The first of two passes through the famous Fafe stage was next on the agenda. Many spectators had camped out overnight under the stars to obtain the best viewing locations for one of the most exciting spectacles in the WRC calendar – the legendary Fafe jump by the flying finish.
Ott Tänak still complained about the lack of a hybrid but the Estonian managed to get the better of Takamoto Katsuta and Pierre-Louis Loubet. Thierry Neuville was able to continue but there was no speed from the i20 and the dejected Belgian haemorrhaged another one and a half minutes. One plus point for the Belgian was the large time gap between his Hyundai and sixth-placed Gus Greensmith, the leading WRC2 runner.
Kalle Rovanperä won the stage in a time of 6min 42.1sec. It was his ninth fastest time of the weekend. Oliver Solberg reduced Gus Greensmith’s grip on the WRC2 lead to 15.5 seconds with the fastest time in his category.
Car 11. NEUVILLE/WYDAEGHE
“No power. Last night I had power. Now I have nothing. Not much to say.”
Car 69. ROVANPERÄ/HALTTUNEN
“Of course, we will try our best (to win Power Stage). The stage felt much more slippery than I was
expecting.”
Car 8. TÄNAK/JÄRVEOJA
“We have no hybrid. It likes to sleep. It’s been too long rally for this thing…”
Car 6. SORDO/CARRERA
“We are not taking the stage like last year. We need to be careful now and with only two cars it’s a bit
more complicated.”
Car 4. LAPPI/FERM
“You need to be careful because you have some gravel banks. Some of them you can lean on a bit but it
is dangerous. There is no real space to go wide.”
Car 18. KATSUTA/JOHNSTON
“It’s very slippery and a lot of loose stuff on top of the surface. Some cleaning. I try to push and have fun.”
Car 7. LOUBET/LANDAIS
“I struggle a bit with the rear in the stages. Let’s see on the second pass with the cleaning and I hope a
bit more grip.”
Car 20. GREENSMITH/ANDERSSON
Loses 6.6 seconds to Solberg and lost the bumper in the stage. “I’ve lost most of my power steering…”
Car 21. SOLBERG/EDMONDSON
“I have to try, don’t I? I don’t give up. The previous stage I had some bad tyres and I could not take some
time. After what happened I try to put on a show for the fans and try to put on a good show and catch.”
Car 23. SUNINEN/MARKKULA
“It was a good test run and I was taking it careful with the jumps.”
Car 24. MIKKELSEN/ERIKSEN
“The car feels soft and lazy and floating and I don’t feel I’m connected to the ground. Not really
comfortable.”
Car 26. ROSSEL/DUNAND
“It’s all the time fun to go in Fafe. It’s not the position I want.”
Car 29. VIRVES/MAGHALÃES
Retired in SS16.