Arganil was the final stage of the loop and tyre wear would be decisive. An upbeat Thierry Neuville completed his morning’s road opening duties with a solid stage time after managing his tyres well. That eventually proved to be quicker than all his Rally1 rivals and the Belgian finished the loop in second overall.
Sébastien Ogier suffered intercom issues, as Takamoto Katsuta completed the morning’s loop with a lead of 2.9 seconds over Neuville. Kalle Rovanperä held third and Ott Tänak and Ogier rounded off the top five after Dani Sordo lost hybrid power on his i20.
Car 11. NEUVILLE/WYDAEGHE
“I stick to my plan all the way along. We were expecting more humid conditions and more grip but I am really happy with my morning. After the shakedown it was not so great but now it feels okay. I tried to manage my tyres well. I had a good one.”
Car 33. EVANS/MARTIN
“It’s not going well. The feeling is not well in the car. It’s like that.”
Car 16. FOURMAUX/CORIA
“We have been taking care of them all the loop. I am not so happy about my side now. There was a lot of sweeping. I am happy with the loop. It is quite correct. We know many things happen on Friday afternoon in Portugal. We just follow it and Stay Classy WRC…”
Car 69. ROVANPERÄ/HALTTUNEN
“I can tell you one thing – sweat.”
Car 18. KATSUTA/JOHNSTON
“For sure, it is good to keep the position. It is going to be really tough. We try and keep pushing. I could push more but the same time I made some mess.”
Car 17. OGIER/LANDAIS
No intercom. “Somewhere in the stage. Not much (we can do) we change tyres..”
Car 13. MUNSTER/LOUKA
“This one is very difficult. I was hesitating a lot. We still have a better road position than the guy in front so now the guy in front will go faster. We need to improve. That’s what we are here for.”
Car 6. SORDO/CARRERA
“I did all the stage without hybrid. I lose a lot of time.”