Roope Korhonen kicked off the afternoon by setting the benchmark time, cutting Martins Sesks's lead down by 1.2 seconds in a gripping battle at the Portugal Rally. The Latvian charger immediately fired back with the fastest time on the subsequent stage, leaving Korhonen 6.1 seconds off the pace and allowing Sesks to stretch his overall advantage back out to 10.6 seconds.
The pendulum swung right back on the third afternoon stage as the Toyota driver struck once more, clawing back 3.3 seconds of his rival's lead. Speaking at the end of the stage, Korhonen admitted to nursing mechanical limits. "I tried to push, but I noticed on the stage that we had a small issue with the brakes, so I had to keep an eye on them a little," he stated.
Real drama unfolded on the final competitive test of the day when fourth-placed Nikolay Gryazin was forced to park his Lancia on the stage after the machine emitted a violent mechanical noise, abruptly ending his charge near the top of the leaderboard.
Meanwhile, Korhonen survived a massive scare when his car bounced violently out of the deep ruts and straight into the roadside vegetation. Fortunately for the Finnish contender, the absence of solid roadside obstacles meant he escaped with "only" a puncture. Reflecting on the heart-stopping moment, Korhonen noted, "We had quite a big moment because we bottomed out pretty hard. Fortunately, there was nothing in the bushes."
Sesks navigated the treacherous finale unscathed to claim the fastest time and cement his overnight leadership. "I pushed really hard on this stage. My hands are shaking a little. We had a few moments when the car hit some rocks. All in all, it was a good day," Sesks concluded.
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