Sébastien Ogier was in determined mood and the Frenchman clocked the fastest time on the first run through Vieira do Minho to reduce Ott Tänak’s lead to just 4.4 seconds.
Thierry Neuville posted an impressive time of 10min 42.2sec but Kalle Rovanperä shaved 3.1 seconds off the Belgian’s run and that was sufficient for the Finn to overhaul Takamoto Katsuta and move into third place.
Sami Pajari managed to fend off a resurgent Elfyn Evans in the battle for sixth. The Finn beat the championship leader by 2.3 seconds.
M-Sport Ford’s Josh McErlean moved back in front of his team-mate Grégoire Munster and snatched eighth.
Road-sweeping duties on Saturday morning went to the returning Adrien Fourmaux (after Friday’s steering arm breakage), Diogo Salvi and Martinš Sesks before the leading Rally1 crews took centre stage. Fourmaux set the early target time of 10min 58.7sec.
Oliver Solberg increased his WRC2 lead to 54.3 seconds over Gus Greensmith.
Robert Virves (42) and Alexander Villanueve (65) failed to restart at TC11D after their problems on Friday.
Car 33. EVANS/MARTIN
“It was a nice stage this one. We try to enjoy a bit. Some slippery sections but it was okay.”
Car 1. NEUVILLE/WYDAEGHE
“I struggled to keep the rear in the line. I had a nice entry and a good balance but then you go wide. If I can improve that, it will be fun.”
Car 8. TÄNAK/JÄRVEOJA
“I can’t do much more. It is super complicated for me. I can’t drive like I should. That’s the way it is. Not enough harmony between us.”
Car 17. OGIER/LANDAIS
“I already know it won’t be an easy fight today.”
Car 16. FOURMAUX/CORIA
“Today is a different rally. Yesterday was bedrock and today is a sandy day. The grip is low and it is changing quite a lot.”
Car 69. ROVANPERÄ/HALTTUNEN
“Quite okay. I took some hards on this loop. It’s not too bad and we try our best to gain some positions.”
Car 18. KATSUTA/JOHNSTON
“Keep the stable pace and see what can happen. This is a different type of stage. No special plan for a
big push today.”
Car 5. PAJARI/SALMINEN
“It is cleaning. It was not so bad. The grip was quite okay.”
Car 13. MUNSTER/LOUKA
“Unlucky, not a lot of grip in there. We do some change. We made some change and it is not really biting.”
Car 22. SESKS/FRANCIS
“We changed a lot in the car during the night because we had nothing to lose. We don’t know if it is working.”
Car 55. MCERLEAN/TREACY
“Some way to wake you up in the morning. Quite low grip, but it is enjoyable. It’s good fun.”
Car 2. SALVI/CORONADO
“This is a stage I know. I tested here. It is a brave new world. I was going slow, too much power.”
Car 20. SOLBERG/EDMONDSON
“Just trying to keep it clean, I have very different tyres and I hope not to lose too much time this morning.
I do my best and then we see later.”
Car 39. GRYAZIN/ALEKSANDROV
“I just need to learn how to drive. It was a decent run. A little bit change since yesterday so I need to
understand what we are doing.”