Finland’s Jari-Matti Latvala in a Volkswagen Polo continues to lead the Rally of Portugal after two days of racing but French world champion and teammate Sebastien Ogier closed the gap on Saturday.
Ogier began the day in sixth place, but turned in a strong showing in the region east of Porto, to slash Latvala’s lead to 9.5secs heading into Sunday’s final day.
British driver Kris Meeke, in a Citroen DS3, drops to third and 20secs behind Latvala.
Ogier came into the weekend with a 30 point lead over Norwegian Mads Ostberg in the championship standings while Latvala began the rally in ninth overall but 62pts adrift.
Norwegian Andreas Mikkelsen-Ola Floene (Volkswagen) and Estonian Ott Tanak-Raigo Molder (Ford Fiesta) complete the top five at 21.1secs and 1min 11.1secs respectively.
Citroen driver Ostberg is in eighth spot in Portugal and 2min 05sec back.