Overview
- Sami Pajari, who rose to the top following Friday’s opening‑day drama, ends the day 13.7 seconds ahead of Thierry Neuville with Takamoto Katsuta 14.6 seconds back.
- Elfyn Evans won the first two stages and built a 15.8‑second lead before sliding off on SS3 after a misjudged right‑hander, forcing a rare retirement with co‑driver Scott Martin unhurt.
- Oliver Solberg clipped a bank 4.8 km into SS1, spun into the trees and became beached off the road, ending his day despite fans trying to push the car back onto the stage.
- Dirt dragged onto the narrow asphalt and divergent tire picks punished mistakes, as Jon Armstrong stopped after an earlier puncture and a later bank hit and Adrien Fourmaux lost about 1m28s to a front‑right puncture.
- In WRC2, Lancia holds a one‑two with Yohan Rossel leading team‑mate Nikolay Gryazin by 22.1 seconds heading into Saturday’s eight stages.