Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville topped both the Friday evening Super Specials in Rally Portugal as Kris Meeke maintained his half-a-minute lead over Sebastien Ogier.
Neuville was just a tenth quicker than Ogier in the first of two runs, with Andreas Mikkelsen bringing a second VW into the top three.
Dani Sordo, in fourth, was also just half a second slower, while Kris Meeke was off the pace by a futher second.
Neuville won the second loop more comfortably, beating Mikkelsen and Ogier by more than a second, the duo switching places in second and third.
Sordo was once again fourth, followed by the Ford of Martin Prokop.
Still struggling with steering issues, Latvala lost a further 16 seconds to the lead.
The stages saw no changes to the overall oder of the top 10, Meeke continuing to lead the way from Ogier, Sordo, Mikkelsen and Neuville
Top fifteen end of Stage 9
| Pos | Car No | Driver | Co-driver | Team | Eligibility | Group Class | Time | Diff Prev | Diff 1st |
| 1. | 7 |  K. MEEKE |
P. NAGLE |
Abu Dhabi Total World Rally Team | RC1 | 1:28:53.3 | |||
| 2. | 1 |  S. OGIER |
J. INGRASSIA |
Volkswagen Motorsport | M | RC1 | 1:29:25.2 | +31.9 | +31.9 |
| 3. | 4 |  D. SORDO |
M. MARTI |
Hyundai Motorsport | M | RC1 | 1:29:30.6 | +5.4 | +37.3 |
| 4. | 9 |  A. MIKKELSEN |
A. JAEGER SYNNEVAG |
Volkswagen Motorsport II | T | RC1 | 1:29:45.6 | +15.0 | +52.3 |
| 5. | 20 |  T. NEUVILLE |
N. GILSOUL |
Hyundai Motorsport N | T | RC1 | 1:30:05.5 | +19.9 | +1:12.2 |
| 6. | 8 | S. LEFEBVRE |
G. MOREAU |
Abu Dhabi Total World Rally Team | RC1 | 1:30:26.8 | +21.3 | +1:33.5 | |
| 7. | 5 | M. OSTBERG |
O. FLOENE |
M-Sport World Rally Team | M | RC1 | 1:30:39.3 | +12.5 | +1:46.0 |
| 8. | 6 | E. CAMILLI |
B. VEILLAS |
M-Sport World Rally Team | M | RC1 | 1:30:43.0 | +3.7 | +1:49.7 |
| 9. | 2 |  J. LATVALA |
M. ANTTILA |
Volkswagen Motorsport | M | RC1 | 1:32:44.2 | +2:01.2 | +3:50.9 |
| 10. | 34 |  P. TIDEMAND |
J. ANDERSSON |
Skoda Motorsport | WRC2 | RC2 | 1:32:45.3 | +1.1 | +3:52.0 |
| 11. | 21 |  M. PROKOP |
J. TOMANEK |
Jipocar Czech National Team | T | RC1 | 1:32:59.7 | +14.4 | +4:06.4 |
| 12. | 42 |  N. FUCHS |
 F. MUSSANO |
Nicolas Fuchs Sierlecki | WRC2 | RC2 | 1:33:20.8 | +21.1 | +4:27.5 |
| 13. | 31 | E. EVANS |
C. PARRY |
M-Sport World Rally Team | WRC2 | RC2 | 1:33:38.3 | +17.5 | +4:45.0 |
| 14. | 40 | Q. GILBERT |
R. JAMOUL |
Gilbert Quentin | WRC2 | RC2 | 1:33:59.3 | +21.0 | +5:06.0 |
| 15. | 32 |  H. PTASZEK |
M. SZCZEPANIAK |
The Ptock | WRC2 | RC2 | 1:34:17.0 | +17.7 | +5:23.7 |
Story and photo: motorsport.com