Ogier puts on a show in the mud: relive the third day of the Rally of Portugal in our live text commentary

At the end of a second day marked by a service disruption at Arganil during the break and by a few racing incidents, which cost Adrien fourmaux and to Oliver Solberg, precious seconds. Sébastien Ogier and Vincent Landais emerged at the top of this Rally of Portugal in front Thierry Neuville – Martijn Wydaeghe and Sami Pajari – Marko Salminen. But rain is expected this Saturday and could completely reshuffle the cards! Patience will be key, especially since it's going to be another long day…

WRC – Rally Portugal
Follow Saturday's events with live commentary

20:55 PM – 👋 That's it for Saturday in Portugal, it's time for us to wish you a great evening! You'll of course find on our website the reactions and the various other results from the weekend (there were many), before the recap video of the day on YouTube.

20h52 - 📊 At the end of the day, here are the standings at the end of Saturday, before the start of Super Sunday!

20h47 - Korhonen does very well, finishing only 1,3 seconds behind Gryazin who wins his duel.

20:44 PM – 💥 Start of the second duel between Nikolay Gryazin and Roope Korhonen, the Finn hits the barrier immediately but gets going again!

20h43 - The first Rally2 duel saw Teemu Suninen take the lead over Jan Solans.

20h39 - 📊 Here's the current standings before the Rally2 cars take over!

20:36 – ⏱️ Sébastien Ogier wins his duel and finishes 2nd, while Thierry Neuville is 4th in this Super Special.

20:34 PM – 🇧🇪 🇫🇷 The duel between Sébastien Ogier and Thierry Neuville begins! The two leaders are competing in slightly better conditions!

20:33 PM – ⏱️ Oliver Solberg regains the best time from Adrien Fourmaux with a time of 3:07.2. Sami Pajari, beaten in the duel, is 2nd by 3,8 seconds.

20:27 PM – ⏱️ Adrien Fourmaux sets the provisional best time of 3:13.7 and beats Elfyn Evans by 1,6 seconds!

20:23 PM – Adrien Fourmaux and Elfyn Evans are now on the track!

20:22 PM – ⏱️ Takamoto Katsuta wins the duel! 1:14.4 for Taka, and 5,8 seconds behind for the driver Hyundai.

20h19 - No exit at this stage, the two men are being extremely cautious!

20h16 - The second face-off is about to begin between Takamoto Katsuta and Daniel Sordo!

20:12 PM – 🌧️ As expected, the Super Special Stage is delayed while the damaged Irish car is removed. The rain is torrential in any case!

20h09 - ⏱️ 3:15.8 is the first mark set by the Latvian, while we have absolutely no idea what difficulties the following drivers will face on such terrain.

20h08 - Alone in this duel, Martins Sesks is finding it very difficult to survive in the mud of this Super Special.

20:06 PM – 💥 Josh McErlean is already in the barriers!

20h05 - The format is that of a duel, in this case pitting Josh McErlean against Martins Sesks for the former.

20h05 - The Super Special Stage begins to close out the third day of the Rally of Portugal. A 3,78km sprint awaits the drivers!

19h55 - The Rally2 cars are arriving gradually, here is the classification of this SS18 while waiting for the start of SS19 at 20:05 French time!

19h49 - ⏱️ Nikolay Gryazin sets the first WRC2 mark in 12:58.4.

19h45 - 🇫🇷 And that makes 7 for Sébastien Ogier, who sets the fastest time again! The Frenchman gains 3,7 seconds on Elfyn Evans and now has a 20,2-second lead over Thierry Neuville!

19h41 - 🇧🇪 Thierry Neuville was also close to the leader thanks to a great end to the special stage! He was 0,5 seconds short of overtaking Evans, but did better than Pajari by 0,3 seconds.

19h38 - Sami Pajari, on the other hand, was focused on his special stage. He finished only eight-tenths of a second behind Elfyn Evans but was not satisfied with his performance.

19h36 - 🇸🇪 Oliver Solberg is 17,7 seconds behind after spinning out during his run; the Swede is provisionally 6th in the special stage.

