Thousands of spectators braved the foggy conditions to be in situ for the start of the first pass through the legendary 11.18km Fafe stage.
Kalle Rovanperä realised that road cleaning was going to prevent him from being competitive on the final morning and the Finn opted to conserve his tyres for the Power Stage. He dropped 16.3 seconds to team-mate Takamoto Katsuta, who was running with no hybrid.
Dani Sordo continued to struggle in the tricky foggy conditions, although all the leading drivers erred on the side of caution with their pace notes and distance judgement into the corners.
Ott Tänak attacked in a bid to accumulate as many Sunday points as possible and the Estonian managed to beat Thierry Neuville by four seconds to claim the stage win. Sébastien Ogier’s lead was trimmed to 13.6 seconds and the Estonian closed in on the Frenchman for maximum Sunday points.
A flying Josh Mcerlean snatched the WRC2 lead by just one-tenth of a second from Jan Solans.
Stage record – Rovanperä (Toyota - 2023): 6min 26.5sec
Car 11. NEUVILLE/WYDAEGHE
“It’s not easy. With the fog in this stage, we know it quite well. I was missing some distances and hesitating a bit. It was a good run through. Plenty of people. I guess they have been here for three days already – probably!”
Car 33. EVANS/MARTIN
“Try and get what we can out of the day. Not easy with this fog and the grip is much lower than expected in here. It’s not easy.”
Car 16. FOURMAUX/CORIA
“I don’t take too much risk at the end to avoid mistakes. It was really fast at the end. Sometimes you have to change the pace notes and count the distance. It is quite intense. We need to get points in the championship so we will try and do a good stage (Power Stage).”
Car 8. TÄNAK/JÄRVEOJA
“It was getting surprisingly foggy on the top and then it was better. It is moving (fog) at the moment..”
Car 69. ROVANPERÄ/HALTTUNEN
“It’s clear that there is too much road cleaning today to go for points. The others are going to be so much faster. I am now saving the tyres for the Power Stage. That’s how we can help the team. Yesterday was shit at the end. These things happen. Sorry for the team. We try to do what we can today.”
Car 18. KATSUTA/JOHNSTON
“For sure, Kalle is trying to focus on something else. I have to push to try not to lose too much time (no hybrid) from the other drivers for the Sunday points.”
Car 17. OGIER/LANDAIS
“I think with the fog it is not completely relaxed to drive. We don’t see anybody with the fog.”
Car 13. MUNSTER/LOUKA
“Very tricky and very thick fog. The stage before it was a bit new for everyone and it levels it. But this one, they (rivals) know it very well.”
Car 6. SORDO/CARRERA
“It’s difficult when you don’t see the road in a very fast part. Many small corners you need to turn in the exact point. It is really difficult conditions.”
Car 21. ROSSEL/DANAND
“It’s not easy when you fight for nothing. A lot of fog in Fafe. You don’t remember the place. You know it is flat but when you see the visibility it is not easy. Two stages from the end. A mistake (this morning) to the chin. It’s like that. It’s a bit hard.”
Car 25. GRYAZIN/ALEKSANDROV
Appeared to have a wobbling wheel after a big jump. “I don’t hit anything. I need to check. I made a few mistakes on the first part of the stage.”
Car 27. KORHONEN/VIINIKKA
“Quite tricky with the fog and we have the same problem all weekend (engine issue.)”
Car 28. SOLANS/SANJUAN
“I think it will be very difficult. I am pushing as hard as I can. We started today with only two new tyres. We will keep fighting until the end.”
Car 29. JOONA/HUSSI
“Actually, it was a nice stage and we did quite an okay jump and here was some fun for the spectators. In the middle of the stage, there was a high level of fog. We slowed down – hopefully not too much. Hopefully it’s okay.”
Car 38. MCERLEAN/FULTON
“Good racing now. It has been a good morning’s work by me and James. We started with four new – he started with two. It’s WRC Portugal. You have to play the game sometimes.”
Car 36. ZALDIVAR/DER OHANNESIAN
“We need to still be clever. We are on a good position with good championship points. We will try and keep it like this and see if something happens.”