While there was plenty of action going on in the main field, there was also a lot of action in WRC2. At the start of the day, Elfyn Evans was back on the expected pace, having made changes to his car overnight. Teemu Suninen was fastest on the first stage of the day, with Evans second, Tidemand third and Scott Pedder fourth, less than 10 seconds covering the four cars.
The next stage went to Evans, with Suninen second and Tidemand third, again the trio separated by less than five seconds. However, the Welshman’s run would come to an end on the third stage, as he rolled his Fiesta, handing the stage win to Tidemand. So at the midday service, the Swedish driver held a lead of 1m22.2s over Nicolas Fuchs, with Marius Aasen third.
The first stage of the second loop was relatively static but it was the second stage where the drama began to unfold. Tidemand picked up a puncture and elected to stop and change the relevant wheel, dropping almost two minutes in the process. He also lost the lead to Fuchs, who took a slender 2.6-second advantage.
However, on the last stage of the day, a re-run of the longest of the rally, Tidemand again set the pace, going through the stage fastest, more than 30 seconds quicker than Fuchs, re-claiming the lead and heading into the final day with an advantage of 32 seconds over the fellow Skoda driver. Aasen is in third place, a further 2m24.8s back.
In WRC3, the day was dominated by Martin Koci in the morning and Simone Tempestini in the afternoon. Tempestini started the day leading the class but lost his brakes on the first loop and with it, the lead. Koci immediately took the head of the field while Tempestini continued to lose time, dropping almost two minutes behind. However, he clearly repaired his car for the long stage, which he won and reclaimed 25.8 seconds in one stage alone. In the afternoon, Tempestini won all three stages, to close the gap back to just 30.8seconds behind Koci. Folb remains in third place, 26.8 seconds further back.
In the Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy, the placings remain relatively static, with local hero Bernardo Sousa holding first place, from Welshman Osian Pryce and Max Vatanen in third.