19h33 - 📊 Adrien Fourmaux is 11 seconds behind Elfyn Evans, here is a first look at the standings for this penultimate special stage of the day.

19:27 PM – ⏱️ For Taka, it was 6,6 seconds that allowed him to take the lead.

19h24 - ⏱️ Dani Sordo completes an interesting special stage! The Spaniard finishes just 2,5 seconds behind the opener.

19h21 - The Irishman finishes 17 seconds behind Martins Sesks.

19h20 - Josh McErlean is nearing the finish line, but he just spent a few seconds with his windshield completely flooded! The Irishman isn't making things easy for himself…

19h18 - ⏱️ Martins Sesks completes the 16,09 km special stage in 12:50.2. Adrien Fourmaux passes the first split at the same time, 9 tenths of a second behind the benchmark.

19h14 - Takamoto Katsuta takes off a few moments later with a high level of attack. However, the Japanese player is slightly behind Sordo…

19h12 - Daniel Sordo takes his turn.

19h08 - Josh McErlean took off and immediately lost control! He's wasting precious time…

19h05 - ⛅ SS18 begins with Martins Sesks on a muddy road, but without rain!

18h30 - 📊 Sébastien Ogier more than ever in the lead, Yohan Rossel out of the Rally-2 race, here are the standings after this SS17!

18h26 - 💬 On a more positive note, Sébastien Ogier still seemed to have some room to maneuver after his special stage, which he nevertheless outrageously dominated. "Not the most enjoyable stage, but we made it. The weather was great, but the driving wasn't so great; it's just a matter of survival in there."

18h23 - 🇫🇷 Oh no, what a blow for Yohan Rossel who's stopped mid-stage! The WRC2 driver was battling for the overall lead, it's all over!

18:20 PM – 🇫🇷 Sébastien Ogier's performance is simply phenomenal at this stage of the Rally of Portugal! 11,2 seconds ahead of the rest of the field, he's now 16 seconds ahead in the overall lead!

18h18 - 🇧🇪 Thierry Neuville crosses the finish line of the special stage just 0,9 seconds off the fastest time! Now we're waiting for Sébastien Ogier…

18:15 PM – Is the track improving? Sami Pajari is 4,3 seconds behind Martin Sesks… While Sébastien Ogier is taking a lead of nearly 9 seconds approaching the final section!

18:12 PM – 🇸🇪 Oliver Solberg continues to surprise in this Rally of Portugal! By just 0,7 seconds, the Swede could have set the fastest time on SS17!

18h10 - Elfyn Evans is 19,5 seconds behind, but the Welshman still takes provisional third place. "Just in a long, tightening corner, I completely lost the front end and we slid under braking. A really bad race for us."

18h08 - 🇫🇷 Sébastien Ogier attacks, remaining at the start of his attempt! The Gap native seems determined to drive the point home.

18h07 - 🇫🇷 Adrien Fourmaux achieved a time of 18:55.3. Far from being slow in absolute terms, but the Frenchman remains 24 seconds behind Martins Sesks.

18h04 - Takamoto Katsuta fails to set the fastest time despite a good start to the special stage, the Japanese driver falls 3,2 seconds behind the Latvian.

18h00 - McErlean is 2:55.4 behind Sesks… The Irishman thanks the spectators for bringing him back onto the track…

17h57 - Sami Pajari takes the start of SS17, while Josh McErlean, off-road and restarted by spectators, is close to 3 minutes behind Sesks…

17h54 - 🇱🇻 Martins Sesks is the first to finish this long special stage of over 26 km! 18:31.3 for the Latvian…

17h50 - Elfyn Evans takes off in turn, right after Adrien Fourmaux.

17h45 - The Irishman has restarted, while Takamoto Katsuta also begins SS17.

5:43 PM – 💥 Josh McErlean spins out after 17 minutes of the special stage; the area is particularly muddy…

17h40 - While the Latvian has still not arrived, here are McErlean and Sordo on the track.

