Sébastien Ogier will take a 21.9s lead over Thierry Neuville into the final day of Vodafone Rally de Portugal after mastering rain-hit, action-packed Saturday.
The Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT driver briefly lost the lead to team-mate Oliver Solberg on the morning’s first pass of Paredes, but responded in style as conditions deteriorated through a punishing afternoon loop.
Ogier reclaimed top spot immediately after service, stretched his advantage with a superb drive through a mud-soaked Amarante stage and then added more time on Paredes before safely negotiating a torrential Lousada superspecial.
“This afternoon, with these conditions, I’m glad we finished it because it has been very demanding,” said Ogier, a winner of the FIA World Rally Championship on nine occasions. “There was no grip at all on the mud, it was just about going through, but we had a good day.”
Saturday had begun with Ogier leading Neuville by just 3.7s, but the fight was turned on its head several times as rain swept across northern Portugal.
Sami Pajari struck first on Felgueiras, Neuville reduced Ogier’s margin to 1.7s and Ogier then hit back on Cabeceiras de Basto and Amarante.
The biggest twist of the morning came on the first pass of Paredes. Solberg, who had trailed Ogier by 18.6s at the start of the stage, mastered the mix of rain, mud and changing grip to win the test and jump from fourth to first overall.
Ogier admitted he had no answer to Solberg’s pace in that moment, but his response after service was immediate. He won the repeat of Felgueiras by 0.1s from Pajari to move back into the lead, while Solberg slipped behind after dropping 4.5s.
Worse followed for Solberg on Cabeceiras de Basto 2, where his front-right tyre came off the rim and dropped him from second to fifth overall. Neuville moved up to second after that drama, with Pajari climbing back into third.
Amarante 2 became the day’s decisive stage. In extremely slippery conditions, Ogier was 11.2s faster than anyone else and increased his lead over Neuville to 16.0s before adding a further 5.9s to his buffer on the closing two tests.
Neuville ended Saturday second for Hyundai, 3.9s ahead of Pajari, after a consistent run through treacherous conditions. The Belgian pushed hard through the afternoon but admitted there was little more he could do as Ogier pulled clear.
Pajari completes the overnight podium, 25.8s from the lead, after another strong day in his GR Yaris Rally1. The Finn briefly lost ground on the morning’s run through Paredes, but kept himself firmly in the fight and held third through the afternoon.
Despite a costly spin on Parades 2 Solberg recovered to fourth, 49.6s from the lead, after setting fastest time in the rain-lashed Lousada superspecial. Evans is fifth, 8.6s further back, after a frustrating afternoon in which he lost significant time on the second pass of Amarante.
Adrien Fourmaux is sixth for Hyundai, while Takamoto Katsuta completes the Rally1 top seven after a more encouraging day in his Toyota.
Dani Sordo holds eighth after describing Saturday as one of his toughest days behind the wheel, while Mārtiņš Sesks moved up to ninth for M-Sport Ford. Teemu Suninen completes the top 10 and leads FIA WRC2 by just 0.9s from Jan Solans, having overtaken the Škoda-driving Spaniard through Lousada. Roope Korhonen is third in WRC2 behind Lancia-powered Rally2 contender Nikolay Gryazin.
Calle Carlberg leads FIA Junior WRC by 39.6s ahead of Gil Membrado, the FIA WRC3 pacesetter.
Meanwhile, it was a difficult afternoon for M-Sport Ford, with Jon Armstrong rolling on SS15, Felgueiras, and Josh McErlean crashing into the barriers at Lousada. Both crews were unharmed.
Round six of the FIA World Rally Championship concludes tomorrow, Sunday, with twin visits to Vieira do Minho and Fafe, with the second run over Fafe forming the Wolf Power Stage from 13:15 local time. The opening Vieira do Minho test is up first from 08:05.
