Ogier was 0.9 seconds faster than teammate Takamoto Katsuta on the 12.28-kilometre special stage. Rally leader Ott Tänak in his Hyundai conceded 1.4 seconds to Ogier, but the Estonian still retained a six-second overall lead over the Frenchman.
“We were hoping that this one dried out, but there are still some slippy sections. So far not unhappy with the tyre choice,” said Ogier, who drove the stage on hard tyres only.
“Quite abrasive surface, I think not clever choice with the tyres. But ok, we tried the maximum,” Tänak told.
Tänak’s teammate Adrien Fourmaux is just half a second behind in second place. Ogier lies third in the rally and Katsuta fourth. The entire top four is covered by just 7.6 seconds.
Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä has had a difficult Friday, much like his teammate Elfyn Evans. The pair are opening the road, which inevitably affects their stage times. Rovanperä is in fifth place, 16.6 seconds behind the leader.
“Maybe feeling wise it’s a little bit better, but the grip is really low. We really don’t have enough experience with the tyres to know what is the best,” Rovanperä summarized.
Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville is running sixth ahead of Evans and Toyota’s Sami Pajari. The top eight drivers are separated by just over half a minute.
The WRC Rally Portugal continues on Friday with five more special stages.
Standings after SS6/24 in Rally Portugal:
| POS. | Driver | Car | Time |
| 1. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | 47:46.3 |
| 2. | Adrien Fourmaux | Hyundai | +0.5 |
| 3. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | +6.0 |
| 4. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +7.6 |
| 5. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | +16.6 |
| 6. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +27.2 |
| 7. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +29.2 |
| 8. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +34.4 |
| 9. | Josh McErlean | Ford | +54.9 |
| 10. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +1:00.8 |