17:35 PM – 26,2 km of special stage, Martins Sesks is off in this SS17, a real test of this Rally of Portugal!

17h10 - 🕒 The next special stage, SS17, will now start at 17:35.

16h58 - 📊Teemu Suninen finishes SS16 but does not improve on his compatriot's benchmark time, so here is the classification of this 16th special stage of the Rally of Portugal!

16h56 - 🇫🇷 13:57.5 For Yohan Rossel who fails to approach the Finn's time.

16h54 - ⏱️ Roope Korhonen's turn to improve: new mark in Rally2 in 13:47.9.

16h51 - ⏱️ Jan Solans takes the lead and sets his time at 13:46.6.

16h50 - ⏱️ Nikolay Gryazin is the first of the Rally2 drivers to set a time, in 13:56.3.

16:45 PM – 🇫🇷 Sébastien Ogier finishes three seconds behind Adrien Fourmaux and remains leader of the Rally of Portugal by 3,9 seconds!

16:42 PM – 🇧🇪 Thierry Neuville is in 3rd place in this special stage while waiting for Sébastien Ogier, only 1,4 seconds behind Adrien Fourmaux!

16:38 PM – It's now time for the leader! How much will Sébastien Ogier be able to take advantage of this?

16h38 - In the end, Solberg lost 18,8 seconds to Adrien Fourmaux… His front-left tire was indeed flat.

16:36 PM – 🚨 Flat tire alert for Oliver Solberg!

16h35 - ⏱️Elfyn Evans is no better than the Frenchman! The Welshman is currently second, by two seconds.

16:31 PM – 🇫🇷 Adrien Fourmaux, on the other hand, takes a 9,8-second lead in this special stage! Superb time from the Hyundai driver!

16h30 - 🇸🇪 Having started this SS16 for a few moments, Oliver Solberg is a few tenths behind after three splits.

16:28 PM – ⏱️ Takamoto Katsuta is the first to overtake the Latvian, despite a slight scare when negotiating a corner! New time of 13:14.0.

16h26 - ⏱️ Dani Sordo slots in between the first two finishers, 7,6 seconds behind Martins Sesks, while Elfyn Evans starts his special stage at the same time.

16:23 PM – 🇫🇷 Adrien Fourmaux launches his attempt, the Hyundai driver is off in this SS16!

16h23 - Josh McErlean finishes 14,3 seconds behind, having almost lost control of his Ford Puma in the final section…

16h20 - Takamoto Katsuta has taken off and is lighting up in green on each of the first three splits so far!

16h19 - This long special stage, 19,91 km, is now finished for Martins Sesks! 13:16.6 for the Latvian who is the first to set his mark.

16h14 - Now it's Daniel Sordo's turn to hit the road.

16h11 - Jon Armstrong should have been next, but it was Josh McErlean who started after the first Irishman rolled his car during SS15.

16h05 - Martins Sesks gets the SS16 ball rolling.

15:50 PM – 📊 And here's the current standings after SS15! The action resumes at 16:05 PM with SS16!

15h46 - 🇫🇮 Finnish dominance continues with Teemu Suninen ultimately taking second place! Yohan Rossel is third by a tenth of a second.

15h45 - ⏱️ By 2,2 seconds, Yohan Rossel remains stuck behind the Finn!

15:43 PM – ⏱️ Roope Korhonen does even better in 6:00.3 and takes the provisional best time! Now it's Yohan Rossel's turn to try his luck.

15h40 - ⏱️ The rest of the rally looks exciting, but let's not forget the Rally2s! Nikolay Gryazin reached the finish of SS15 in 6:06.9 before being beaten by Jan Solans in 6:03.1.

15h38 - 📊 The nine-time world champion has just put 4,5 seconds between himself and Oliver Solberg on this special stage, whereas half a second had separated them until then.

3:37 PM – 🇫🇷 SÉBASTIEN OGIER TAKES THE TIME DEADLINE BY ONE-TENTH OF A SECOND! The Frenchman regains the lead of the Rally of Portugal by 4 seconds!

