Thierry Neuville was one second slower than his morning’s run but it was enough to beat Elfyn Evans by 9.2 seconds. But Sébastien Ogier was on a late afternoon charge with the hybrid reset and working again on the Yaris and the Frenchman moved ahead of Ott Tänak and Takamoto Katsuta with the stage win.
Kalle Rovanperä maintained his lead to take into the night halt but this time it was over Ogier; the Frenchman finished the day one second behind! Dani Sordo manged to fend of Neuville to keep hold of fifth place.
In WRC2, both Will Creighton and Marco Bulacia stopped in the previous stage. Despite an ongoing misfire issue that cost him time in the middle of the stage, Oliver Solberg beat Yohan Rossel by 5.3 seconds to lead WRC2 overnight by 7.3 seconds. A spin cost Gus Greensmith time but he maintained third in the category.
Car 33. EVANS/MARTIN
“Nothing has gone our way today. We have to keep going and try to learn for Saturday and focus on Sunday for some points. We have to pay the price for the bad Friday. We have to learn something from the day, that’s it.”
Car 16. FOURMAUX/CORIA
“I feel a bit frustrated at the end of the day because we are too far for tomorrow. It’s a shame but I have been happy with the pace we had today. We have been pushing on every stage.”
Car 8. TÄNAK/JÄRVEOJA
“Actually, roads have been really nice today. No roughness and much better than previous years. I am trying to do my best. It has been much nicer than other years.”
Car 69. ROVANPERÄ/HALTTUNEN
“It has been a great battle the whole day. I don’t think we are where we should be but my tyres are in bad conditions on the rear axle. We were just surviving. It is only fun if you are leading.”
Car 18. KATSUTA/JOHNSTON
“Not so easy day. Of course, there is a long way to go. Tomorrow, there will be different conditions. l try and enjoy and push.”
Car 17. OGIER/LANDAIS
“I was frustrated losing the hybrid in the previous stage That cost me some time. It is nice to finish the day like this. I was not sure it would be okay. It was just a reset.”
Car 13. MUNSTER/LOUKA
“We learned plenty of things in terms of the pace notes and improving the set-up with my kind of driving. We will now be opening the road but that is part of the learning process.”
Car 6. SORDO/CARRERA
“It was okay. To lose a position is never nice so I did my best. I can be happy with our day. We are here to drive and we have to continue with what we have. We don’t like excuse we have to drive.”
Car 20. SOLBERG/EDMONDSON
“Same problem (misfire), in the middle, it cut out completely. I lost nearly 10 seconds. I lost a lot of time. Tomorrow, should be no problem..”
Car 21. ROSSEL/DANAND
“I think it is not an easy day but a good day for us and the team. We work a lot before the rally. To fight with Škoda in Portugal is not bad, I think. Tomorrow, it is very loose and I can fight.”
Car 22. GREENSMITH/ANDERSSON
Lost around 12 seconds in the stage. “I had a high-speed spin. I almost caught it but it caught the front bumper and caught us out. The mechanics fixed the starter motor issue at lunch.”
Car 25. GRYAZIN/ALEKSANDROV
“I want to fight. We will change the settings. Maybe tomorrow will be better.”
Car 34. BULACIA/VALLEJO
Stopped in SS8.
Car 39. CREIGHTON/REGAN
Stopped in SS8.