The Rally de Portugal gained notoriety in the 1970s and 1980s for issues with crowd control. Spectators frequently stood close to the roadway during stages, leading to numerous near-collisions. In 1986, a tragic accident during the rally prompted scrutiny of the Group B cars and ultimately contributed to the class’s demise following the death of Henri Toivonen at the Tour de Corse later that year.
During the 1986 Rally de Portugal, Portuguese driver Joaquim Santos lost control of his Ford RS200 on the “Lagoa Azul” stage. “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. Former world champion Timo Salonen admitted at the '86 edition that he was scared to run first on the road. Walter Röhrl stated, “You just have to see the crowd as a wall and not as spectators.”
Further incidents occurred in 1987 when a privately entered car driven by Joaquim Guedes entered the crowd, resulting in one fatality and twelve injuries. Crowd control improved in the early 1990s, with spectators becoming more aware of the risks involved.
In the 1980s, the rally included a special stage at the Autódromo do Estoril.
The Rally de Portugal was not part of the World Rally Championship between 2002 and 2006, being replaced by Rallye Deutschland in 2002. Organisers announced intentions to rejoin the WRC in 2005, switching locations to the Algarve region. This change meant the rally was held entirely on gravel, a shift unpopular with Portuguese fans who considered the Algarve stages less exciting, leading to lower attendance. The event ran as a WRC candidate event in 2006 and was formally included in the 2007 calendar on 5 July 2006.
The 2007 Rally Portugal, the fifth round of the season, was won by Citroën Total’s Sébastien Loeb. After a year in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge schedule, the rally returned to the WRC calendar for the 2009 season, taking place around Faro in the Algarve region. Jari-Matti Latvala led the 2009 rally before a significant crash, rolling his Ford Focus WRC 17 times down a mountainside; Loeb eventually won the rally.
The 2020 edition of the rally was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The rally has transitioned between locations, initially held in various areas, then moving to the Algarve between 2007 and 2014, and subsequently returning to the north of Portugal. Originally a mixed asphalt and gravel event, it is now held entirely on gravel surfaces.
The corpus states that Rally de Portugal has been awarded “The Best Rally in the World” five times, but does not specify the awarding body or the years in which these awards were given.
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