3:35 PM – ⏱️ Thierry Neuville is provisionally in 1,5rd place, pending Sébastien Ogier's result! The Belgian is now only 15 seconds behind Oliver Solberg in the overall standings!

15:27 PM – ⏱️ And Sami Pajari takes the lead! 4:44.5 for the Finn, who puts 2,8 seconds into Elfyn Evans!

3:25 PM – ⏱️ 15 tenths of a second behind Adrien Fourmaux, Oliver Solberg also fails to achieve the scratch time!

15:22 PM – 🇫🇷 Adrien Fourmaux is currently second by 8 tenths of a second! He can't seem to overtake his rival at Toyota.

15h19 - By 3 seconds, Takamoto Katsuta overtakes Josh McErlean and takes the lead in the special stage at this point! 5:47.8 for the Japanese driver.

15:17 PM – 🇫🇷 Adrien Fourmaux is provisionally in the lead by one tenth after the first split!

15h16 - Daniel Sordo is 2,9 seconds behind the Irishman. At the same time, Adrien Fourmaux sets off!

15h13 - ⏱️ Josh McErlean gains two seconds on Sesks and takes the provisional fastest time on the stage, pending Katstuta and Sordo, currently on the track…

15h09 - ⏱️ Meanwhile, Martins Sesks completes his special stage in 5:52.8.

15h08 - Come on, Josh McErlean takes his turn to try and avoid being caught out like his compatriot.

15h06 - What a shame for the Irishman who had put in a more than solid performance earlier in the morning…

15:04 PM – 💥 Jon Armstrong had just started, the Irishman suffered a roll within the first few hundred meters, he is outside his car!

15:00 PM – Martins Sesks, like this morning, kicks off the afternoon's hostilities in this SS15!

14h50 - 👋 Welcome or welcome back to follow this Saturday afternoon's coverage of the Rally of Portugal! As a reminder, we left off with Oliver Solberg's stunning performance in SS14, which surprised everyone and allowed him to take the overall lead.

13h15 - ⏸️ Another break in this live coverage! We'll be back at 15:00 PM (French time) for the start of SS15, which is likely to take place on a very wet road after Oliver Solberg's impressive performance!

13:10 PM – 🇳🇴 Times are dropping in WRC2! Here's a look at the standings in SS14, with Andreas Mikkelsen having made the biggest move of this stage!

13:03 – 🇫🇷 12:30.9 for Yohan Rossel, just 3 tenths of a second behind Nikolay Gryazin, but the Bulgarian will not score any points at the end of this Rally!

13h00 - Roope Koronhen finishes his attempt in 12:43.9. Yohan Rossel is now expected!

12h53 - 💬 Meanwhile, Sébastien Ogier could only congratulate his teammate after such a performance in SS14! "Incredible. I feel like I did my best, but I had absolutely no grip. It's not just a question of risk; I honestly have no idea how it's possible."

12h53 - Jan Solans reached the finish of this special stage 10 seconds behind the Bulgarian.

12h50 - Nikolay Griyazin opens the Rally2 course and finishes in 12:30.6.

12:48 PM – 🇸🇪🇫🇷 Sébastien Ogier loses 19,1 seconds! Oliver Solberg is the new leader of the Rally of Portugal!

12:46 – 🇫🇷 Sébastien Ogier is 14,7 seconds behind at the penultimate split!

12:45 – 🇧🇪 Thierry Neuville finishes SS14 in 12:06.3 and loses his second place overall to Oliver Solberg!

12h40 - 🇫🇷 Sébastien Ogier is experiencing more difficulties in this special stage… The splits are not lighting up in green for the driver from Gap.

12:38 PM – 🤩 The Solberg show is back in full swing! 7,2 seconds improved over Elfyn Evans, the Swede now has a lead of almost 18 seconds over the Welshman in the overall standings!

12:35 – ⏱️ Elfyn Evans pulls off a major coup, and overtakes the Ford driver by 1,3 seconds!

