Tänak and Ogier stopped to change flat tyres near the start of the second pass through Góis, where Breen also punctured on the boulder-strewn surface and continued to drive on the rim. Katsuta spun on a right-hander shortly after the start, as Neuville escaped the carnage to set the target time of 13min 16.3sec.
But Evans avoided the carnage around him to set the fastest time and extend his lead to 5.8 seconds. Loubet stayed out of trouble to card the second quickest run.
Car 69. ROVANPERÄ/HALTTUNEN
“It is like being in Turkey. Not nice, really rough conditions.”
Car 11. NEUVILLE/WYDAEGHE
“Really, really rough. I was very cautious at the beginning. I did not want to damage the tyres.”
Car 42. BREEN/NAGLE
Continued to drive on a front-left punctured tyre and dropped 28.9 seconds to Neuville. “The stage is completely destroyed. It could have been 150 places, with boulders like this.”
Car 8. TÄNAK/JÄRVEOJA
Stopped 2.6km into the stage to change a puncture and dropped 1min 39.4sec. “Just in the beginning in the rough section, the tyre came off the rim.”
Car 18. KATSUTA/JOHNSTON
“Too much inside and I took a ditch too much and I had a spin. The stages are very battered. Who can enjoy this rally?”
Car 44. GREENSMITH/ANDERSSON
“It’s the roughest stage I have ever come across, ever. We saw on the recce it was in a bad condition. Two more stages and the tyres are going to be shot.”
Car 1. OGIER/VEILLAS
Stopped to change a puncture 4.2km into the stage. “It’s rough and we drive Pirelli… A good combination…. “
Car 33. EVANS/MARTIN
Extends his lead to 5.8 seconds. “I tried to be as clean as possible, Very difficult to know what to do for the best to be honest. Pretty bad in there.”
Car 16. FOURMAUX/CORIA
“This is what I expected. I am quite happy. The conditions are quite difficult and we had a puncture on the stage before and did not have a spare tyre.”
Car 7. LOUBET/LANDAIS
Second fastest of the first 10 Rally1 cars through the stage. “It’s strange because we were trying to avoid all the punctures.”
Car 6. SORDO/CARRERA
Sixth overall and sixth fastest time. “It’s not possible to drive. For me, I did not want to make any mistakes and I took it a bit easy towards the end.”
Car 21. SUNINEN/MARKKULA
Continued to lead WRC2 by 13.9 seconds at the start of the stage