Overview
- Adrien Fourmaux received a one-minute early check-in penalty that dropped him from first to fourth, handing Martins Sesks a 3.4-second lead over Thierry Neuville, with Takamoto Katsuta third.
- Sébastien Ogier ended Friday sixth after a late puncture but holds a provisional one-point advantage over Elfyn Evans heading into the final day.
- Elfyn Evans suffered a left-rear puncture on stage 11 and lost 1m38s during a wheel change, slipping to 10th before recovering to eighth as severe road cleaning continued to hurt early starters.
- Friday’s second loop turned chaotic as multiple crews picked up punctures, with Ott Tänak and Sami Pajari forced to stop, and both Sesks and Fourmaux nursing deflations to the finish of the final stage.
- Kalle Rovanperä won the day’s last test to rise to fifth after earlier tyre woes, though his long-shot title bid remains damaged by repeated punctures.