12:32 – 🇫🇷 The Northerner finishes with SS14 in 12:03.5, just 1,8 seconds behind the Irishman who is still leading the proceedings.

12h31 - Adrien Fourmaux remains about 3 seconds behind Armstrong's time. A good performance so far, especially considering he's warned that the asphalt is very slippery.

12h30 - ⏱️ Meanwhile, Takamoto Katsuta arrives in turn, in 12:07.6, 5,9 seconds behind.

12:27 PM – 💥 Daniel Sordo slowly crosses the finish line of the special stage; he appears to have hit an embankment…

12h24 - Josh McErlean finishes 12,9 seconds behind his compatriot and confirms Armstrong's performance!

12h21 - Adrien Fourmaux set off on his own, on a road that is starting to show its age.

12:20 – ⏱️ 12:01.7 for Jon Armstrong who beats Sesks by 20,9 seconds!

12:18 – ⏱️ Martins Sesks is the first to finish this SS14… with difficulty! After hitting the embankment in the first few kilometers, the Latvian sets a time of 12:22.6.

12:16 PM – With about 5 kilometers to go, Jon Armstrong now has a 16-second lead over the opener!

12h14 - 🇪🇸 Daniel Sordo takes his turn at the starting line. His performance will soon allow us to measure the evolution of the road.

12h12 - Now it's Joshua McErlean's turn to start in this muddy special stage.

12:10 – The first split of this SS14 is largely in favor of the Irishman, 3,9 seconds ahead of Martins Sesks!

12h08 - Jon Armstrong is the next to start this special stage!

12:05 PM – 🌧️ Latvian Martins Sesks sets off in the rain! It was expected, and it's livening up this Rally of Portugal this late morning.

12:00 p.m. – 📊 We are back for this live commentary, 5 minutes into the 14th special stage of this Rally of Portugal, which is 16,09 km long.

11:39 – ⏸️ A quick break from this live coverage, everyone, while we wait for SS14, the final stage of the loop. Martins Sesks will be on the starting line at 12:05 PM French time, 11:05 AM local time. In the meantime, check out the recap of yesterday's stage on our YouTube channel! 👇🏻

11:36 – 📊 The RC2 Top 5 after this 13th special stage, bearing in mind that Nikolay Gryazin is not competing in WRC2 this weekend.

11:34 AM – 🇫🇮 Teemu Suninen takes the overall lead in WRC2! He just set the fastest time on the stage with a 17:29.0. The gaps now are: Suninen 1st, Solans 2nd at 5,2 seconds, Korhonen 3rd at 12,5 seconds, Rossel 4th at 16,3 seconds.

11:31 – 🚨 Provisional best time in RC2 (and in WRC2 as a result) for Yohan Rossel in 17:34.6!

11:28 – 📊 Here is the overall Rally1 standings at the end of this SS13, we will have to follow this story between Pajari and Solberg who will fight for 3rd place.

11:27 – 📊 Before diving into the WRC2 battle, the special stage standings for Rally1.

11:23 – 💬 Ogier: "A good special stage for me; we lost a bit of time with the rain at the end, but it could have been worse."

11:22 AM – 🇫🇷 Sébastien Ogier finishes this stage, 16:42.8: that's the second fastest time! The gap in the overall standings to Neuville is now 8,1 seconds in favor of the Frenchman!

11:19 AM – 🚨 Thierry Neuville finishes in 16:45.9, Ogier is building a gap of over two seconds! A little rain is also arriving.

11:16 – 🇫🇮 Sami Pajari just crossed the finish line in 16:44.1. Meanwhile, Ogier and Neuville are neck and neck, separated by around one second according to the intermediate times. There is now only a 2,4-second gap in the overall standings between Pajari and Solberg.

11:13 – 🇸🇪 Amazing performance from Solberg who beats Evans' time with a time of 16:42.3!

11:10 – 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Provisional best time for Elfyn Evans in 16:43.2!

11:09 – 🚨 1,2 seconds faster for Ogier compared to Neuville, this time after 6,14 kilometers covered.

