Afternoon loop of stages cancelled due to security issues

Final three stages of today will not happen, organisers revealed in Portugal. Torrential rains turned stages into muddy sliding paths and what’s worse access roads were being cut of by the rivers and streams. I understand organisers decided against running another loop of three tests over fears of emergency vehicles not being able to cope with the conditions.

Earlier it was announced that last of the three stages was cancelled due to deep river crossings but later on they announced they cancelled entire lot of them.

This leaves Mikko Hirvonen in the lead ahead of Evgeny Novikov and Mads Ostberg. It remains to be see how will Rally 2 penalties be handled and how much time will Ford duo lose as a consequence.

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