Ott Tänak continued to apply the pressure on second-placed Kalle Rovanperä on the second run through Felgueiras. The Estonian got the better of the Finn by 5.2 seconds and overhauled the double World Champion before the final Wolf Power Stage. Just 1.5 seconds separated the duo.
Overall leader Sébastien Ogier stayed clear of trouble, recorded the fifth quickest time and headed to the Fafe finale with a lead of 13.6 seconds.
Thierry Neuville dropped vital seconds on the deteriorating stage surface but retained fourth overall.
Takamoto Katsuta survived a scare when he clouted the rear of the car on the right-hand side of the track and dislodged a large rock. The incident cost the Japanese around 28 seconds but he retained fifth place.
Sixth-placed Elfyn Evans continued with his positive morning momentum and edged three-tenths of a second further clear of Toyota team-mate Sami Pajari. The Welshman headed to Fafe just 46.2 seconds behind Katsuta.
M-Sport Ford’s Grégoire Munster dropped 2.3 seconds to team-mate Martinš Sesks but maintained a comfortable ninth place behind Josh McErlean in the third of the Pumas. McErlean was the quickest of the four Ford Puma drivers.
Stage-opener Adrien Fourmaux was 6.4 seconds quicker on his second pass than he had been on the cleaning and rutted stage in the morning. Diogo Salvi was also on a better pace and shaved seven seconds off his earlier pass.
WRC2 front-runner Oliver Solberg took a lead of 49.1 seconds over Yohan Rossel into the final stage.
Further down the field and running well behind the Rally1 crews, talented Swede Mille Johansson had closed the gap on Australian long-term leader Taylor Gill in the FIA Junior WRC category.