11:06 AM – ℹ️ Ogier is four-tenths faster than Neuville at the first split. Fourmaux has just finished in 16:46.0, the provisional fastest time of the stage.

11:03 – 🇯🇵 16:51.0, that's the new benchmark for the stage, just set by Takamoto Katsuta. Neuville is on the stage; keep in mind the 5-second gap between Neuville and Ogier in favor of the French driver in the overall standings.

11:01 – 🚨 The current best time is Dani Sordo at 16:52.7. Thierry Neuville and then Sébastien Ogier, three minutes after the Belgian, will start.

10:58 – ℹ️ Solberg has also started, while Josh McErlean crosses the finish line: 16:58.0, provisional best time. Sami Pajari will start in a moment.

10:56 – 🇮🇪 Armstrong finishes in 17:02.5.

10:55 – 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Evans is currently the fastest at the first intermediate time.

10:52 – 🕥 The first time of the special stage for Martins Sesks in 16:59.8.

10:50 AM – 🇫🇷 Adrien Fourmaux sets off. Will he achieve a second consecutive fastest time?

10:47 – 🇯🇵 Katsuta sets off, while Dani Sordo is currently ahead of his rivals in the splits with 3 tenths better than Armstrong after 3,93 kilometers.

10:44 – 🔥 As Dani Sordo sets off, Jon Armstrong is currently running at a good pace. 2,3 seconds ahead of Martins Sesks after 8 kilometers.

10:41 – 🇮🇪 Now it's Josh McErlean's turn in this time trial.

10:38 – ✔️ Jon Armstrong's turn to start this special stage.

10:35 AM – 🚨 And they're off for the Latvian pilot of M-SportHe sets off at this very moment.

10:30 – 🕥 If you're joining us now, the Martins Sesks – Renars Francis stage starts in five minutes on SS13. Amarante, a legendary 26,24km stage that could once again shake things up…

10:27 – 🇬🇧 We were almost taking a nap, and then Gus Greensmith comes along and sets the best time for RC2 with a 13:48.7 in SS12!

10:06 – 👋🏻 Let's take a breather and we'll meet again in about thirty minutes for the continuation of this Rally of Portugal.

10:05 – 🇳🇴 Andreas Mikkelsen conceded almost 25 seconds at the final split of the stage. This works in Yohan Rossel's favor; the Norwegian suffered a puncture but claims he didn't hit anything.

10:01 – 🇫🇮 Suninen finishes in 13:50.8. The overall WRC2 gaps now: Solans in the lead, Suninen 2nd at 4,6 seconds, Korhonen 3rd at 5,3 seconds, Rossel 4th at 15,3 seconds.

10:00 – 📆 We'll stay with you for a few more moments for WRC2, but remember that the next special stage will start at 10:35 French time, 09:35 here in Portugal.

09:58 – 🚨 Yohan Rossel loses ground in this special stage. 14:00.8, that's the time for the driver from Gard.

09:55 – 🇪🇸 Jan Solans finishes in WRC2 in 13:50.4.

09:51 – 📊 The standings at the end of this special stage! New best time for Adrien Fourmaux, Sébastien Ogier increases his lead: here are the lessons to be learned.

09:50 – 💬 Ogier: "The end of the special stage is always difficult, but that's where you can make the difference. I think it's going to be tough there this afternoon. It was already the case last year."

09:48 AM – 🚨 Ogier had a close call but put in a very strong finish to the stage on a section with less grip: 13:06.0! He ultimately increased his overall lead very slightly, now 5 seconds over Neuville!

09:45 – 🇧🇪 Thierry Neuville's time: 13:09.3. Now we have to wait! Meanwhile, the first Rally2 cars are in the special stage.

09:43 – 🚨 At the thirteenth kilometer, Ogier closes the gap to Neuville and pulls away a bit! There's a lot of tension in this stage!

09:42 – 🇫🇮 Pajari's time in 13:10.2!

09:41 – 🚨 Virtually, Ogier's lead over Neuville is down to just two tenths of a second in the overall standings! It's getting close!

