Tänak claimed his third stage win of the rally on the second run through the Mortágua stage on Friday.
He outpaced Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä by 1.5 seconds, while Hyundai teammate Thierry Neuville was 2.3 seconds off the Estonian’s benchmark.
“Tricky conditions, lots of loose stones and I guess it’s guetting worse with every car,” Tänak said.
Rovanperä had already suspected he wouldn’t be able to match Tänak’s pace on this one.
“It’s really dry now so I think it will be cleaning a lot and get faster over the time,” he assessed.
Neuville had spun on this very stage earlier in the day, so he admitted feeling nervous ahead of the second pass.
“In this stage I had many bad experiences, so I was a bit afraid of that run. But we are through, but it was shaking all the time in the ruts, that didn’t feel so great,” Neuville explained.
Sébastien Ogier lost three seconds to Tänak on the stage, and Takamoto Katsuta dropped over five seconds. The Japanese driver was clearly disappointed at the finish.
“It’s bad driving, I am not happy,” Katsuta said bluntly.
In the overall classification, Tänak now leads by 6.9 seconds ahead of Ogier with two stages remaining on Friday. Ogier has moved ahead of Katsuta, who now sits 8.7 seconds off the lead.
Kalle Rovanperä remains in fourth place, 16.2 seconds behind Tänak. Behind him are Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville and Toyota teammate Elfyn Evans.
Sami Pajari’s pace remains underwhelming. He is still seventh overall, but the gap to the leader has grown to over 50 seconds.
M-Sport Ford’s Martins Sesks had another dramatic moment – he hit a bank hard for the second time today. Amazingly, the car didn’t suffer major damage and the Latvian was able to continue.
Two more stages remain on Friday at Rally Portugal. The rally concludes on Sunday.
Rally Portugal standings after SS9/24:
| POS | Driver | Car | Time |
| 1. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | 1:14:47.8 |
| 2. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | +6.9 |
| 3. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +8.7 |
| 4. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | +16.2 |
| 5. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +25.3 |
| 6. | Elfyn Evans | Hyundai | +45.7 |
| 7. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +50.9 |
| 8. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +1:27.7 |
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
