Great start for Brendan at Rally Portugal

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Brendan Reeves, Rally Portugal, WRC AcademyBrendan and Rhianon's WRC Academy campaign has kicked off with Rally Portugal's opening stage, the 3.27 kilometre Super Special around the streets of Lisbon.

Watched by 30,000 spectators, it was an exciting introduction to the top level of the sport for the Aussie duo, but they weren't overawed by the situation and finished the stage in third position, just point seven of a second behind the leading Academy driver.

The lead up to the day's opening stage had been a busy one - the Academy crews travelled from the rally base near Faro to Lisbon by bus to complete their reconnaissance of the Super Special stage - in golf buggies!  Brendan then took part in the official WRC press conference after being asked to be the Academy representative for the first event.  It was then time to get the rally underway with the Super Special before the teams headed back to Faro.

 

The rally proper starts today with six stages - three stages run twice each - and another six stages (again, three stages run twice each) on Saturday. The rally schedule is listed below with Australian Eastern Daylight Saving times in brackets).

We'll have regular updates on the site throughout the rally, so please check back to keep up to date with Brendan and Rhianon's progress.

Visit Brendan's Photo Gallery for photos from Rally de Portugal


Rally de Portugal

Friday, 25 March:

9:05: SS2 "Santa Clara I" - 22.99 Kms (AEDT 8:05pm Fri 25th)
9:53: SS3 "Ourique I" - 20.27 Kms (AEDT 8:53pm Fri 25th)
11:06: SS4 "Felizes I" - 21.31 Kms (AEDT 10:06pm Fri 25th)
12:35: Service Park Entrance / Exit 13:20 Service Park. (AEST 11:35pm Fri 25th)
14:25 SS5: "Santa Clara II" - 22.99 Kms (AEDT 1:25am Sat 26th)
15:13 SS6: "Ourique II" - 20.27 Kms (AEDT 2:13am Sat 26th)
16:26 SS7: "Felizes II" - 21.31 Kms (AEDT 3:26am Sat 26th)
Entrance to Parc Ferme 17:55 (AEDT 4:55am Sat 26th)

Saturday, 26 March:

10:17: SS8 "Almodóvar I" - 26.23 Kms (AEDT 9:17pm Sat 26th)
11:10: SS9 "Vascao I" - 25.26 Kms (AEDT 10:10pm Sat 26th)
12:00: SS10 "Loulé I" - 22.56 Kms (AEDT 11:00pm Sat 26th)
13:25: Service Park Entrance / 14:00 Departure from Service Park. (AEDT 0:25am Sun 27th)
15:02: SS11 "Almodóvar II" - 26.23 Kms (AEDT 2:02am Sun 27th)
15:55: SS12 "Vascao I" - 25.26 Kms (AEDT 2:55am Sun 27th)
16:45: SS10 "Loulé II" - 22.56 Kms (AEDT 3:45am Sun 27th)
Entrance to Parc Ferme 18:00  Final WRC Academy. (AEDT 5:00am Sun 27th)