The Montim stage had caused chaos in the morning with the leaders of both categories falling by the wayside. Grégoire Munster admitted that his earlier issue had been fuel-related and he bettered his first run through Montim by 8.5 seconds.
Dani Sordo shadowed team-mate Thierry Neuville through the stage and headed for Amarante 5.8 seconds behind the third-placed Belgian. The gripping duel between Ott Tänak and Sébastien Ogier continued unabated: the Estonian clipped another 2.6 seconds off the Frenchman’s advantage to reduce the lead to 7.8 seconds.
In WRC2, Rossel got the better of Josh Mcerlean and Jan Solans but the Irishman extended his advantage over Solans to 9.3 seconds. Yohan Rossel was a further 23.2 seconds adrift.
Car 11. NEUVILLE/WYDAEGHE
“The position we are in, we need to get through and carry on driving without making mistakes. There’s nothing to push for today and that makes it very challenging.”
Car 33. EVANS/MARTIN
“I would say we have made some good steps. That’s good. It is difficult to find the ultimate rhythm. Still, it’s getting a bit better.”
Car 16. FOURMAUX/CORIA
“I have been enjoying a lot this stage. I like this stage. There is still some sweeping. All I can do is enjoy.”
Car 8. TÄNAK/JÄRVEOJA
“He must have some trouble (Seb). We didn’t do anything special. We were clean. The grip was quite low.”
Car 17. OGIER/LANDAIS
“It will be an important one (Amarante). This stage, our car was not working super well.”
Car 13. MUNSTER/LOUKA
“It’s still so loose. A good improvement for us but the road conditions are getting so much better for the other cars. At least we improved our own time. The problem this morning was fuel-related but it is solved now.”
Car 6. SORDO/CARRERA
“It was better and I enjoy a little bit more. It’s okay. We don’t want to take any risks for nothing. The places are quite clear. At the moment, it is an amazing result for the team. That is the target at the end.”
Car 21. ROSSEL/DANAND
“After his crash (Gus), the plan is to come back to the second position. We push but the guys behind are very fast this morning. Let’s see, the next one is quite challenging.”
Car 25. GRYAZIN/ALEKSANDROV
“It is still slippery. We changed something but let’s see on the next one, Amarante. I struggled here to be honest, I almost went off on the same place as (Oliver) Solberg went off this morning.”
Car 27. KORHONEN/VIINIKKA
A slight ongoing misfire on the car. “Now the car (engine) is better.”
Car 28. SOLANS/SANJUAN
“We re trying to do our best. We are enjoying the ride. Hopefully, we can fight for the win. I am doing my best. I hope it will be enough.”
Car 29. JOONA/HUSSI
“It was quite an okay stage, a bit of ruts but we enjoyed a lot. We have to try to be clever and be fast in the next one.”
Car 38. MCERLEAN/FULTON
“There’s no point panicking at this stage. We had a clean run, nothing crazy. We are looking forward to the big one. It’s a big dream to be here..”