Hyundai’s Ott Tänak extended his lead in the 58th Rally of Portugal to 2.5 seconds after another quickest time in the Lousa stage (SS3).
Road-sweeping duties continued to hamper Elfyn Evans and the Welshman ceded a little time yet again to team-mate and second-placed Kalle Rovanperä. The stage surface was still damp and slightly muddy in shady areas under tree cover and Evans was able to get the better of Thierry Neuville and Sébastien Ogier.
The second quickest time enabled Adrien Fourmaux to move into third place at the expense of Evans.
Car 33. EVANS/MARTIN
“Okay, quite mixed conditions in the trees and quite muddy in some places. Let’s see what the others do.”
Car 1. NEUVILLE/WYDAEGHE
“I don’t know. I thought I had a good stage to be honest. It is a hard surface and low grip. Maybe not enough grip.”
Car 8. TÄNAK/JÄRVEOJA
“I try to enjoy. Quite okay. Some surprises with the muddy places. It has not dried out as much as we expected.”
Car 17. OGIER/LANDAIS
“I tried on this one as the feeling was a little bit better but we are still slower. At the moment it is difficult to say.”
Car 16. FOURMAUX/CORIA
“The gaps are so close. It’s a really good fight altogether. It is nice to follow. We need to be faster.”
Car 69. ROVANPERÄ/HALTTUNEN
“This one was certainly worse and a more difficult feeling with the car. I am struggling with the understeer.”
Car 18. KATSUTA/JOHNSTON
“A bit easy driving actually and not many mistakes. Some places it is still muddy and you have to guess which ones are slippery and muddy.
Car 5. PAJARI/SALMINEN
“Nothing so special. Just I took it careful with some slippery surprises in there. Not so great but we tried to have a steady pace.”
Car 13. MUNSTER/LOUKA
“Quite bad. It’s getting more muddy and more muddy. Even when it is not I don’t get lateral grip. We need to find a solution.”
Car 22. SESKS/FRANCIS
“Two hards (tyres) on this one to balance it. I don’t know if it was the right call but it was unfortunate what happened (SS2 – puncture).”
Car 55. MCERLEAN/TREACY
“It’s coming slowly and surely and it’s nice to get in the rhythm after the first one. The conditions under the trees are different. It hasn’t dried as much as we thought.”