The top three drivers took part in a press conference in the service park in front of hundreds of fans at the end of the second day.
They were also presented with a traditional dried Portuguese ham, on behalf of the office of the mayor of Ourique, the region through which much of the rally passes.
Sebastien Ogier, Volkswagen Motorsport, 1st
“I am feeling better and better. When I arrived on Monday, I really wasn’t sure if I would do the rally. No-one could tell me exactly what was wrong so I felt it was better to come and see if it gets better. Luckily, after the recce I started to feel a bit better.
“Also during the day today, I started to improve the set-up on the car with some changes to the suspension but there is still a very long day tomorrow. With the 52Km stage, run twice, a lot can still happen.
“I am feeling better and I hope that tonight I will have a good sleep. The last week, it was very difficult for me to sleep – I had a lot of pain with my throat and I was waking up every two hours. I came here with a lack of energy but I will drink a bit more Red Bull and I will be OK!
“I still have eight new tyres, like Jari and two more than Mikko. But still it will be tough.”
Jari-Matti Latvala, Volkswagen Motorsport, 2nd , +34.8sec
“It has been a good day and I am very satisfied. I was attacking a bit in the morning and the stage times were pretty good. In the afternoon, I tried to save tyres; the stages were quite demanding and I wasn’t pushing too much. But still in the last stage I got a puncture and had to drive 8Km with the puncture. It went down slowly so I didn't lose too much.
“The main thing is I now start to understand how you can push with the Polo WRC car. I have a really good feeling with the car. I know there are a few things I can still improve but the main thing is to be there fighting with these guys.
“I have a 30-second gap in front and the same behind. I will try to stay comfortable with the position. It is a challenging day, with 52Km stages and nothing is finished until you are at the finish. I need to follow how Mikko is pushing and try to adjust my speed to that. But we will need to be careful with the tyres.
“I would like to win for sure but I need to be realistic. I think first I need to get a podium and then, I can fight for the win.”
Mikko Hirvonen, Citroen Total Abu Dhabi WRT, 3rd +33.7sec
“The gap [to Latvala] is 33s but it will be tough for me in the morning. I don't have enough new tyres to do the two loops on new tyres, so in the morning, I have to start with two old tyres. It’s going to be a long tough day, especially with used tyres on the car.
“I tried to be at the maximum today but perhaps I have been a little frustrated with the speed of the VWs and have been over-driving myself and been too aggressive. Maybe I lost some time there.
“It's only four rallies but they [Volkswagen] are not dominating yet, even though they have been really strong. We won't be giving up just yet.”