 2 to 5 March 1983Round 3 of the 1983 World Rally Championship 40 stages 642 km1 Hannu Mikkola Arne Hertz Audi Sport Audi Quattro A1 7h 17m 24s2 Michèle Mouton Fabrizia Pons Audi Sport Audi Quattro A1 7h 18m 19s3 Walter Röhrl Christian Geistdörfer Martini Racing Lancia Rally 037 7h 19m 14s 18º Rallye de Portugal Vinho do Porto 6 to 11 March 1984Round 3 of the 1984 World Rally Championship 45 stages 684 km1 Hannu Mikkola Arne Hertz Audi Sport Audi Quattro A2 7h 35m 32s2 Markku Alén Ilkka Kivimäki Martini Racing Lancia Rally 037 7h 35m 59s3 Attilio Bettega Maurizio Perissinot Martini Racing Lancia Rally 037 7h 58m 21s 19º Rallye de Portugal Vinho do Porto 6 to 9 March 1985Round 3 of the 1985 World Rally Championship 47 stages 733 km1 Timo Salonen Seppo Harjanne Peugeot Talbot Sport Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 8h 7m 25s2 Miki Biasion Tiziano Siviero Jolly Club Lancia Rally 037 8h 12m 12s3 Walter Röhrl Christian Geistdörfer Audi Sport Audi Sport Quattro 8h 13m 23s 20º Rallye de Portugal Vinho do Porto 5 to 8 March 1986Round 3 of the 1986 World Rally Championship 42 stages 660 km1 Joaquim Moutinho Edgar Fortes Renault Galp Renault 5 Turbo 7h 50m 44s2 Carlos Bica Cândido Júnior Duriforte Construções Lancia Rally 037 8h 4m 11s3 Giovanni Del Zoppo Loris Roggia Jolly Club Fiat Uno Turbo 8h 7m 36s 21º Rallye de Portugal Vinho do Porto 11 to 14 March 1987Round 3 of the 1987 World Rally Championship 37 stages 597.67 km1 Markku Alén Ilkka Kivimäki Martini Lancia Lancia Delta HF 4WD 7h 9m 39s2 Jean Ragnotti Perre Thimonier Renault Sport Elf Renault 11 Turbo 7h 12m 32s3 Kenneth Eriksson Peter Diekmann Volkswagen Motorsport Volkswagen Golf GTI 16V 7h 14m 37s 22º Rallye de Portugal Vinho do Porto 1 to 6 March 1988Round 3 of the 1988 World Rally Championship 37 stages 589.89 km1 Miki Biasion Carlo Cassina Martini Lancia Lancia Delta Integrale 6h 44m 1s2 Alex Fiorio Luigi Pirollo Jolly Club Lancia Delta HF 4WD 6h 52m 47s3 Yves Loubet Jean-Bernard Vieu Jolly Club Lancia Delta HF 4WD 6h 53m 23s 23º Rallye de Portugal Vinho do Porto 28 February to 4 March 1989Round 3 of the 1989 World Rally Championship 37 stages 576.88 km1 Miki Biasion Tiziano Siviero Martini Lancia Lancia Delta Integrale 6h 47m 1s2 Markku Alén Ilkka Kivimäki Martini Lancia Lancia Delta Integrale 6h 57m 19s3 Alex Fiorio Luigi Pirollo Jolly Club Lancia Delta Integrale 7h 10m 19s
2002–2006 Rally out of World Rally Championship