Kalle Rovanperä set a devastating time of 11min 22.4sec on the first run through Paredes, sections of which had been used on the Shakedown stage on Thursday. That stage time enabled the Finn to reduce Sébastien Ogier’s outright lead to 16.5 seconds.
Thierry Neuville began his morning attack and he beat Ott Tänak by 1.7 seconds. The Estonian had rectified his power-steering issues overnight but saw his grip on third pegged back to 6.8 seconds.
Takamoto Katsuta consolidated his fifth place. Elfyn Evans was in a fast pace from the outset and he beat Toyota team-mate Sami Pajari by 7.8 seconds to trim the Finn’s grip on sixth place to 9.7 seconds.
M-Sport Ford’s Josh McErlean suffered intercom issues but still managed to increase his advantage over team-mate Grégoire Munster by 4.4 seconds.
Adrien Fourmaux continued his road-sweeping duties for a second day and set the target time of 11min 42.4sec. Martinš Sesks suffered a rear-left puncture.
WRC2 leader Oliver Solberg safely negotiated the morning’s opener and increased his lead over Gus Greensmith to 56.5 seconds. Third-placed Yohan Rossel closed to within 1.8 seconds of the Briton.
Federico Ensslin (84) did not restart this morning.
Car 33. EVANS/MARTIN
“We tried to change the style a little bit. Let’s see if it works. Nothing has changed with the car. It’s early days yet.”
Car 1. NEUVILLE/WYDAEGHE
“It was okay but there is lots of cleaning There is not much we can do. Here is much more grip than last year.”
Car 8. TÄNAK/JÄRVEOJA
“That’s how it is…”
Car 17. OGIER/LANDAIS
“First stage of the day, I was not really taking the risk for punctures. It’s a good time for him, for sure.”
Car 16. FOURMAUX/CORIA
“I am trying. I will do my best to be sure. It is not ideal.”
Car 69. ROVANPERÄ/HALTTUNEN
“The gap is big. It didn’t feel so good in the car. I am surprised with the time.”
Car 18. KATSUTA/JOHNSTON
“It is okay...”
Car 5. PAJARI/SALMINEN
“Simply quite tricky somehow. Nothing special to say. Some sections were quite fine and some sections. I was struggling a bit.”
Car 13. MUNSTER/LOUKA
“It depends where you are on the stage. Some places it is slippery and other places you have more grip. It is difficult to judge the grip. We have to be careful. We only have one tyre.”
Car 22. SESKS/FRANCIS
A mid-stage low tyre pressure indicator for the Latvian and he dropped 15.6 seconds to Fourmaux with a Rear-left puncture. “No idea where it happened. At one point I just felt it. I don’t know. Yesterday we had a chat with our manager and we only needed five tyres.” Sesks has no spares now for the rest of the day.
Car 55. MCERLEAN/TREACY
“I don’t know what’s wrong. I can’t get pace notes. It (intercom) started cracking halfway. It’s not ideal.”
Car 2. SALVI/CORONADO
A half-spin for the Portuguese in a left-hander and then a second stoppage when he had to do a three point turn near the end of the stage. He dropped nearly two minutes to Fourmaux. “I thought yesterday was the worst I could drive. Today is even worse – very early!”