Sebastien Ogier set his third consecutive stage victory on the first of Friday's repeated tests, stretching his rally lead over Dani Sordo to 7.1 seconds.
With the worst of the loose gravel surface now swept from the Santa Clara stage, times were noticeable quicker than on the first pass. Ogier's time of 13min 54.9sec was almost 17 seconds better than he had managed on SS2.
Sordo was his closest rival once again, with Mikko Hirvonen third quickest to maintain an 18sec gap to the lead.
Stage Times:
Source: WRC
