Brighter conditions were prevalent for the start of the Montim stage where Grégoire Munster complained of road-sweeping duties, Elfyn Evans survived a slow half-spin at a hairpin and Thierry Neuville also half-spun and then stalled at a hairpin and his i20 suffered minor front damage and a tyre off the rim. Takamoto Katsuta also half-spun into a hairpin with the front of the car clipping the banking.
But an inspired Ott Tänak continued to push hard and finished the stage half a second behind stage winner Sébastien Ogier.
But drama was unfolding on the stage behind: Kalle Rovanperä got out of phase on a fast corner, clipped the banking and the impact launched the Toyota into the trees, where it landed on its side.
Minutes later, Solberg, obviously distracted by what he had seen, clipped the banking on the left-side of the stage and it flipped the car into a series of violent rolls. The Škoda came to rest on its wheels, facing the wrong way in the stage, but the accident had wrecked the Swede’s WRC2 aspirations and gifted a narrow lead to Rossel. Rovanperä’s crash also lifted five-time event winner Ogier into the outright rally lead for the first time.
Pierre-Louis Loubet, Marco Bulacia and Teemu Suninen failed to restart in WRC2 after their accidents on Friday.
Car 11. NEUVILLE/WYDAEGHE
Stalled with a slow spin into a tight left-hand corner and then front damage and a tyre off the rim. “I just misjudged the grip on the braking and ran a bit wide and stalled and then I made another mistake at a hairpin. Two mistakes in one stage. Not good.”
Car 33. EVANS/MARTIN
Half-spin for Evans early in the stage. “Just a slow junction and we got pulled in by the inside line and it pulled the car in at slow speed. No damage. I was surprised how loose and slippery it was.”
Car 16. FOURMAUX/CORIA
“That was enjoyable. There is so much loose today. It is really slippery. I made some changes on the car before that one because I was not happy on the first one - ride height, dampers. Everything I can do for now.”
Car 8. TÄNAK/JÄRVEOJA
“I try my best. It is coming really hard. It is a big job, wide everywhere. I am pretty sure it is not the fastest way but it is the best I can.”
Car 69. ROVANPERÄ/HALTTUNEN
“The Toyota got out of phase on a fast corner and was launched on its side into the trees on the side of the stage. "
Car 18. KATSUTA/JOHNSTON
Half-spin into a hairpin with the front of the car clipping the banking. “Spin and another place I stalled once. Not very clean and quite frustrating. A little bit more slippery than the first one.”
Car 17. OGIER/LANDAIS
“On the first one we lost a lot of time. Kalle was much better awake than us this morning. All the gaps are super close. It’s a tricky stage with my areas with slippery braking.”
Car 13. MUNSTER/LOUKA
“Sweeping, sweeping, sweeping. Never experiencing that much before.”
Car 6. SORDO/CARRERA
“I was driving really bad at the end. Braking, throttle, braking throttle, like an idiot.”
Car 20. SOLBERG/EDMONDSON
Hit the banking with the back of the car shortly after the Rovanperä accident, spun wildly and rolled with the car coming to rest on its wheels facing the wrong direction in the stage with serious suspension damage.
Car 21. ROSSEL/DANAND
“It’s crazy, 100 metres you have two guys leading…it’s crazy. It’s a short stage, so fast and the grip is very low. Very narrow.”
Car 22. GREENSMITH/ANDERSSON
“To be honest, as soon as I saw Oliver off I struggled to find a rhythm. I backed off and took it cautious. Now it’s a two-way battle.”
Car 25. GRYAZIN/ALEKSANDROV
“It’s like some battlefield. You see one car out and you see another one out. You see lines that are not on the stage.”