Oliver Solberg vaulted from fourth to first on one single stage of Rally Portugal as the rain arrived late on Saturday morning..
Sébastien Ogier ended Friday with a 3.7-second advantage over the chasing Thierry Neuville, but the threat of inclement weather meant today was tipped to be a totally new rally.
That prediction proved wide of the mark for the opening pair of stages at least, which were won by Sami Pajari and erstwhile leader Adrien Fourmaux.
But both Neuville and Ogier encountered a small shower towards the end of SS13 Amarante which acted as precursor to the final test of the loop: Paredes.
Full rain conditions arrived for the stage which presented an opportunity, which Solberg took with both hands.
Winning the stage by 7.2s over fifth-placed Elfyn Evans, Solberg overhauled Sami Pajari, Neuville and Ogier to grab the lead of the rally by 0.5s. He’d started SS14 18.6s behind.
“Unbelievable,” Ogier said. “I have the feeling I tried my best, I had no grip. Impressive. I have no idea how it’s possible to be honest.”
Ogier had been extending his lead until the rain arrived
Conditions were deteriorating for later runners however, with Neuville saying he drove “at the maximum of the grip” but the road was polishing and making it harder for those further back.
Neuville was six seconds faster than Ogier on the stage, though, to close to 2.1s behind, leaving him just 2.6s off the lead. Pajari is 5.5s further back.
Evans and Fourmaux remain fifth and sixth while seventh-placed Takamoto Katsuta found a bit more confidence on Saturday after a call from Ott Tänak who told him not to be scared and just push.
Dani Sordo slowed towards the end of SS14 with a transmission problem but remains almost a minute clear of Josh McErlean.
Jon Armstrong and Mãrtiņš Sesks climbed back into 10th and 11th place respectively after their Friday afternoon dramas; Armstrong losing his power steering and Sesks stopping to change two front punctures.
Armstrong is competing on Friday with a taped-up hand to protect a blister sustained by wrestling his Puma Rally1 yesterday, but set an impressive third-best time on the rainy Paredes.
