The Hyundai driver, who continues to lead the gravel event, was at one point trailing Sébastien Ogier by 0.8 seconds in the splits, but by the time he reached the finish of the second pass through Vieira do Minho, Tänak had turned the tables and beat the Frenchman by 0.3 seconds.
That small margin was enough for Tänak to increase his overall lead slightly – Ogier now trails the Estonian by 12.1 seconds.
Tänak gave a classic one-word response when he was told he had narrowly beaten Ogier.
“Perfect!”
“We hope the tyre choice is the right one, let’s see,” Tänak added.
Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä, who sits third overall, managed to edge out a bit more breathing room to the drivers behind. Although he lost 1.8 seconds to Tänak on the stage, he was 6.5 seconds faster than his teammate Takamoto Katsuta and also outpaced Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville by 2.5 seconds.
Rovanperä now leads Katsuta by 6.9 seconds in the overall standings. Neuville, currently fifth, is 13.3 seconds behind the Finnish Toyota star.
Despite extending his advantage, Rovanperä wasn’t satisfied with his performance.
“It’s not really feeling good, especially this one again. The tyres are impossible to get to work, I don’t know why the balance is so off all the time,” Rovanperä lamented.
Toyota’s Sami Pajari continues in sixth place ahead of teammate and WRC points leader Elfyn Evans. Once again, Pajari beat Evans on the stage and increased the gap between them to 19.5 seconds.
There are still three more stages to run on Saturday. Rally Portugal concludes on Sunday.
Rally Portugal standings after SS15/24:
| POS | Driver | Car | Time |
| 1. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | 2:30:32.8 |
| 2. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | +12.1 |
| 3. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | +37.6 |
| 4. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +44.5 |
| 5. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +50.9 |
| 6. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +1:40.1 |
| 7. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +1:59.6 |
| 8. | Josh McErlean | Ford | +3:35.0 |
| 9. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +4:00.0 |
| 10. | Oliver Solberg | Toyota | +6:00.9 |
Rally Portugal Itinerary (CET):
Thursday 15.5.
09.01 Shakedown: Baltar (5,72 km)
20.05 SS1: Figueira da Foz (2,94 km)
Friday 16.5.
08.35 SS2: Mortagua 1 (14,59 km)
10.05 SS3: Lousa 1 (12,28 km)
10.53 SS4: Gois 1 (14,30 km)
11.41 SS5: Arganil 1 (14,41 km)
13.31 Remote Service Arganil 20min
14.05 SS6: Lousa 2 (12,28 km)
14.53 SS7: Gois 2 (14,30 km)
15.41 SS8: Arganil 2 (14,41 km)
16.31 Remote Service Arganil 20min
18.05 SS9: Mortagua 2 (14,59 km)
19.35 SS10: Agueda/Sever (15,08 km)
20.20 SS11: Sever/Albergaria (20,24 km)
Saturday 17.5.
08.35 SS12: Vieira do Minho 1 (17,69 km)
10.35 SS13: Cabeceiras de Basto 1 (19,91 km)
11.25 SS14: Amarante 1 (22,10 km)
13.46 Service 44min
16.05 SS15: Vieira do Minho 2 (17,69 km)
17.05 SS16: Cabeceiras de Basto 2 (19,91 km)
18.55 SS17: Amarante 2 (22,10 km)
20.05 SS18: Lousada (3,52 km)
Sunday 18.5.
07.43 SS19: Paredes 1 (16,09 km)
08.48 SS20: Felgueiras 1 (8,81 km)
09.35 SS21: Fafe 1 (11,18 km)
10.58 SS22: Paredes 2 (16,09 km)
12.03 SS23: Felgueiras 2 (8,81 km)
14.15 SS24: Fafe 2 (11,18 km) *Power Stage
