Diogo Salvi brought the entertainment in Portugal, but also an authentic take on the realities of driving Rally1
Photography by M-Sport
Words by Luke Barry
There are no awards for entertainment in the World Rally Championship, but if there were, this season already has its winner.
And that would complete a promise Diogo Salvi made to DirtFish during Rally Portugal.
“Speed, you won’t get,” he laughed, “so it’s only entertainment. It’s the least I can give you guys.”
Salvi overdelivered. His self-deprecating wit at stage-end was mighty, making him an utter joy to have in the rally – even if in performance terms, he was far from the rest of the Rally1 cars.
But for a 55-year-old gentleman driver taking on his home round of the world championship, that doesn’t matter. Instead what we can glean from Salvi’s experience behind the wheel is just what is it like to tame a Rally1?
With over 100 starts in his rally career, and loads of experience in Rally2, Salvi provided DirtFish with an authentic take on what the step up is truly like.
Salvi admitted he struggled at times in the Rally1, but absolutely loved it
“It’s a brave new world, because everything is completely new,” Salvi said. “Even the stages I knew that I tested there with the Škoda [Rally2], I at a certain stage say, where the hell am I? Did they change this?
“So it was an adaptation and then of course the physical part, kaput.
“But it’s like everything in life, so you just need to get used to it and it is what it is,” he added.
“These cars, the performance, are tremendous monsters. But look, it’s fantastic in the sense that when you guys say, well, how were the conditions? Were they bad?
“You don’t feel anything. It’s like a sofa, you just [gestures going over the top] and it was very enjoyable and I like it very much.”
We would love to see Salvi experience it again – and so would he.
“I’m going to ask a big discount to Malcolm,” he laughs. “But, well, let’s see. But probably I want to repeat, yes. Absolutely.”
Words:Luke Barry
Tags: Diogo Salvi, Rally Portugal, Rally Portugal 2025, Rally1, WRC, WRC 2025
Publish Date May 29, 2025 DirtFish 
https://dirtfish-editorial.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com/2025/05/f15Z8VaI-WRC_POR_25__803-780x520.jpg May 29, 2025
Up Next
Facebook Conversations