09:40 – 🇸🇪 At the same time, Solberg finishes in 13:08.7.

09:39 AM – 🚨 Watch out for Sébastien Ogier! Thierry Neuville has now closed the gap by 1,1 seconds after 5,93 kilometers! Neuville might retake the lead!

09:37 – 🚨 The situation at the first split (2,42 kilometers): Thierry Neuville has gained 4 tenths on Sébastien Ogier!

09:36 – 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Evans is beaten by Adrien Fourmaux, he finishes in 13:08.4. In the general classification, Fourmaux is now 5,8 seconds behind the Welsh driver.

09:35 (bis) – 🚨 The leaders have just set off! Let the big showdown begin!

09:35 – 🇫🇷 The best provisional time for Adrien Fourmaux, who makes up ground at the end of the special stage. 13:05.5 is now the benchmark to beat.

09:34 – 🤔 Okay, so where's the rain? We were expecting it, we were dreading it, but for the moment, it's not falling… We need to be careful that tire choices don't have too much of an impact on performance…

09:32 – 🍟 Thierry Neuville has just started, and it would seem that Katsuta has done very well! For the moment, no one can keep up with him on the intermediate sections.

09:30 AM – 🚨 Unsurprisingly, given the splits, Takamoto Katsuta breaks Martins Sesks' record. 13:08.1 is the current best time.

09:29 – 🇫🇮 The driver with the best time in the previous special stage has just started: Sami Pajari.

09:28 – 🇪🇸 Dani Sordo's time: 13:15.7. That's 1,7 seconds slower than Martins Sesks.

09:27 – ℹ️ Although Adrien Fourmaux was the quickest to make a move in the special stage, after 10 kilometers, Takamoto Katsuta regained the lead.

09:26 – 🇸🇪 Oliver Solberg is off now! Next up: Pajari, Neuville and Ogier, as a reminder.

09:25 – 🇮🇪 McErlean's time has just been released, 13:20.4. Sesks has set a great benchmark in this stage!

09:23 – 🔥 Elfyn Evans is off, while Fourmaux "lights up in purple" in the first sector: 1,5 seconds better than the reference time.

09:21 – 🇮🇪 Jon Armstrong conceded 12 seconds to Martins Sesks in 13:26.0.

09:20 – 🇫🇷 Adrien Fourmaux and Alexandre Coria have just started. At the moment, Katsuta is 2,3 seconds faster than Sesks after 5,93 kilometers.

09:18 – ⏱️ Martins Sesks' time has just been released: 13:14.0! A benchmark that should stand for a few more minutes, even though Dani Sordo is currently faster than the Latvian. Takamoto Katsuta has just started.

09:16 – 📊 We forgot to show you the overall standings at the start of this special stage, here they are.

09:15 – ℹ️ A quick update on the intermediate stages in this special stage: Martins Sesks is currently the fastest, ahead of his teammates. Dani Sordo has just started as well.

09:13 AM – 🇮🇪 Josh McErlean has also started, and we'll take this opportunity to recap the previous stage: Teemu Suninen set the fastest time in WRC2, moving him into third place overall. So there's still a 4,9-second gap between Solans and Rossel, but there are now four crews within that gap. Incredible.

09:08 – 🇮🇪 Jon Armstrong's turn to start the special stage.

09:06 – 🇱🇻 Martins Sesks has just started, they're off for SS12!

09:03 – 👀 Almost 20 kilometers await the presenters this time WRC in the next special stage. And judging by the gaps, it could be very close! Start in 2 minutes with Sesks.

08:48 – 📆 Start of the next special stage at 09:05 French time, 08:05 local time!

08:45 – 🚨 In WRC2, Jan Solans sets the provisional fastest time in 06:08.9 and regains the lead in RC2! Yohan Rossel has just crossed the finish line in 06:09.9, 4,9 seconds now separate Solans (1st), Korhonen (2nd at 3,9 seconds) and Rossel (3rd at 1 second behind Korhonen).

