World champion Ogier had been fastest on all three of the morning loop's stages in his Volkswagen Polo R WRC and led from team-mate Mikkelsen ahead of the afternoon's running despite the pair aquaplaning off on the Svullrya stage. The Frenchman kept his car on the road on SS7's re-run of Svullrya, but Mikkelsen lost the rear of his and hit a tree stump, dropping him to seventh overall. It was instead Meeke who took up the mantle of challenging Ogier, the Briton having posted the fastest time on SS7 to reduce his arrears to 21 seconds. Meeke was fast again at the start of SS8, but saw his hopes of victory dashed after hitting a rock buried in the road, ending his rally early. He had also...
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