Onto Saturday’s stages then which included the longest stage of the rally and the crews had seven stages over 146 kilometres ahead of them. Martins and Renars would open the road throughout the day. There was also the promise of rain at some point, but it was hard to predict when and where it would fall.

 

First up then was SS11 Felgueiras 1 and this stage was dry throughout. Sami would set the pace from Thierry and Elfyn, whilst Seb who held the overall lead was four and a half seconds back with the fourth fastest time. This meant that his lead over Thierry was reduced to just 1.7 seconds. Interestingly the Belgian had a stall in the stage meaning that he might have taken the lead without this problem.

 

Onwards then to SS12 Cabeceiras de Basto 1 and we had two Frenchman setting the pace with Adrien edging out Seb by half a second, whilst Takamoto was a further two seconds back with the third fastest time. Adrien had the best of the conditions, particularly near the end of the stage as it was clear that in this last section the road was getting really rough. There was no rain in this stage.

 

Next came SS13 Amarante 1, the longest stage of the day and again it remained dry for most. Oliver would set the pace from Seb and Elfyn and amazing less than one second covered the three of them. There were no position changes in this one and Seb’s lead actually grew over Thierry to just over eight seconds and this was due to the rain arriving during the Belgian’s run, yet Elfyn didn’t have any rain.

 

The final morning stage, SS14 Paredes 1 and the rain really arrived for everyone in this stage. It was hard for the crews to judge where the grip was. Incredibly Oliver was fastest from Elfyn and Jon who’d set the early pace only to see it beaten. It was a good drive from all three of them. The Swedes pace saw him leap from fourth overall into the rally lead by just half a second over Seb whilst Thierry remained close, just five and a half seconds further back. Unfortunately, we lost Jon and Shane in this one as they hit a bank on the left-hand side of the car and the car rolled. Both of them were okay, but they were out for the rest of the day.

 

After the service break came SS15 Felgueiras 2 and there was another lead change as Seb set the pace by just one tenth of a second from Sami with Elfyn a further almost three seconds back. Oliver set the seventh best time and fell to second overall, now four seconds from Seb.

 

Into SS16 Cabeceiras de Basto 2 and Adrien set the pace from Sami and Thierry. Oliver had a tyre off the rim on the front right-hand side near the end of the stage, ultimately holding him back to the eighth best time and fell to fifth overall. Seb continued to lead but after being fifth fastest would see some of his lead trimmed over Thierry to just under four seconds. The rain really arrived earlier in the day and changed the road surface quite a bit.

 

Next came SS17 Amarante 2 and every crew had some rain in this one as well as no rain. Martins time stayed unbeaten until the last Rally1 car came through, that being piloted by Seb. The Frenchman set the fastest time by over eleven seconds from the Latvian whilst Oliver was third. This was enough to allow the Swede to re-pass Elfyn for fourth place the gap almost twenty seconds between the teammates.

 

Onto the final proper stage of the day then, SS18 Paredes 2 and Seb again set the pace from Elfyn by almost four seconds, whilst Thierry was third. The Frenchman now had a lead of over twenty seconds from Thierry and Sami remained in third a further five seconds back. Oliver lost a lot of time and was almost passed by Elfyn, the gap at the end just half a second between them.

 

The final stage of the day then, SS19 SSS Lousada and Oliver was fastest from Seb and Sami. The short stage around the track was not without drama as very heavy rain turned the stage into a really tricky thing to navigate. The first two crews to start, Josh and Martins would see the young Irishman slip up on some very slippery mud and saw the Puma hit the stage side very heavily breaking the suspension on the left-hand side.

Let’s hear from the drivers and take a look at the top ten.

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sébastien Ogier

“It’s been a good day for us overall. The morning had been good until this last stage, where I didn’t take enough risk and we lost a lot of time. In midday service we switched to more of a rain setup and this worked much better for the afternoon. Coming to Amarante with crazy conditions, it was so close behind that I knew I had to drive well and take some risks. We’ve got a bit of a gap now but not enough to feel comfortable, because tomorrow the weather can still be tricky, and we’ll have to keep pushing.”

Sami Pajari

“Today started really well with a stage win, and the morning generally was quite nice with fairly steady conditions. Then this afternoon the conditions were much more intense with a lot of rain and super slippery stages. Still, we managed to stay out of trouble and have consistent speed. I think we can be really happy to finish a day like this cleanly and in third place, and to even be a little bit closer to second, and tomorrow we’ll try to catch Thierry.”

Oliver Solberg

“It’s been a very tricky day. This morning was great, going from fourth to the lead, and then in the afternoon we went back from first to fourth again. It was disappointing to get the puncture in the second stage this afternoon and after that it was tough, with a half spin in a very narrow place where we had to reverse. There’s still a long day to come tomorrow and the weather can be tricky again, and we’ll keep trying until the end to take as many points as possible.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“Today was overall better than yesterday for me but the conditions have been totally different. Still, I was much happier with the feeling in the car and the times were much better. I just tried to be clever, and tried to find something more that can work even better for me for tomorrow. It was a bit like Kenya in places with the mud and the standing water, but we made it through quite cleanly. Tomorrow the conditions could be just as tricky, but I’ll try to catch Fourmaux if I can.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“Another tough day for us – the conditions were very rough, with a lot of rain on the last two stages, but we made it back to service. I’m pretty satisfied with my driving today and the speed we were able to go. It seems the Toyotas are a little faster still, but we are still in the middle of the fight, and as long as we can stay there, we are in a good position. Generally, I was missing a bit of traction in the wet, but the performance is good, and we kept Pajari behind. We need to make the best out of Sunday and defend our second place, which is what I intend to do.”

Adrien Fourmaux

“The conditions this afternoon were incredible with the rain it was very muddy and tricky with the grip – sometimes you had it, and sometimes you didn’t, and it would have been very easy to make a mistake. It was certainly not easy to manage. However, we are here at the end of the day, and that is the main thing. Our plan for tomorrow is to try and get the maximum points; the only other thing we can do is see if something happens to the cars in front of us.”

Dani Sordo

“It has been a really challenging day; the rain made conditions tricky and difficult. I tried my best, but I was struggling to find grip with the soft tyres. We were sliding around everywhere, and now we are in the middle of nowhere in the classification. The positive thing is that we are safely here at the end of the day, but we wanted to perform better this weekend. We will try our best to finish in a good way tomorrow.”

Classification after Day Three

1	S. Ogier	V. Landais	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	03:09:13.3
2	T. Neuville	M. Wydaeghe	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	+21.9
3	S. Pajari	M. Salminen	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+25.8
4	O. Solberg	E. Edmondson	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+49.6
5	E. Evans	S. Martin	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+58.2
6	A. Fourmaux	A. Coria	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	+1:23.8
7	T. Katsuta	A. Johnston	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+1:35.3
8	D. Sordo	C. Carrera	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	+3:44.7
9	M. Sesks	R. Francis	Ford Puma Rally1	+6:47.7
10	T. Suninen	J. Hussi	Toyota GR Yaris	+9:17.8

Sunday

The final full day will see the crews face four stages over almost sixty-six kilometres and there is more rain predicted as well. Let’s wait and see what happens! The M-Sport squad confirmed that Jon and Shane would not return to the action due to the damage sustained in their crash.