08:41 – 📊 The special stage standings for Rally1 with Sami Pajari's new best time!

08:38 – 💬 Ogier: "I slipped a lot. It was very narrow; you always have to be careful on this stage."

08:36 AM – 🚨 Ogier – Landais finishes in 05:50.5, two full seconds behind Neuville! The gap in the overall standings is melting away and is now just 1,7 seconds between the two leading crews!

08:34 – 💬 Neuville: "Good special stage, but we stalled at one point, I lost time."

08:33 – ⏱️ Thierry Neuville crosses the finish line in 05:48.5, second fastest time for the Belgian! We're waiting for Sébastien Ogier to arrive to finalize the results.

08:31 – 🚨 Neuville is behind Pajari at the splits, but Ogier is losing even more! 9 tenths of a second conceded after just 2 kilometers!

08:30 AM – 🇫🇮 Sami Pajari has just finished with the provisional best time of 05:46.0! Meanwhile, the two most recent World Champions are on the special stage!

08:28 – ℹ️ Just a reminder of the gap this morning between Ogier (1st) and Neuville (2nd): 3,7 seconds. Let's keep that in mind.

08:27 – ✔️ Oliver Solberg finishes in 05:50.5, slower than Evans! Pajari and Neuville are now on the stage, the tension is rising, folks…

08:24 – 🔥 Elfyn Evans takes the lead on this first section of the day with a time, logically better than the boys before him, of 05:48.8!

08:22 – 🧹 Evans and Solberg are in the stage; the Welshman is currently improving on Adrien Fourmaux's intermediate tires. In this stage, with no rain, the leaders are setting the track.

08:21 – 🚨 The provisional scratch time for Adrien Fourmaux in 05:51.3! After being behind at the first split, the Northerner made up the lost time.

08:18 – ☑️ Things are looking up for Takamoto Katsuta! The winner of Kenya and Croatia has just finished in 05:52.3, which is the best provisional time.

08:16 – 🇪🇸 Dani Sordo slower than the Fords in 05:59.5…

08:12 – ⏱️ 05:57.6: that's Josh McErlean's time in this special stage.

08:09 – 🚨 Armstrong is 4,5 seconds faster at 05:54.2!

08:08 – 👀 The tire choices for the WRC2 and RC2 have just been released! Much more mixing and "cross-pollination"...

08:06 – 🇮🇪 Joshua McErlean sets off, so all three Ford Puma Rally1s are underway. At the same time, Martin Sesks sets the first time of the day with a 05:58.7. The last time he started in first position after a double puncture, he set the fastest time… Just saying 😏

08:05 – 😬 As you've probably already guessed, this is the longest day of the rally in terms of time slots. The stage will finish at 20:05 PM French time, 19:05 PM local time.

08:03 – Jon just left 💪🏻 (get it?)

08:02 – ℹ️ Regarding the tires carried, you may have noticed that Fourmaux, Sesks, and McErlean are starting with an extra hard tire. The reason is simple, at least for Fourmaux and Sesks: both drivers suffered a double puncture yesterday and therefore need to "save" a soft tire, hence the choice of an additional hard tire which will add weight to the cockpit.

08:00 – 🚦 Martins Sesks has just started and kicks off the day with this short 8,81 kilometer special stage! No rain at the start so far, that's the important information to keep in mind.

07:57 – 📊 A quick update on the overall standings at the start of this third day! A small clarification regarding the driver currently in tenth position, Nikolay Gryazin: the Lancia Corse driver competes in RC2, but not in WRC2. Therefore, he does not score any points this weekend in that championship.

07:55 – 📋 Reminder of the Start List today: Sesks – Armstrong – McErlean – Sordo – Katsuta – Fourmaux – Evans – Solberg – Pajari – Neuville – Ogier

07:52 – 🛞 First update regarding the tires carried by the crews on this morning's loop, which, as a reminder, consists of four special stages. Rain is expected, and the tires have been chosen accordingly!

07h49 - 👋 Hello everyone! Welcome to our website to discover our live commentary from Saturday here in Portugal!