Cars tackled the super special in pairs in front of a massive crowd. Neuville continued with his drive shaft issues, as Greensmith collected a puncture and Katsuta set the early target time of 2min 38.5sec.
Evans was fastest again and headed into the night halt with a 13.6-second lead. Mikkelsen topped the times in WRC2.
Cars tackled the side-by-side stage in pairs at five-minute intervals.
Car 69. ROVANPERÄ/HALTTUNEN
“It was not what we expected. To be honest we were doing a good job. The team prepared the car to be strong for these conditions. It is good to be strong and fast.”
Car 11. NEUVILLE/WYDAEGHE
Continued with his drive shaft issue. “We could have been in the fight for the rally. But we had this issue. We’re missing the points at the end of the year and mainly due to small technical issues. I cannot do more than this to be honest. It is frustrating.”
Car 42. BREEN/NAGLE
“It’s been incredibly tough day for everybody, We had so many problems but the speed has been good, so I am happy with that.”
Car 8. TÄNAK/JÄRVEOJA
“A demanding day Getting some technical trouble with the transmission and some punctures. Altogether it has been challenging.”
Car 18. KATSUTA/JOHNSTON
“Very tough. I didn’t expect this much tough. Tomorrow we still have long stages. I try to enjoy and stay on the road.”
Car 44. GREENSMITH/ANDERSSON
Tyre off the rim on the stage. “I don’t know what the problem is. How do you get a puncture in the super special without touching anything? I have a spare one.”
Car 33. EVANS/MARTIN
“Pretty happy to be here, quite extreme conditions and everyone trying to pick their way through. It was a lottery to be honest. You can always say you could have gone faster but it’s difficult to know.”
Car 16. FOURMAUX/CORIA
“We had good confidence for the second pass and the stage five was nice and at the end we got a puncture, Then we drive through the stages and we didn’t have any more spare tyres. It was a bit like Kenya, I just drove..”
Car 7. LOUBET/LANDAIS
“It was good. The last two years were difficult. Most of the time we were two seconds per kilometres behind. You start to think it could be you... We will continue like this.”
Car 6. SORDO/CARRERA
“It was really difficult conditions. I was trying to keep the car in the road and not have any problems. Let’s see what happens on the long day tomorrow.”
Car 20. MIKKELSEN/ERIKSEN
“Something wrong with the engine running on three cylinders. We are missing power on the straights and out of the corners.”
Car 21. SUNINEN/MARKKULA
“The whole day has been pretty good. Unfortunately, we got that puncture on that hairpin. That’s rallying...”
Car 23. SOLBERG/EDMONDSON
“It was very fun. Great to put on a show for the fans. I love rallycross as well. Very slippery as well. I was quite surprised.”
Car 24. BULACIA/OHANNESIAN
“It was, I think, the most difficult day of my rally carer. It was worse than Turkey. We are happy that we are at the end of this day. I hope tomorrow will be a bit more easy and better for us.”
Car 25. KAJETANOWICZ/SZCZEPANIAK
“It was nice. Two situations and Bulacia when he changed the wheel and he start in front of us. We see the car when we started and we see dust and that was it. I hope the organiser can be fair and will change the time. We will see.”
Car 26. ROSSEL/SARREAUD
Third overall in WRC2 at the end of the day. “It was a hard day, maybe the most hard of my career. A lot of rocks on the road. The plan was to follow with no mistakes. I am third and we will see tomorrow.”
Car 27. INGRAM/DREW
“It’s been one of the most difficult days of both our careers. Really enjoyed that and its amazing to see so many people.”
Car 28. SOLANS/SANJUAN
“My day has been terrible to be honest, We had a broken diff and then a broken anti-roll bar and no handbrake on this stage. Hopefully tomorrow will be a new day.”