Martinš Sesks took advantage of the fact that rain had abated and the stage was relatively dry to set the target time of 5min 52.8sec. But Ford team-mate Jon Armstrong was not so fortunate. Just 600 metres in, he half-spun into the left banking on a downhill section and the impact flipped the Puma over and off the track into the neighbouring grass. The day was over for the luckless Irishman.
Josh McErlean was two seconds faster than his Latvian team-mate, as light rain began again towards the end of the special. He was also quicker than a frustrated Dani Sordo but dropped time to Takamota Katsuta and sixth-placed Adrien Fourmaux.
Elfyn Evans kept Fourmaux at bay and increased his grip on fifth place to 13 seconds and he also beat a cautious Oliver Solberg by 1.6 seconds. The latter’s decision to avoid loose rocks and conserve his tyres enabled a hard-charging Sami Pajari to close the gap on the Swede to 3.7 seconds.
The Finn was 3.3 seconds quicker than Thierry Neuville and closed to within 2.2 seconds of the Belgian’s grip on third place. A committed Sébastien Ogier was determined to regain the time he lost before the lunch break and he finished one-tenth of a second quicker than Pajari. The Frenchman regained a four-second lead over Solberg.
Teemu Suninen set the second fastest time to earn a 19.7-second advantage over Jan Solans in WRC2. Yohan Rossel closed to within 1.1 seconds of the Spaniard but Roope Korhonen was quickest and was tied in fourth with Nikolay Gryazin.
Sweden’s Calle Carlberg will start the afternoon’s loop of stages with a 3.8-second lead over Ali Türkkan in Junior WRC. The Turk has a slender cushion of 1.3 seconds over Italy’s Matteo Fontana in WRC3.
Hankook have upped the soft tyres allocation from eight to 16 for crews this weekend because of the adverse weather forecast.
Car 18. KATSUTA/JOHNSTON
“Feeling is okay but just being super soft in the car. Quite tricky places still and bedrock sticking out.”
Car 99. SOLBERG/EDMONDSON
“Not a good feeling. There were a few bad rocks and we decided to take care of the tyres a little bit.”
Car 5. PAJARI/SALMINEN
“It’s good and I had a nice stage again. It was very different conditions to the morning. I tried to have a good go in here.”
Car 16. FOURMAUX/CORIA
“It’s very rutted compared to this morning. It’s quite enjoyable. Let’s see if the rain comes.”
Car 1. OGIER/LANDAIS
“I had a bit of a push. I needed to respond. It’s going to be interesting.”
Car 11. NEUVILLE/WYDAEGHE
“It was a very good stage, honestly. I don’t know where to go and fight that time (Pajari).”
Car 95. ARMSTRONG/BYRNE
The Irishman hooked the Puma into a downhill left-hander, clipped the inside bank and rolled just 600 metres into the stage and finished in the grass off the track.
Car 55. MCERLEAN/TREACY
“We didn’t get the information (Armstrong accident). We must have been in stage mode. It was a big surprise to see then and Shane slowing us down. It’s good to see they are okay. Three corners from the finish we clipped a bank. We got more rain at the end than the start.”
Car 22. SESKS/FRANCIS
“It was okay. The level of the stages is quite similar. It’s not easy.”
Car 6. SORDO/CARRERA
Broken rear drive shaft replaced at service. “We keep trying, not easy. It’s not really a stage I like.”
Car 20. KORHONEN/VIINIKKA
“Nothing special, some rough places but not bad.”
Car 25. GRYAZIN/ALEKSANDROV
“Not easy stage, tricky to keep the car in the line. Sometimes you go there and it goes out of the line and you are hitting something.”
Car 36. SOLANS/SAN JUAN
“We need some set-up changes on the car to see if we can get some more traction.”
Car 56. SALVI/CUNHA
Stopped in SS14