The rally headquarters in Matosinhos was shrouded in cloud and light drizzle as the leading crews headed out of Coimbra and on to a road section to the first 12.35km Lousã stage. Missing from that line-up was Norwegian WRC2 driver Ole-Christian Veiby – he tested positive for Covid-19 on Thursday and was forced to withdraw from the rally and go into isolation.
Ogier tried to take advantage of cooler and overcast conditions and some damp patches under overhanging trees to post the target time of 9min 09.8sec but it was to no avail and he ceded 4.6 seconds to Neuville and 5.1 seconds to stage winner Tänak, despite the Estonian losing a few seconds with a half-spin and a stall. Hyundai duly claimed the top three positions after the stage.
Greensmith also set an impressive time in his M-Sport Ford and finished the stage in fourth. “The work we did on the test seems to have brought the car alive for me,” said the Briton. “Let’s just keep going..”