Balão was once again the first of three stages, this time though, it offered more rocks, more ruts and more of a challenge for the drivers. Despite being more aggressive than it was earlier in the day, Jari-Matti Latvala didn’t lose his lead of the rally, but he did fail to win the stage, forced instead to settle for second place, 2.8s behind a familiar winner.
The win went to fellow Volkswagen Motorsport driver and today’s man on a mission, Sebastien Ogier. Running two soft tyres seemed to work in the Frenchman’s favour, as he stormed the stage in 11:43, despite being at the front of the field.
Third quickest over the increasingly rough route was another Volkswagen, this time piloted by the consistently rapid Andreas Mikkelsen. He battled the rocks and ruts, finishing 4.1s behind Ogier.
In WRC2 the landscape spelled drama, with Karl Kruuda managing to roll his Citroen DS3 R5 early in the stage, forcing retirement. Valeriy Gorban suffered a puncture which, while less dramatic, still set the driver back.
It wasn’t all disaster though, as Nasser Al-Attiyah took another stage win in WRC2, with Esapekka Lappi coming home 8.0s behind to claim second place in class. Third fastest in WRC2 over the stage went to Pontus Tideman.