A short run through Lousã completed the morning’s loop of three stages before a remote service and regroup in Arganil.
Elfyn Evans safely negotiated the stage in 4min 37.1sec to maintain sixth place but he dropped another 1.7 seconds to the in-form Sami Pajari. Oliver Solberg nibbled two-tenths out of the Finn’s time but slipped to fifth place.
Adrien Fourmaux ran third quickest in a time of 4min 33.0sec and extended his lead over Pajari to 7.7 seconds. But the stage win went to Thierry Neuville in a time of 4min 32.5sec, as Sébastien Ogier was second quickest and regained second place. Neuville also moved ahead of Solberg to grab fourth.
Rain actually started falling in the stage for the first of the WRC2 cars. Yohan Rossel was the last driver to benefit from drier conditions.
Teemu Suninen was fastest in WRC2 on the Arganil stage and closed to within 0.7 seconds of the category-leading Lancia driver Nikolay Gryazin. Jan Solans slipped to third but topped the WRC Challenger section heading to Lousã.
Ali Türkkan continued to lead WRC3 and the Junior WRC category after the first stage of the morning.
Car 18. KATSUTA/JOHNSTON
“A little bit quicker, for sure. The stage is totally different. It feels very strange. Not really happy.”
Car 33. EVANS/MARTIN
“Quite different to the rest of the rally really. Quite a few changes to the surface, like cobbles in places. It was quite okay.”
Car 99. SOLBERG/EDMONDSON
“The feeling is awful. Quite a few loose rocks around and dampness in some places and more grip than I thought in other places. Yesterday, there was much more grip. Maybe also not the perfect tyre choice. But we are still in the fight, so it’s okay.”
Car 5. PAJARI/SALMINEN
“Yesterday wasn’t the best but we tried to find something for today and the feeling is really nice in the car. The times have been nice today. I just try and keep the same speed.”
Car 16. FOURMAUX/CORIA
“It’s very nice, a good start of the rally for now. I am very pleased and we had some good decisions with the strategy with the team. That is very positive.”
Car 1. OGIER/LANDAIS
“We tried a bit more on this one. We need to make some changes (dampers) because the pace is not what I want to want.”
Car 11. NEUVILLE/WYDAEGHE
“It’s a good stage. I am trying and we are changing the car a little bit. We will see if we have time in the service for bigger changes. We also need to get the weather information. It could be a tricky afternoon with the risk of rain and tyre choice could be tricky. We have to make the good choice.”
Car 95. ARMSTRONG/BYRNE
“This one was a bit drier than recce and it’s quite a hard base towards the end. It’s been an okay loop. We need to improve but we can’t do it all in one morning.”
Car 55. MCERLEAN/TREACY
“It’s good racing. It’s like the Puma Cup (set the same time as team-mate Armstrong).”
Car 22. SESKS/FRANCIS
“The rain was in the last few hundred metres. Maybe in the second pass it could be better. A few of the stages are quite rocky but there will be some muddy spots.
Car 6. SORDO/CARRERA
“We need to change and try to be a bit closer. We don’t have grip or traction. We lose a lot of time.”
Car 21. ROSSEL/DUNAND
“It’s nice for me and maybe not for the other ones. A clean loop for me. We did the maximum to be honest. It is very difficult to start first.”
Car 24. DAPRÀ/GUGLIELMETTI
“A bit too sideways in some places We missed the first braking point too early but the rest of the stage was good for me. We are getting more experience on gravel and now we can get closer to the other guys.”
Car 31. CACHÓN/ROZADA
“Not really good. It is starting to be slippery in some places. When it is wet it is very slippery. The pace this morning was quite consistent so I hope to continue that this afternoon.”