Hanninen takes Azores lead

Magalhaes (Peugeot) had led Hanninen (Skoda) by 2.2 seconds at the start of the day, and with the Finn quicker by that margin on SS13, that brought them level in the lead.

Stage 14 then had to be abandoned after Andreas Mikkelsen encountered three cows on the stage, hitting one and damaging his Ford - though not enough to end his rally.

"I think we were very, very lucky," said Mikkelsen. "Okay, the car looks bad, but driving wise it's not too different."

The stage cancellation was a stroke of luck for Kris Meeke and Jan Kopecky, as both had to stop and change punctures before Mikkelsen's incident neutralised the stage.

Magalhaes therefore started stage 15 still sharing the lead, only for a gearbox oil leak to cost him 18s on the stage as he struggled to see through an oil-splattered windscreen. He then had to keep stopping to try and keep the car alive on the following road section.

The crew managed to get through the following superspecial and hope to effect repairs in service. Magalhaes did not fall any lower than second, but is now 19.9 seconds behind Hanninen and only 2.4s ahead of Kopecky in the second Skoda.

Meeke (Peugeot UK) finally had a trouble-free run and was able to move past Mikkelsen for fourth.

Pos  Driver             Car           Time/Gap
 1.  Juho Hanninen      Skoda       1h55m02.8s
 2.  Bruno Magalhaes    Peugeot        + 19.9s
 3.  Jan Kopecky        Skoda          + 22.3s
 4.  Kris Meeke         Peugeot      + 1m13.3s
 5.  Andreas Mikkelsen  Ford         + 1m23.1s
 6.  Bernardo Sousa     Ford         + 2m27.3s
 7.  Ricardo Moura      Mitsubishi   + 4m17.1s
 8.  Pedro Vale         Mitsubishi   + 8m13.2s
 9.  Pedro Peres        Mitsubishi   + 8m51.9s
10.  Sergio Silva       Subaru       + 9m03.3s