Miguel Nunes, driving a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, is leading Rali da Madeira following the third stage of the event – the second run through the Santo da Serra and Palheiro Ferreiro special stages – which, like the previous one, saw a tight battle for the top places. In second place, 8.4 seconds behind the leader, is João Silva, at the wheel of a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, who has been struggling to keep up with the pace of the frontrunners on the timed stages.

Armindo Araújo has been putting in some very strong performances in another Škoda Fabia RS Rally2; he is third, 12.0 seconds off the top of the standings. Fourth place goes to the race’s former co-driver, Giandomenico Basso, who, in an identical car, lost a great deal of time on the last special stage due to a slow puncture. Rounding out the top five is Rúben Rodrigues from the Azores, who, in a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, trails the race leader by 33.8 seconds.

Miguel Caires, in a Skoda Fabia RS Rally2, is sixth, ahead of Pedro Almeida in one of the official Toyota GR Yaris Rally2s. Ricardo Teodósio, in a Citroën C3 Rally2, Pedro Meireles, in a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, and Hugo Lopes, in a Hyundai i20N Rally2, round off the top ten after this stage, in which Alexandre Camacho also dropped significantly down the standings after losing a great deal of time due to a puncture during the long second pass through Palheiro Ferreiro. The convoy is now heading for the service park before a double loop through Santana and a stop at Ribeiro Frio, in the north of the island.