The reigning world rally champion won five of the day’s seven tests to transform an overnight 10.8s advantage into a 57.5s lead, as the Finn moved closer to a first WRC win since New Zealand last October.
Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville leapfrogged team-mate Esapekka Lappi to claim third, with 2.3s splitting the duo. M-Sport’s Ott Tanak ended Saturday in a lonely fifth driving the sole remaining Ford Puma after team-mate Pierre-Louis Loubet retired on stage 10.
Rovanpera was once again the driver to beat when action resumed in the afternoon, as the Finn extended his perfect start to Saturday by scoring his fourth consecutive stage win on the event's 12th test.
Rovanpera completed the second pass of Vieira do Minho, which he blitzed in the morning, with a 2.8s margin over nearest rival Sordo and admitted that he was now managing his pace.
In the battle between the three chasing Hyundais, Sordo was a tenth faster than Lappi, who in turn managed to pull 4.9s on Neuville in the battle for third.
Sordo ended Rovanpera’s streak of stage wins on the 37.24km Amarante test. Electing to push and cement his second place, the Spaniard managed to score his second stage win of the event and pipped Rovanpera by 0.7s.
“I was a little bit scared of [wearing out] the tyres but we decided we needed to try to push,” said Sordo.
The battle for third took another twist as Neuville snatched the position from Lappi, despite struggling for confidence behind the wheel of his i20 N. Neuville was 8.5s faster than Lappi.
Tanak was also frustrated with his Puma, resulting in the Estonian dropping 27.7s as he continued to fight his car.
Source: Autosport