18h
Neuville is already at the start of the Ponte de Lima special, more than 27km long.
18h
Suninen almost snatched the scratch against Neuville and Breen but the M-Sport driver was ultimately 2 tenths behind. The Finn moves up to 6th place, tied with his teammate Evans.
17h
Ostberg signs the 6th fastest time, 10 seconds behind the provisional scratch, but the Norwegian's Citroën emits worrying smoke... The WRCs are definitely suffering a lot in this stage. “I had lights coming on. I don't know what it is. »
17h
Paddon signs the 4th fastest time, 4″5 behind the provisional scratch. The New Zealander takes the lead of the rally with a 3″ lead over his teammate Sordo. “There is a question of compromise in this step. I drive with 2 soft tires. »
17h
Breen achieves the same time as Neuville and finds himself in 2nd position in the general classification, 1″2 behind Sordo.
17h
Evans is closest to Neuville with 2″1 behind. The M-Sport driver is less than 2 seconds behind Meeke overall. “It’s really complicated to find the right balance. I'm only going to push a little in the next SS. »
17h
Lappi improved his pace by finishing 11″4 off the provisional scratch. “We can manage the day, but less so on the fast special. » The Finn seems more relaxed compared to this morning, now that his teammates have dropped out and he has found some speed.
17h
It is now Sordo who finds himself provisionally leading the rally with 5″9 ahead of Neuville, while Meeke is 7″8 behind the Spaniard overall.
17h
Meeke fails more than 18 seconds from the provisional scratch. It was a puncture on the left rear which was the cause of this poor performance. “I had a light that came on at the start. It's so brittle! »
17h
Sordo ranks almost 9s behind his teammate Neuville. The Spaniard sees the Belgian come back to less than 9s overall. “One of the tires was destroyed on the stage and I had to drive slowly. I think we made a mistake with the soft tires. We must now try to finish the day. »
17h
Mikkelsen finished just over a minute late. The Norwegian still has to cover a special stage and two passages in the super special stage. The Hyundai driver did not want to respond to the press briefing.
17h
Mikkelsen is slowing down in the special! The Norwegian has a steering problem and is already more than half a minute behind his teammate Neuville even though he had moved up to 4th place.
17h
Neuville sets a time of 10'35″5. “It’s really brittle. There were a lot of traps in the special. I tried to protect the car, but it's really not easy. I don't think I made the best choice of tires (with the softs). »
17h
Neuville sets off on the second passage of Caminha, 18,11km long. Meeke signed the scratch there this morning in 10'35″1.
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