Two laps on each lane of the famous Lousada track brought the curtain down on the day’s action in front of a massive crowd with the cars running in pairs to entertain the spectators and a live television audience.
Takamoto Katsuta beat Ott Tänak and Thierry Neuville was one-tenth of a second quicker than Esapekka Lappi. Dani Sordo eventually won the stage at the expense of a cautious overall leader Kalle Rovanperä, who had no intercom.
Oliver Solberg confirmed the overnight lead in WRC2 on a stage where Marco Bulacia was quickest of the front-runners in the WRC’s second category.
Car 11. NEUVILLE/WYDAEGHE
“Obviously I was not on a good tyre strategy this afternoon and I was driving on the slicks. With the crowd it was a great spectacle and that’s what we love”
Car 69. ROVANPERÄ/HALTTUNEN
“I don’t really feel today was so special. This one we took really carefully. I lost my intercom on the last one. Careful run through and nice to see so many fans here. It was amazing.”
Car 8. TÄNAK/JÄRVEOJA
“I lost the handbrake here. What a day! Amazing day…”
Car 6. SORDO/CARRERA
“It’s not my favourite but to see all these people here is on another level. It’s a nice stage. I am very happy for them and we beat Kalle here and that is nice for me and for them.”
Car 4. LAPPI/FERM
“It was funny to see how it develops over the two laps. Amazing amount of people.”
Car 18. KATSUTA/JOHNSTON
“That’s nice to finish. I spun after the finish but that’s okay. Just for fun…”
Car 20. GREENSMITH/ANDERSSON
“If I had taken the jump fast it could have been an easy win (against Solberg). After the first stage of the loop I didn’t think we would be here so we are quite lucky.”
Car 21. SOLBERG/EDMONDSON
“Very tricky, great to be here, I did a few doughnuts for the fans. It’s been a good day, consistent and super rough this afternoon. Just talking it steady. I went for a big push on the last stage.”
Car 23. SUNINEN/MARKKULA
“Been quite okay but the last stage was quite embarrassing. We had quite big issues and handbrake issues. It will be okay.”
Car 24. MIKKELSEN/ERIKSEN
“I think we have done a smart drive today and we saved some tyres on the last loop and we have six new ones for tomorrow. We compromised this afternoon for that.”
Car 26. ROSSEL/DUNAND
“Sometimes you can fight for the win and sometimes not. It’s like that. The most important is to understand why.”
Car 35. BULACIA/VALLEJO
“It’s a nice way to end the day. One happy moment after the puncture in Amarante, This is rallying and these things happen.”