Magalhaes leads as favourites falter

Local driver Magalhaes (Peugeot Portugal) started the day in joint second with Andreas Mikkelsen, just 0.2 seconds behind overnight leader Juho Hanninen's Skoda.

But Hanninen was one of three drivers to suffer slow punctures on today's opening stage, along with Kris Meeke (Peugeot UK) and Portuguese championship leader Bernardo Sousa (Ford), which left Magalhaes and Mikkelsen clear at the front.

Mikkelsen then struggled through the next two stages - ending SS5 perplexed at his relative lack of pace, and then admitting after SS6 that his lack of experience on the event was costing him, especially as he made his pace notes in thick fog earlier in the week.

That meant Mikkelsen fell to third in his Ford, with Jan Kopecky moving up to second for Skoda, 9.4s behind the ecstatic Magalhaes.

Hanninen has recovered quickly and is right on Mikkelsen's tail in fourth, but Meeke's rally has gone further downhill, with a spin on SS6 costing him more time and leaving him 45s off the lead.

Pos  Driver             Car          Time/Gap
 1.  Bruno Magalhaes    Peugeot      43m28.3s
 2.  Jan Kopecky        Skoda          + 9.4s
 3.  Andreas Mikkelsen  Ford          + 20.1s
 4.  Juho Hanninen      Skoda         + 20.3s
 5.  Kris Meeke         Peugeot       + 45.5s
 6.  Bernardo Sousa     Ford        + 1m03.9s
 7.  Vitor Pascoal      Peugeot     + 1m50.6s
 8.  Ricardo Moura      Mitsubishi  + 1m56.2s
 9.  Pedro Peres        Mitsubishi  + 2m11.6s
10.  Pedro Vale         Mitsubishi  + 3m18.2s